I must say that even a rather experienced hostess sometimes does not know how to cook the hodgepodge correctly. Little of. This dish is popular not in every family. And, it is worth noting, completely in vain. If only because it is extremely tasty and satisfying. Moreover, the hodgepodge gives you the opportunity to get rid of the remnants of all kinds of smoked meats from the festive table, since they are one of the main components of this dish. And the more of them, the better the taste. The classic version naturally implies a certain set of products. While preparing a dish such as homemade hodgepodge, you can experiment and change the composition of the ingredients depending on your own taste preferences and the presence of certain products in the refrigerator. Today we are not talking about improvisations. We would like to talk about how to cook the hodgepodge properly. That is, in accordance with all the canons of the classic recipe for this dish. Which, by the way, is the decoration of the menu of more than one expensive restaurant.
Kinds
By the way, some completely in vain think that in order to prepare this dish, it is enough to mix all the cuts of sausages and sausages, season them with pickles, cook and serve. This is far from the case. Classic solyanka requires exact adherence to the requirements of the recipe. Moreover. There are several types of it. For example, a meat hodgepodge is prepared on the basis of a broth from several types of meat and salted (required!) Vegetables. Moreover, with regard to the first ingredient, it can be not only, say, lamb or beef, but also stew, boiled or smoked sausage, sausages.
But the hodgepodge is already being prepared on the basis of the broth from the same salted vegetables and several varieties of poultry, meat, fish and sausages, with the addition of mushrooms. A real recipe for a classic hodgepodge classic assumes the presence of up to fifteen ingredients of protein origin, but this, however, will already turn out to be more restaurant than homemade. So we will not focus your attention on this moment.
Salted ingredients
It is wrong to think that only pickles are used to make a dish such as hodgepodge. As a rule, it is they who come first in many recipes. But you can take sauerkraut (though headed) cabbage, and salty tomatoes, and pickled pepper, and just a favorite homemade product for many - pickled vegetable assortment. In addition, any hodgepodge - homemade or classic, doesn’t matter - it will only gain in taste if you add capers and olives to it.
We cook competently
So, how to cook the hodgepodge correctly? We have already talked about the main components. Now it is necessary to say a few words directly about the cooking process itself. Below we present a step by step recipe for hodgepodge. It will be about preparing a prefabricated version of it. In the meantime, we dwell on the basic basic postulates.
Bouillon
The basic rule of its preparation is: the first water must be drained, and all components thoroughly rinsed. Then it should be cooked in the same way as you always do, except for one but - salt is not recommended due to the fact that some components of the hodgepodge - say, cucumbers and sausage - are already salted. From seasonings, peppercorns and bay leaves are usually added to the broth. The latter, by the way, is recommended to be removed after cooking.
Vegetables
Carrots and onions are usually fried. However, the main thing is not to overdo it, especially regarding onions. It should be finely chopped and transparent, not brown. Tomato paste is added to the frying, which is already ready. Cucumbers, cut into small cubes, stew separately, in broth. If you have a hodgepodge - with potatoes, then the latter is also chopped finely and simply sent to the broth, without any preparation.
Meat
All these components (except the meat on which the broth was cooked) must be finely chopped and fried. Then they also go to the broth, but they need to cook no more than ten minutes.
Ready meat from the broth needs to be taken out, cooled and also cut.
We pass to the practical part
Next, we will tell you an example of how to cook a hodgepodge correctly. It will be about its prefabricated version. A step-by-step recipe for hodgepodge will help those who have never before cooked this dish. Or for those who did not get it good enough. So, the recipe for hodgepodge.
Ingredients
Classical solyanka is prepared on meat broth and requires the hostess to have the following components:
- One chicken breast.
- Beef and pork (always with a bone) - one kilogram.
- Three hundred grams of kidneys (you can take both pork and beef).
- Smoked meats (sausages, ham), sausages - 150 g each.
- Fifty grams of mushrooms, preferably dried.
- Four pickled (better barrel) cucumbers.
- One onion head.
- Two to three carrots.
- Tomato.
- Art. tablespoons of flour.
Spices are also required: about a dozen peas of black pepper, salt, sugar (teaspoonful), bay leaf, 50 grams of tomato paste, half a lemon.
Cooking step by step
- Cook the meat broth (as described above).
- At the same time, we throw finely chopped kidneys into a separate pot and boil them several times, each time after boiling, replace the water and rinse offal.
- After twenty minutes, add mushrooms to the meat broth. And with them - and pepper.
- We cut the kidneys, removing along the veins, with thin plates.
- On the onion cut into half rings, squeeze the juice of half a lemon.
- Cut the carrots into very thin strips.
- Fry these two vegetables.
- Sausages cut into circles, sausage - strips.
- Dice the cucumbers, chopped separately for about ten minutes in the broth.
- We prepare cabbage and tomato. Cut the first into strips, the second into cubes.
- While we worked, an hour passed. So the broth is ready. We get all the meat from it. Cool, clear of bones, and then cut into cubes, and then send back to the broth.
- Strengthen the fire.
- As it boils, immediately add the cucumbers with cabbage (half of what is available).
- Bring to a boil again.
- We send sausage to the broth.
- Throw the fried vegetables.
- Add sugar, tomato paste. Solim.
- Cover with a lid and leave on minimum heat.
- Mix the kidneys with flour and throw in our almost ready hodgepodge.
- Then we send the remaining cucumbers and cabbage, sausages, bay leaf.
- Fifteen minutes later, throw the chopped greens and immediately turn it off.
Here, perhaps, is all about how to cook the hodgepodge correctly. And finally, a few secrets.
Tips
The most delicious hodgepodge is yesterday. Therefore, let her brew for a day. If possible, of course.
There are no olives in the classic recipe. This is, so to speak, a more modern ingredient. However, if you like it, you can safely add them, as well as capers, just before serving. Cut them, put in a prepared hodgepodge and bring it to a boil. You can’t boil them, because overcooked olives lose their taste, and capers can give bitterness and spoil all impressions of the dish.
If you think that the dish turned out not to be salty enough, add brine from cucumbers and cabbage to it. The main thing - do not overdo it.
When serving, do not forget to add sour cream in a plate and a circle of lemon. And the hodgepodge in tandem with brown bread croutons is especially good.
There is no potato in the classic recipe. Nevertheless, many housewives add it to the hodgepodge and assure that the taste of the dish does not suffer from this at all.
The dish we described is universal. When preparing it, you can not restrain imagination and diversify the components the way you want.