, Tan, you are always a heroic hero ... personally, I am not capable of such feats ... and I always make a bunch of cutlets)))
but about the technology, I immediately read and understood ... and I also found the salted onion in some old records stolen from Daria Pozharskaya)))
Famous Pozharsky cutlets
became a legend already under A.S. Pushkin, who loved to visit Torzhok - to the tavern of Daria Pozharskaya, where they cooked the best Russian cutlets from minced chicken meat, soft, juicy and with a crispy crust. After the poet glorified this delicious dish in his works, recommended to his friends to stay at a hotel and dine in a tavern, Torzhok turned into one of the most popular places in Russia. Pushkin wrote to his friend Sobolevsky: "At your leisure, dine at Pozharsky's in Torzhok, taste fried cutlets and go light." However, many celebrities of that time stayed in the famous Pozharsky hotel - and everyone tasted the Pozharsky cutlets, the recipe of which was not known to anyone at that time. We were more lucky, we learned how to cook Pozharsky cutlets at home.
Pozharsky cutlets: the history of a colorful dish
Who invented the recipe for Pozharsky cutlets? There are different versions of the origin of this dish, but Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who liberated Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian troops, has absolutely nothing to do with it. Some historians claim that once Emperor Nicholas I stayed at the Pozharsky hotel.The pre-approved menu included veal cutlets, but, to the horror of the owners of the inn, veal was not available, and then Daria's father, at his own peril and risk, replaced the veal with chicken. The sovereign liked the tender chicken cutlets so much that he began to invite the Pozharskys to cook for the imperial court. According to another version, the secret of cutlets was told to Daria Pozharskaya by one poor Frenchman who had nothing to pay for the night and dinner. On this recipe, the Pozharsky family made a fortune, because the cutlets have become a real culinary attraction not only in Torzhok, but throughout Russia. The peculiarity of Pozharsk cutlets is that they are not prepared from minced chicken, but from finely chopped meat, without eggs and spices, rolling semi-finished products in a special breading and frying them in butter of the highest quality. It would seem that the dish is simple and it will not be difficult to prepare it, but first, get acquainted with the secrets and subtleties of cooking cutlets, which, undoubtedly, were known to Daria Pozharskaya.
Pozharsky cutlets: what meat they are made from
There is an assumption that in the original recipe for cutlets there was veal, but from the 18th-19th centuries they were prepared only from chicken. Experienced chefs who make Pozharsky cutlets in restaurants advise mixing meat of different fat content, using chicken breast and legs in equal proportions, because cutlets should not be dry. So, you will need about 800 g of meat - this is already without bones and skin. Whether to add skin to the minced meat is a matter of taste, but in classic recipes, the meat is ground without the skin. The minced meat should turn out to be very tender and juicy, it is no coincidence that the artist Mikhailo Zhdanov wrote in his travel diary: “Very tasty cutlets are prepared in the Pozharskaya Hotel; they are made from chicken and melt in the mouth: I advise everyone passing through Torzhok to eat them. A portion or two cutlets cost only a ruble. "
So, the minced meat turned out to be very tender, juicy and melting in the mouth, in accordance with the pre-revolutionary recipe for Pozharsky cutlets, the meat for them was not ground, but finely chopped.
Minced meat cooking secrets
In the minced chicken for Pozharsky cutlets, a crumb of fresh bread of good quality was necessarily added - dense, without voids and bubbles - in this case, you will need about 150 g of crumb of a white sliced loaf. It was soaked in a glass of heavy cream of at least 30% fat. A bread crust weighing about 200 g was frozen in the freezer - it is needed a little later for making breading.
For minced meat, onions are needed, about half as much as meat, that is, about 400 g, although Daria Pozharskaya did not add it to cutlets. Chop the onion very finely - the pieces should be the size of rice grains. It must be fried in butter or olive oil until transparent, making sure that the onion does not brown in any way. Never add raw onions to minced chicken - the taste of the cutlets will deteriorate significantly.
Some cooks believe that meat should be chopped with a knife or chopped in a blender, not in a meat grinder, arguing that a meat grinder destroys the structure of meat fibers and flattens them, rather than chops them. In their opinion, such cutlets, although they turn out to be soft, do not melt in the mouth, as it should be done by a real Pozharsky. However, other culinary experts believe that the blender turns meat into mashed potatoes, and even under Daria Pozharskaya there was no such unit, therefore, if it is impossible to finely chop the meat with a knife, it is better to use a meat grinder. Grind the meat to the consistency of buckwheat porridge, and then you can mix it with cooled fried onions and moist bread crumb, which should not be wrung out. If the bread is dense and high-quality enough, it will absorb the right amount of milk and cream - nothing more and nothing less.
How to make minced meat juicy and tender
It is not enough just to mix the right ingredients, even if they are of very high quality.According to the classic recipe of Pozharsky cutlets with a photo, minced meat is kneaded very well, as the dough is kneaded, collecting it into a lump and turning it into a layer for a long time, because the longer the minced meat is kneaded, the juicier it will turn out. In the process of kneading, the minced meat must be salted and pepper to taste. Cooks also recommend wrapping the meat in plastic wrap and hitting the table with all of your might.
