Now jellied meat is served to the table as a festive traditional dish, but if we turn to history, then this food in Russia was not always considered worthy of celebrations. In rich houses, after the feasts, the remnants of food were collected, poured with broth, boiled and cleaned in the cold. Such second-rate food was given to the servants. French chefs gave the dish a new taste and elegance, as soon as the fashion for everything French came to our country.
For true connoisseurs of jellied meat, adding gelatin to a dish is considered bad form. So now we will focus on how to cook jellied meat without gelatin.
What to cook aspic
The key to delicious jellied meat is correctly selected meat ingredients. There is an opinion that without the addition of beef legs, the dish may not freeze. If there is an opportunity to cook jellied meat with them, then you should not neglect it, if there is no such opportunity, then you should not be upset. For the jellied meat to freeze, pork legs are enough. There is only one nuance - there should be at least a third of the legs relative to other meat. For example, for 700 grams of legs with hooves (this is mandatory), you should take no more than one and a half kilograms of other meat. You can take absolutely any meat - veal, beef, chicken. Some do not recognize poultry meat in aspic. But here it is for an amateur. It is just important to understand that a large amount of meat will not allow the jellied meat to freeze. For better gelling, the meat should be skinned and veined.
How to cook jellied meat
Before cooking the jellied meat, the meat should be cut, peeled and the skin should be tarred, if necessary, and then be sure to soak it for several hours in cold water. You can soak the meat overnight.
After soaking, the meat is washed, folded into a cauldron or pan and filled with water 5 cm higher and put on fire. After boiling, the fire must be reduced, there will be a constant formation of foam, it should be constantly removed. The process lasts 10 minutes, after which it stops completely.
Then cover the pot and keep boiling to a minimum. Even if the water boils away, you should not add it.
How much to cook jellied meat
After the jellied meat boils, it should be cooked over low heat for about 5 hours. After this time, unpeeled but thoroughly washed carrots, onions, celery or parsley roots are added to the broth. From spices, allspice and peas are added, necessarily bay leaf. Salt to taste, about a teaspoon of rock salt.
If the water has boiled away significantly, you will have to add it from the kettle, as the liquid will be needed. Cook the jellied meat for another hour and a half. In general, jellied meat is cooked for at least six hours.
When the jellied meat is cooked, we filter the broth through cheesecloth or through a colander. We discard unnecessary roots, carrots and onions, cut the meat into small pieces with our hands. It is better not to scroll in a meat grinder, otherwise there is a risk of leaving bones. Garlic crushed through a press is added to the cut meat. Put the meat component of the jellied meat into a prepared dish, then fill it with broth. Everything is mixed very carefully.
How much jelly freezes
After everything is poured into trays, the dish should be allowed to cool completely. Then we place the trays in the refrigerator, preferably on the middle shelf. If the trays are covered with lids, then you can put them on top of each other. If there are no lids, you can cover the dishes with a cutting board.
Properly cooked jellied meat hardens for about 4-5 hours. Better, of course, to let it stand in the refrigerator overnight.
Before serving the dish on the table, the dishes with it should be immersed in hot water for a few seconds, then the jellied meat will easily separate from the dishes. The dishes heated in this way are turned over, substituting a flat dish for the jellied meat.
You can serve jellied meat with horseradish or mustard.
