Many housewives unanimously argue that cutlets can not be spoiled in any way: neither a side dish, nor even a sauce, which, on the contrary, can correct the situation if suddenly a meat dish failed. This article describes in detail several recipes for preparing sauces for chicken cutlets, which not only blend perfectly with them, emphasizing the taste, but can also be an excellent addition to a simple side dish in the form of rice or pasta.
Oven cutlets: the subtleties of cooking
Some inexperienced in cooking people think that it doesn’t matter what kind of sauce is served with the dish (in this case, cutlets), because the meat itself combines with almost any sauce, which means there can be no taste disharmony. And this is their global delusion. There is still a difference.
Creamy sauce and its variations with additives in the form of tomato, mushrooms or cheese are ideally combined with minced chicken cutlets. But it is not necessary to stimulate the taste with hot spices, so as not to distort the delicate smack of chicken, which the cream delightfully emphasizes.
A simple recipe for baked cutlets
In order to cook minced meat for cutlets, you should take products in the following proportions:
- 1 kg of chicken minced meat;
- two eggs;
- 7 slices of white bread, better than stale or dried in the oven;
- one carrot;
- 1 onion larger;
- 50 grams of ghee;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of breadcrumbs and flour;
- black pepper and salt to taste.
Soak bread in water or milk for thirty minutes, then squeeze and mix with minced chicken meat, add onion, minced with a meat grinder along with carrots. Add to the mince spices to taste, eggs and knead it thoroughly with your hands. If it seems that it is too dense and poorly holds the integral shape, falling apart, you can add a little water in which the bread was soaked, achieving the desired consistency. This recipe for minced meat is ideal for cooking chicken cutlets in a creamy sauce, which are baked in the oven and served with delicate aromatic mashed potatoes and vegetable slices.
How to cook cutlets in sauce?
Small meatballs are formed from the minced meat and crumble in a mixture of flour and crackers. You can fry them in a pan over high heat until blush, but even without this action they will perfectly get the right condition in the oven. Abundantly grease the baking dish with any oil, put the prepared minced meat patties on it and flatten each one slightly, creating a small hole in the middle.
On each piece put 1 \ 2 tsp. butter, place the baking sheet for 20 minutes in the oven, preheated to 220 degrees. Then pour chicken cutlets with sour cream sauce and continue heat treatment for another 10-15 minutes, lowering the temperature to 200 ° C.
Cream base sauce
The base sauce for chicken cutlets is prepared on the basis of cream or fresh sour cream, thanks to which tender meat will acquire a magical flavor and the necessary juiciness (after all, everyone knows that chicken mincemeat is rather dry in itself). To prepare you will need:
- 1.5 cups of cream, it is desirable that the fat content is at least 15%;
- two onions;
- 2 tbsp. l flour and the same amount of butter;
- 2 \ 3 Art. water;
- 4-5 Art. tablespoons of white wine;
- salt to taste.
The cream-based chicken cutlet sauce is prepared as follows: first, the onion is chopped in very small cubes and sautéed in oil in a well-heated pan. When the onion becomes soft and acquires a certain transparency, we fill the flour and mix well, gradually adding cream and rubbing so that there are no lumps.
Warm the sauce for several minutes and add wine, salt, simmer for another three minutes and turn off the stove. It is important not to let the sauce boil too violently, so the stove fire should be minimized and be sure to stir so that the composition warms up evenly from all sides. Pour the finished gravy cutlets, distributing evenly over the area of the dishes.
How to diversify the base sauce?
Based on this recipe for chicken cutlet sauce, you can prepare the following options:
- Creamy mushroom: 500 grams of fresh mushrooms cut into small thin plates and fry with two onions in oil (2-3 tbsp. L.) Until a slight blush and a characteristic mushroom smell. Then grind the resulting mass with a blender to a puree condition and return to the pan, pour the cream (1.5 cups). Add a pinch of ground coriander and black pepper, salt to taste and simmer over low heat for ten minutes, sometimes stirring for uniform heating. If dried mushrooms are available, then you can add a chopped pinch to the sauce - the gravy will become more fragrant.