Minced meat is ready as soon as the mass becomes smooth, homogeneous and plastic and it will be easy to form cutlets from it. The main thing is not to overdo it in kneading, after all, this is meat, not dough, otherwise the minced meat will turn out to be liquid.
Cubes of finely chopped and pre-frozen butter are also added to the minced meat - it should be at least 150 g. After that, the minced meat does not need to knead, it is enough to stir slightly and immediately refrigerate for about half an hour. The butter should not melt, because it is the hard oil grains that give the minced meat the necessary viscosity and density.
We form and fry Pozharsky cutlets
While the minced meat is freezing in the refrigerator, you can do breading. The crust of bread frozen in the freezer is crushed on a coarse grater, since you should not get crumbs, but scales, but small crumbs will also work. Pour the breading into a plate, place a bowl of hot water on the table, and remove the minced meat from the refrigerator.
First you need to wet your hands, then scoop the minced meat, quickly mold a patty-shaped cutlet, flatten it slightly and roll in breading. If you did everything correctly, the cutlet will be wet and the bread flakes will stick to it without difficulty.
Ready cutlets are laid out on a dish, which it is advisable to put in the refrigerator. If the minced meat becomes too soft due to the melted butter, place it back in the cold. When the semi-finished products are ready, keep them for another 10 minutes in the refrigerator, this time is just enough to prepare for frying. The oven should be turned on at 180 ° C, and 3 tbsp is melted in a pan. l. ghee or 1 tbsp. l. regular butter mixed with 2 tbsp. l. olive oil. Cutlets are laid out in a pan, lightly fried on both sides until crusty, and then transferred to a baking sheet or placed in the oven directly in the pan. If you like more juicy cutlets, then bake them in a pan with the remaining oil. Pozharsky cutlets in the oven should spend from 7 to 15 minutes, it all depends on their size and minced meat consistency. This technology gives the cutlets a crust and preserves tender and juicy meat inside.
Serve ready-made cutlets right on the table, without letting them cool down, otherwise they will not taste good, because heating this dish since the time of Daria Pozharskaya was considered a terrible culinary crime. The fact is that fresh cutlets have a crispy crust, and the flesh is very tender, but as soon as the cutlets lie down, the crust becomes very soft and moist, and the core resembles rubber.
Five tips for making Pozharsky cutlets
1. A crust of bread or bread loaf can be replaced with salty crackers, which should be broken into small pieces.
2. If you do not have an oven, it does not matter - Pozharskie cutlets after roasting can be darkened under a lid over low heat or brought to readiness in a microwave oven, airfryer or slow cooker.
3. Pozharskie cutlets with filling - with cheese, bacon, ham or vegetables - are unusually tasty.
4. Pozharskie cutlets can also be made from veal or beef, but for juiciness, add a piece of ground bacon to the minced meat.
5. If you need to cook Pozharsky cutlets in advance, then place them after frying in an airtight package and place in the freezer. Before serving, you just need to put them on a baking sheet or in a mold without defrosting and bake for 30 minutes.
Pozharskie cutlets with cheese
Sometimes you can deviate from tradition by making cutlets with an appetizing cheese filling.Soak 200 g of white bread without the crust in half a glass of warm high-fat milk, grind 0.5 kg of chicken meat, and then mix the chicken with the soaked bread and 2 minced garlic cloves.
Knead the minced meat well according to all the rules, cut 150 g of cheese into slices, prepare half a glass of chopped crackers. Form a tortilla, place a slice of cheese in the middle, mold a patty with cheese filling.
Fry the cutlets in a frying pan in butter until golden brown, then place them on a baking sheet and simmer for 15 minutes in the oven at 180 ° C. Serve hot with potatoes or fresh salad and taste while the cheese is still melted!
Pozharskie cutlets with veal and pieces of bacon
Considering that before the Pozharskys, similar cutlets were made from veal, the recipe can be considered a classic one.
Soak 150 g of bread in the cream, dice 100 g of lard and freeze in the refrigerator. Grind 400 g of chicken and 450 g of veal in a meat grinder, mix the minced meat with lard and bread, add your favorite seasonings. Knead the minced meat well until smooth, grate the dried loaf on a coarse grater or grind it with a mortar - you should get small croutons.
Blind the cutlets, roll in bread crumbs and fry in butter, then hold in the oven until the cutlets reach. In this recipe, fat is added to the minced meat instead of butter, so the Pozharsky cutlets are even more tender and juicy.
Pozharskie cutlets were often served with various sauces, and in the Pozharskys' tavern they especially loved mushroom sauce, which was prepared like bechamel, but with the addition of fried champignons. It is interesting that the sauce was necessarily chopped to a puree state, and together with the cutlets it turned out to be unusually tasty. Agree that cooking Pozharsky cutlets is not so difficult, this dish requires a thoughtful approach and patience, and everything else will come with experience!
