Kholodets (aka jelly) is a festive dish, for many it is a "signature" and, of course, a very tasty dish. Contrary to popular belief, a good jelly recipe eliminates the use of jelly- forming additives, such as gelatin or agar-agar.
The broth freezes in the “right” dish due to the gelling substances contained in the legs, tails, ears and head of cows or pigs, as well as in the scallops and paws of roosters.
The secret, which contains any recipe for making jellied meat (whether beef, pork, chicken, or chicken), consists in prolonged cooking of the corresponding meat over as low a fire as possible. The process takes four hours and gives sufficient confidence that the finished dish will harden.
The recipe for jellied beef and pork.
In this case, everyone can decide for himself how to make aspic: mix two types of meat or use them “mono”. Actually, the taste of the finished dish should correspond to the preferences of those for whom it is cooked. It is important that gelling substances get into the pan, and the easiest way is to “get” their legs.
Ingredients:
- pork leg (without hoof)
- beef drumstick
- two medium onions
- two medium carrots
- black pepper peas
- bay leaf - 3 pieces
- salt
- small head of garlic
- egg
Cooking:
My leg, we scrape off everything that seems unpleasant, cut it into small pieces (5-6 cm in length). My drumstick, chop into large pieces. The task is to put all the meat in a large pan.
We clean the onions and carrots, add to the meat. Fill with cold water so that its level is 2-3 fingers higher than meat. Salt, add pepper and bay leaf.
We put on the fire. When the water boils, carefully remove the foam with a fine slotted spoon. We rearrange the pan to the smallest burner and remove the heat to a minimum.
Cover and leave for four hours. Periodically remove fat from boiling broth. If fat is not removed, it will harden on the surface of the finished jelly in the form of an unpleasant and tasteless white layer. Therefore, the more thoroughly the fat is removed, the better - the result. At the moment of turning off the fire, add the crushed garlic.
Then we take out the meat, cool, remove the bones. Cut the remaining into small pieces and put in a beautiful plate. There we put carrots and hard-boiled egg, cut into rings. You can add a couple of branches of greenery, but this is a matter of taste. Fill the broth and set in the cold. When it freezes, we serve it to the table.
The recipe for jellied rooster.
A more tender and tasty jellied meat is prepared from a rooster, although, of course, not everyone will agree with this.
Ingredients:
- one rooster (must have legs and a head with a comb)
- bulb
- salt
- Bay leaf
- black pepper peas
- 3-5 cloves of garlic
Cooking:
My rooster, we clean the legs (previously singed on an open fire), remove the claws. We take out the entrails (stomach, heart), also mine and lower them into the pan. We cut the rooster into portioned pieces, put it in a pan. Fill with water (water level - two fingers above the bird).
Add spices, spices and peeled onion. We put on fire, bring to a boil, carefully remove the foam. We remove the fire to a minimum, cover with a lid and leave for four hours. As in the previous recipe, carefully remove the fat.
At the end of cooking (when turning off the fire), add the garlic, passed through the garlic press.
The liver is cooked separately for 10 minutes.
Pieces of meat are spread in the dish, the liver is added. Pour the broth and leave to solidify. Paws and head are usually laid in separate dishes, because not everyone loves them.
For jellied meat, it is better to use a "home" rooster, grown on freedom and natural feed. In this case, a beautiful transparent yellow jelly is obtained that does not need additional decoration.