- Chicken cutlets in tomato sauce - it is also quite tasty, but just in tomato - it is quite commonplace, but in combination with cream, the gravy will get a more rich taste and a thick consistency. In the process of preparing the main gravy, along with cream, add two tbsp. tablespoons of high-quality tomato paste and a pinch of nutmeg and black pepper to give the gravy an amazing flavor. Wine in this case does not need to be added, but a little grated garlic can be, if you want a more spicy taste. It is important not to put too much tomato in this case so that it does not interrupt the creamy aftertaste, but only emphasizes it.
Gourmet Gourmet Sauce
Great sauce for chicken cutlets can be prepared not only on the basis of cream, but also on the basis of milk. It will make minced chicken more juicy and soft, and the sauce itself with its unusual aroma and delicate taste will surprise even experienced chefs. Essential Ingredients:
- 600 grams of milk;
- 300 grams of hard cheese;
- 150 grams of celery root;
- 100 grams of ghee;
- 70 grams of flour;
- 1 tsp with a slide of a mixture of dried herbs to your taste;
- 1 \ 3 tsp cayenne chili pepper.
Step cooking
Grate celery root on the finest grater, mix with pepper and fry with oil in a well-heated pan until soft. Sprinkle with flour, seasonings and mix well. Boil milk in a separate bowl. Grate the cheese and pour in small portions into the milk, stirring with a spoon or spatula until the cheese is completely melted. Cool the mass to room temperature, and then pour in a thin stream into the celery mass, constantly whipping it with a whisk.
On low heat, let the sauce thicken, but try not to bring it to a boil. In order to bake chicken cutlets in the oven in such a sauce, you must first fry the formed meat balls in a pan in a small amount of vegetable oil, achieving a golden crust. Then put the patties on a baking sheet or in a baking dish, pour in cheese sauce and bake in the oven for ten minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees. Five minutes before the end, you can additionally sprinkle the cutlets with grated cheese to form a delicious cheese crust.
If there is no desire to bake cutlets
If chicken cutlets in sour cream sauce in the oven are already fed up, you want something more unusual, you can cook Asian-style gravy and just serve it in a gravy boat. To do this, mix 1/2 cup of cold water with 30 grams of starch.
In a saucepan, combine 100 grams of sugar and 60 grams of good soy sauce, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of rice or apple cider vinegar, as well as a teaspoon of hot pepper sauce (these are sold in departments for oriental cuisine). Heat the resulting mixture and, vigorously stirring with a spoon, pour in the starchy mass. On low heat, let the sauce thicken and pour into a gravy boat, garnishing with a small sprig of parsley. The taste of such gravy is sweet and sour, which is inherent in Asian cuisine as a whole.
Honey Mustard Sauce
An even more saturated sauce can be prepared on the basis of mayonnaise, which, in combination with spicy mustard and the sweetness of honey, will create a unique flavor palette that blends perfectly with chicken cutlets. To prepare this sauce, you will need such products:
- 150 grams of mayonnaise;
- 20 grams of honey and mustard (honey should not be sugared, but liquid).
- two cloves of crushed garlic in a press;
- 1 \ 2 tsp. ground pepper mixture;
- a pinch of zyrra (cumin);
- salt to taste preferences.
This sauce is best mixed in a ceramic or glass dish: combine honey and mustard with crushed garlic and ground spices, beat with a whisk until evenly mixed, and add mayonnaise, continuing to grind the mass for at least three minutes, preferably in one direction (as advised by Chinese masters - clockwise in order to charge food with positive qi energy). In the process, it is worth tasting, if you want, add a little salt. Allow the sauce to brew in a cool place for about thirty minutes and then serve with the main course, watering it on top or placing it in a gravy boat.