How to cook chicken aspic using gelatin

In addition to the "Olivier" and "Caesar" on the New Year's table is often present the third traditional dish - it is brawn or jelly. Traditionally, it is created on the basis of beef or pork, as the most fat and affordable options that give a good jelly texture. However, supporters of a healthy diet prefer to replace them with a bird in whole or in part.

How to cook jelly from shreds and chicken, and whether it is possible to do without pork?

How to cook chicken aspic?

By and large, the main component of brawn is meat with cartilage and bone, i.e. those elements that contribute to thickening, since they are natural sources of collagen. However, not everyone likes just tasteless jelly-like mass interspersed with prepared meat, so onions and carrots appeared in the classic recipe of jelly, most often present in simple broths, as well as greens, seasonings and chicken eggs.

Composition:

• Chicken - 1 kg
• Egg - 1 pc.
• Carrots - 1 pc.
• Onion - 1 pc.
• Dill - bunch
• Potted black pepper to taste
• Bay leaf - 2 pcs.
• Garlic cloves - 3 pcs.

Cooking:

1. Aspic is not a dietary dish at all, so be prepared for the fact that the chicken does not require fillets, but a whole carcass. Divide it and type the specified volume in parts: it is best to take the wings, thigh and a little from the breast. It is necessary to remove the skin, but do not touch everything else, because it will give a rich broth, as well as subsequent mass density.
2. Put the chicken in a large saucepan, cover with cold water so that it barely blocks the bird, bring to a boil. For 5 minutes, during which the water will boil, constantly remove the foam from the surface. After that, reduce the heat to minimum, cover the saucepan with the lid and allow the chicken to cook for 2 hours.
3. After the specified time, throw bay leaf into the broth, remove it in an hour. Allow the bird to boil for another 60 minutes, and then add the onion, salt and peas, peeled and cut in half. The last cooking stage will take another 60 minutes.
4. Now it's time to prepare the remaining ingredients: put the chicken egg in boiling water (in a separate container), cook for 9 minutes, then cool, remove the shell from it and cut into large circles. Wash carrots, peel, and cut into slices. Remove garlic cloves from the husk and chop.
5. Remove the bird from the broth, remove the meat from the bone, disassemble it into fibers, lay a thick layer of glass or metal. Top with garlic cloves, egg, carrot and dill. Cool the broth to room temperature, remove the peppercorns and onions from it, pour liquid in the form of liquid. Tighten with cling film and leave in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours.

You can use small tins for serving portion of jelly: in this case it will harden much faster.

How to cook braised chicken and pork?

It is difficult to argue with the fact that the chicken in its fat content, even homemade, country, will never even be even with beef, and nothing about the pork. Consequently, the broth based on it will never turn out to be thick enough, and after solidification it will have a very supple and soft texture, which not all jelly connoisseurs like. For this reason, some hostesses add gelatin, but most still tend to use natural ingredients, so they mix chicken with pork or beef. From the last taken only legs. At the same time, the process of cooking is no more difficult than on pure chicken meat, except perhaps a little longer.

Composition:

• Pork feet - 400 g
• Chicken - 1 kg
• Onion - 2 pcs.
• Bay leaf - 2 pcs.
• Celery root - 1 pc.
• Parsley root - 1 pc.
• Salt - to taste

Cooking:

1. Soak in cold water (but in different bowls), butchered poultry and pork legs. If you have a smoked knuckle, you will not have to do this with it. After 60-90 minutes Remove the meat, remove the skin from it, and additionally chop the pork into several pieces. Dip them into a large deep pan, cover with plenty of cold water, bring to a boil.
2. Boil for 7-10 min., Not forgetting to remove the foam, then reduce the heat to medium. Throw in the pan washed celery root, as well as washed, but not peeled onions - this will make the broth golden. Boil under the lid for 5 hours. If the water boils heavily, add 0.5–1 liter, but pre-boiled and warmed water.
3. After the specified time, throw the parsley root into the broth, as well as salt and bay leaf, cook another 1.5 hours. Check the meat for readiness: it should be easily separated from the bone, especially pork.
4. Remove the meat and cut into large pieces, spread out in containers, which will freeze the jelly. Above a large bowl, stretch gauze folded 3-4 times, pour broth from the pan through it (its amount should decrease by 2-2.5 times from the initial volume of water). If necessary, remove excess fat from it, then allow it to cool to room temperature.

Pour the ready-made broth into the molds, if desired, decorate with greens and crushed garlic cloves, carry into the refrigerator. Approximate solidification time is 6-8 hours.

Tricks homemade jelly from the professionals

Hostess has been arguing for a long time about using gelatin in cold meat: someone argues that without this element the dish is not dense enough, keeps its shape poorly, and someone insists that there was never any third-party thickener in the old recipe of cold jelly. Professionals support this point of view and explain that a dish that has gelatin in its recipe is aspic, and not jelly.

• However, if you are still interested in the question of how to prepare chicken aspic from gelatin, you can refer to any of the options you like aspic and simply pour a little gelatin (20 g per 500 ml of liquid) into the chilled broth. Allow it to swell, dissolve the granules through prolonged stirring and easy heating, then pour the prepared ingredients into the broth.
• Sometimes hostesses complain that the jelly does not get transparent, although most professional photos of this dish show an incredible texture of frozen liquid. Experts reveal a secret: in order for broth not to become muddied, it must be boiled over a very low heat. Yes, it will take more time than the average, but it will positively affect the appearance of the finished jelly. Also boil the meat better in 2 waters: first drain after 30-40 minutes. after boiling, and dip the meat in the cold again.
• An important nuance - seasonings and additional components. Aspic - a dish rather "ascetic", does not accept a large number of additives. Carrots and onions are the main ingredients of the broth, which are best introduced into it for 1-2 hours before the end of cooking. Pepper and bay leaf are added at will, but you shouldn’t regret the salt - it is added as much as it would take if you wanted to over-salt the dish.

And yet the most important moment in the preparation of aspic - the choice of meat. As already mentioned, nothing will make the dish as dense as pork or beef, but not only this determines the successful outcome of the venture. The meat should have veins and cartilages, while the ratio of the meat part and the pork legs themselves should be 2: 1.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that you can make out jelly, entirely relying on your imagination: it is not necessary to fill it with traditional rectangular shape. You can pour broth into glasses, bowls, molds for large cupcakes, or even spherical containers, laying out inside patterns of pieces of meat and vegetables. Neither the guests nor the family members will forget this dish.