Jellied meat is a favorite dish in many Russian families. But how to cook it and, most importantly, serve in such a way that it becomes a real decoration of the festive table? Today we will tell you how to make jelly in a bottle in the shape of a pig. The dish will turn out not only delicious, but also original.
Jellied meat
Actually, there can be a lot of variations on the theme of meat for this dish: from beef, from pork head, only from chicken meat with the addition of gelatin, aspic from pork legs and chicken. It is the last option that we will reproduce today. Such aspic, which combines several types of meat, is considered the most popular among housewives and delicious.
A set of products for the preparation of aspic
- Pork legs - two pieces.
- Chicken breast - two pieces.
- A pair of large onions.
- Four to five cloves of garlic.
- Peppercorns
- Bay leaf.
- Salt.
- 200 grams of boiled sausage (for decoration).
- Green lettuce leaves (for serving).
Cooking meat
To prepare a rich and well-setting jellied meat in a bottle, you can’t do without the pork component. In our case, it will be pig legs. Before cooking, the legs should be soaked in water for five to six hours. Try to change the water more often, at least once every two hours. After the feet get wet and excess blood comes off, you can cook further. They must be washed well, a little scraped with a knife. The skin on the meat should be completely clean.
Then put the prepared meat in a large pan and pour cold water. What should be the water level in the dishes? Everything will depend on whether the meat is so tight. If the meat is laid tight enough, then the water should cover it and rise five to seven centimeters above it. After the water boils, remove the resulting foam and add spices: salt, pepper, bay leaf. Bulbs should be cleaned and dipped whole in water. You can cut it into two large parts.
As for the cooking time, as in any standard recipe, the cooking process continues until the meat itself literally falls behind the bones. This usually takes about three to four hours. And one moment. Cover or not? The rules and advice of experienced housewives say that you should not cover the boiling aspic with a lid. If you do this, the broth will have a strong greasy flavor. Although cooking under the lid is much faster and more convenient. So choose the option that you like best.
Now let's talk about chicken. Our jelly in a bottle will consist of two types of meat. The pork is already cooked. Now it's time to pay attention to chicken breasts. They should also be rid of everything unnecessary, that is, remove the skin (if it was) and rinse thoroughly under running water. Chicken meat is more tender than pork, so there is no need to soak it. We will simply cook it in salted water for half an hour. You can also add half the onion, a few peas of black pepper and a bay leaf to the chicken. Of course, we will not use the broth, but the meat soaked in fragrant spices in the recipe will not be superfluous.
Prepare a bottle
So, prepare the jelly in the bottle. "Piglet" will not leave anyone indifferent! We need a wide bottle, from which it is necessary to slightly cut off the neck. It can be left, but when there is meat mass inside, to do this without damaging the structure will be much more difficult. Therefore, we get rid of excess in advance. After the bottle is cut in the way we need, it should be washed and dried well. In addition, you should find some dishes in which you can put the bottle so that it holds the horizontal shape well while the jelly hardens.
Assembly
After the meat is cooked, it must be allowed to cool for some time. Jellied meat in a bottle, the recipe of which we advise you, is going quickly, and special skills are not required here. Cooked pork meat should be disassembled into small pieces. If you cooked it long enough, then there should be no problems. If we only select meat from pork legs, then we simply cut the boiled chicken breast into small pieces. You can generally disassemble the chicken into fibers, thereby visually increasing the mass fraction of meat in the jelly.
Mix the meat with the broth in a separate bowl. Add chopped garlic there. Some housewives do not chop garlic, but throw whole segments into the jellied meat. What to choose, decide for yourself. If you don’t like the taste of garlic and only need its flavor in the dish, then add whole slices. If you like to feel not only the aroma, but also the taste, you can chop the garlic with a knife and add to the broth.
After all the manipulations, you can pour the jelly in a bottle and send it to the refrigerator until it finally solidifies. As a rule, pork jelly freezes very well without additional manipulations - adding gelatin or evaporation. Hardening time - 12 hours. A better day.
After the jelly from pork legs and chicken finally hardens, you can carefully cut the bottle and remove it. Several lettuce leaves are laid out on the dish, on top - the main dish. Jellied meat in a bottle will not be so original if it is not decorated. This is done using ordinary boiled sausage, from which the ears, nose and tail of the piglet are formed. Enjoy your meal!