French fries with potatoes - a dish that has gained widespread popularity. It is on the restaurant menu, prepared for the holidays, served on weekdays and on the occasion of the arrival of guests. Oddly enough, the French know very little about this dish. A hearty, beautiful-looking dish has nothing to do with French cuisine. What is the secret of the name of the dish?
A bit of history
It turns out that meat in French from pork and potatoes was cooked by our distant ancestors. Russian roots in "French" meat are much deeper than in the famous salad "Olivier". The earliest name for the dish is Veau Orloff. For the first time, fried meat with an exquisite delicate sauce was served to the favorite of the Empress Count Orlov. It should be noted that over time, the meat recipe has not changed much, in contrast to the salad, which left only pickles and boiled chicken eggs.
The main secret of the name of the dish is that, for its preparation, the so-called French mayonnaise sauce was used. There was nothing more and was not connected with France in the dish.
Cooking features
Of course, a very important part of the recipe is meat. For cooking meat in French with potatoes, quality pork is most often chosen. It is better if it is not the greasy part of the carcass, for example, a loin, a neck or a part of pork ham. For cooking, you can also use veal flesh, chicken or beef tenderloin.
The dish goes well with both vegetables and other types of side dishes. As a rule, meat is served in French to the original Russian strong drink - vodka. This is a great fatty, nutritious, high-calorie snack. However, with red French wine, meat will “look” no worse.
When serving meat, it is recommended to lay out and cut in a special way. Fur coat layers must not be broken.
The highlight of the dish is an exquisite crisp. Were it not for gratin, fried meat would be just meat.
French fries with potatoes: a step by step recipe
We offer you the most basic basic recipe that even a novice hostess can master. For cooking you will need affordable products and a strong desire to create a true culinary masterpiece.
List of ingredients
- Pork - 550 g.
- Onion - 3 pieces.
- Hard cheese - 350 g.
- 220 g of mayonnaise (instead of the store, you can use the home version on one egg).
- 2 kg of potatoes.
- Fresh dill.
- Breadcrumbs - three tablespoons
- Salt.
- Seasoning for meat (coriander, nutmeg, ground pepper).
Cooking method
The pulp of pork must be thoroughly washed, clean the piece of films and excess fat. It is recommended to cut the meat along the fibers. Put the portioned pieces on a wooden board and beat off with a hammer. Before the process, it is better to cover the slices with a film so that the meat juice does not scatter in different directions. If you leave a large amount of fat, it will tighten the meat. If you still want the fat to be present on the meat, then several cuts should be made over its entire surface. Depth 1-2 cm.
A very important step in cooking meat in French with potatoes is pickling pork. For marinade, it is better to use the most simple and familiar spices: coriander, dried basil, rosemary, ground pepper, nutmeg, salt. Rub all the pieces with the mixture and leave to marinate for 25 minutes. During this time, you can cut potatoes into thick circles, onions in half rings.
Prepare a baking sheet. Lightly grease it with olive oil and spread a layer of potatoes. Spread the meat well seasoned with black pepper, coriander, salt in a second layer. We coat the meat layer with mayonnaise. As experienced housewives say, cooking meat in French in the oven with potatoes is not worth saving on mayonnaise. When planning to make this dish, you need to be prepared for the fact that it will be fat and high-calorie. On a layer of mayonnaise, spread the half rings of onions. The last layer is cheese.
To get the perfect crust, mix the grated cheese with a spoon of breadcrumbs, mix thoroughly, sprinkling with melted margarine. This is the easiest and most affordable gratin recipe. By taste, the crisp on meat in French with potatoes can be called an independent dish. Previously, gratin was removed from a layer of meat and was eaten separately.
Dish options
A dish such as French meat with potatoes (photo attached) is incredibly popular. No wonder that he had a huge variety of cooking variations. By far, the most popular recipe is pork and potatoes. By analogy with the classic recipe, you can cook other equally tasty and hearty dishes:
- Beef with cheese and mushrooms.
- Veal with wild mushrooms, garlic and Parmesan cheese.
- French meat from pork and ground beef with gratin from cheese, basil and homemade mayonnaise sauce.
- Pork with pineapple and onions.
- French meat with potatoes and tomatoes.
Useful tips and tricks
- To make the meat in the dish acquire an unusual piquant taste and become much softer, it is recommended to marinate it in red wine before sending it to the baking dish.
- If there is no mayonnaise in the refrigerator, and you do not know how to cook homemade mayonnaise sauce or simply do not use this product in cooking, then you can replace it with sour cream mixed with soft cheese.
- Onions are an important component of a dish. But you can cook the dish without it, replacing the onion with a grated apple or chopped pickled champignons.
- If it is necessary to reduce the calorie content of a dish, then we take young veal or beef tenderloin, and we completely exclude potatoes.
- So that the dish does not burn, and the ingredients are better saturated with mayonnaise sauce, it is recommended to lay the first layer of potatoes, not meat.
- It is very important to consider the thickness of the meat pieces. The thicker the chop, the longer the cooking process.
- If, nevertheless, it turned out that the meat was cut too thick (or it was badly beaten), then you should not pour cheese right away. Bake meat without gratin for 30 minutes. Then remove the baking sheet from the oven, pour the cheese, send it back.
- If you need to cook the dish faster, then the potatoes should be slightly boiled in advance.
- To make the meat more french in cheese, layered not only with mayonnaise, but also add a little grated cheese before each layer.
- In some recipes, gratin is a mixture of finely chopped onions, grated cheese, breadcrumbs. crackers and mayonnaise.
- Very often, French meat is served with baked vegetables. It is not recommended to lay vegetables on the same baking sheet with meat. They give a lot of juice, which can ruin the main course.
Bechamel sauce
If ordinary mayonnaise seems too simple to you, then we suggest cooking meat in French with the famous Bechamel sauce. The process of preparing products for this dish is exactly the same as in the main recipe. The only difference is that instead of mayonnaise, French sauce is used, the popularity of which originated in the time of Count Orlov.
Ingredients
- 650 ml of milk.
- A pinch of salt.
- Nutmeg.
- A little ground black pepper.
- 2 tbsp. l flour.
- Chicken egg - 2 pieces.
- Oil drain. - 1 tablespoon.
- 160 g of hard cheese.
Cooking process
Pour melted butter, milk into a small saucepan, add nutmeg, pepper and salt. As experienced housewives say, without nutmeg, the taste of Bechamel sauce will be far from ideal. We put the pan on the fire. Add the flour and begin to gradually mix. Once the thickening process begins, you can add the grated cheese and break the eggs. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, simmer for a couple of minutes, remove from the stove.