Why "Selyanka"? Because - soup!
Everyone is free to think and count as they want and feel comfortable. But I have determined for myself the difference in names between soup and food, which is called the "second course". Soup - "selyanka", the rest - "hodgepodge". For anyone interested in understanding in detail, there are a lot of materials on this topic on the Internet.
I have tried to cook this great food many, many times. And I've tried many recipes. And so, based on this experience, taking as a basis the description of the preparation of this soup from Molokhovets and Filatova, I introduced some details into it, which, in my opinion, significantly improved the taste of the soup. Enhanced, so to speak, the brightness of this wonderful food.
And, forgive me, I did not weigh the products. I put what is called "by eye", but it turned out "just". Although, of course, some recommendations for the number of ladies. But! Still, you need to be guided by the taste of what you will put into your boiler, if you decide to repeat this process.
This villager was preparing on the eve of the meat-eating (cheese) week, known as Maslenitsa. And, of course, guests were expected during this week. Therefore, I took a bigger boiler. So that, then, everyone had enough.
For broth, it is best to use, for example, salmon heads, rump, heads, ridges and other fins. I get such sets, like soup ones, from Globus. And necessarily from smoked fish and just fish. On my boiler, it has seven liters, I usually put two sets. The set includes a pair of heads, ridges, fins, etc. And about eight heads. They weigh a maximum of about five hundred grams. And of course, when I cut the fish for the villager, all kinds of ridges, fins and even a skin remain. All this is not harmful for the broth.
From vegetables I take a couple of carrots, a couple of medium-sized onions. Vegetables can be lightly baked in a dry skillet.
Any roots are white. A teaspoon of peas and a bay leaf. It has a very positive effect on the taste of the broth. If there is a hot dried pepper, then a small pod should be laid.
I will note that crayfish shells, claws and heads (only from the heads it is better to clean everything unnecessary) or even shrimp skins are also very useful for broth.
You can make a bunch of greenery. Tie twigs of three parsley and dill together and put on top.
Put all the fish in a saucepan, pour cold clean water and put on high heat. Foam, it will definitely appear. It must be removed and the fire should be slightly reduced so that it does not boil intensively. Wait until the foam ceases to stand out and send everything accompanying to the boiler.
Then reduce the heat to a minimum so that there is no boil, from the word "in general"! So… rare bubbling is allowed. Cover with a lid and let the broth simmer.An hour and a half to two.
If you cook the broth as described, believe me, you get a very aromatic, rich broth. There will be no pungent fishy odor and no taste of digested fish oil. Achieved by languor!
Remove all fish-vegetable component from broth and strain thoroughly. I always put two sieves. Still, small bones and scales will not add to the pleasure of eating. Just believe it.
The broth will turn out to be very rich, I repeat. Even with the aroma of a fire. This smoked head will give that feeling. Well, the taste, of course, turns out to be very ... rich and not harsh.
And there is nothing more to say about the broth. Let it stand and wait in the wings.
Yes, about the quantities. I got a little more than 4 liters.
Now about the rest. About what the villager will then gather from. That's why she is the team.
A general comment, or rather a rule, from my point of view. All that from which the villager is going, one way or another, will have to be chopped and chopped. So, in order not to return to this question anymore, the size of the slices, which are cut, should be such that the spoon can fit at least a little, but not one product. I assure you - this is much tastier.
In my opinion, there are several products without which a villager should not be started at all. From the word "never". Because anything will turn out, but not a hodgepodge.
Cucumbers. Salty. Precisely salty. Such, you know from a barrel, so that with a currant leaf, horseradish and other dill there.
Why not pickled? In pickled cucumbers, in the process of salting them, lactic acid is formed. And in pickled ones, it is vinegar. The taste, you know, is very different products.
A glass of brine - one and a half is also needed.
And you need to choose cucumbers, which is called "larger than average." But avoid soft ones. Of course, such cucumbers will already have a rough edible skin, so the cucumbers need to be peeled. And slice. Not very fine, elongated cubes like this.
And now I will share the first of those tricks, or a nuance that I have isolated from numerous descriptions of the preparation of a fish villager and having tried it once, now I always use it. And I advise you. You will not regret.
We take cucumber skin and other accompanying cucumbers, leaves there and other crap. Pour all this with a glass of brine and boil. Five minutes. No more.
And then pour the contents of the ladle into chopped pickles. Do not forget to strain. And put out the cucumbers over low heat. Until the disappearance of, shall we say, the aggressive crunchiness of pickles. BUT! Here you have to watch carefully. Cucumbers should not be boiled, but slightly stewed. So that some firmness felt like a pleasant, delicious tenderness.
Olives, olives, capers.
Everything is simpler - simple. But it's better to take those that are pitted, and you can take stuffed olives. Shrimp there, lemons or anchovies - these additions for hodgepodge are all harmless, I assure you.
About a dozen olives and olives each, and a tablespoon topped with capers.
Cut olives with olives into rings, but capers are not worth it. They are not large anyway.
Mushrooms. If you have salty ones, then you are in luck. Only, I emphasize, salty. I do not recommend pickled ones. And all because of him, because of the vinegar. It is very good if there are at least two varieties of mushrooms. Ideal - boletus and milk mushrooms. In general, salted mushrooms just need to be cut if necessary. Otherwise, they are absolutely ready for the village.
But good salted mushrooms are rare. But frozen ones are now found everywhere. And someone in the freezer has and personally collected in the summer.
With mushrooms, if they are fresh, the following nuance is associated.
They need to be warmed up in a pan and lightly, quite a bit fried.
And send olives-olives-capers to the mushrooms in the pan. You can add a scoop of fish broth and a little, literally a couple of tablespoons, well, let's say, olive-olive brine. And warm up a little. Five minutes - seven, no more.
Place a lid on the pan and set aside. Until assembly time.
Cancers.Since the villager is fishy, and besides, she is also a rich team, it is difficult to do without them. First, the crayfish, of course, must be boiled. Preferably with pepper, lavrushka and dill. Immerse it in boiling water for literally three to five minutes and it will be enough.
We take out the very cancerous necks from the crayfish. Secretly, this is what the cancer contains inside the tail. Have to crumble, they are large for "one bite."
I have already spoken about shells, cancerous heads. They belong in the broth.
And the claws? You can also throw it into the broth, or you can even peel it out - gnaw it. Especially if with beer.
No crayfish? Take two hundred grams of shrimp. Pour boiling water over them for a minute, then peel off all excess from them and grind. The replacement is quite worthy.
And if the villager is fishy, then you need fish. You know, even if you don't put fish in the pot, nothing will change. The fish broth will cover everything.
Although, once the cooked broth was used without my knowledge for something else, and I prepared everything for the villager. I had to replace the broth with just water. In this case, the fish is required! Let it cook for a very short time, but it will give the taste. As the guests once said to me, by the way, they were very sophisticated in Moscow - restaurant business, the village turned out like in the "Metropol". And it may well be so - he caters and is catering. A restaurant, a Metropol.
So that's it. I usually take a couple of medium-sized pike perch. There is not much difference - just cut into pieces, or mill the carcass. Well, you will have to eat more carefully, the bones will meet.
And some salmon. I advise you to take fresh. Although salty will not make the villager worse. If fresh, then after you cut the fish, you should add a little salt to it.
Well. It seems like everything is prepared. It remains to prepare the gas station and it will be possible to collect the villager.
Refueling will start with onions. I highly recommend, regardless of the troubles that arise, to take such small heads. It is of course, while you clean them, while you cut them - you sweat. But believe me, it's worth it. And purely visually - aesthetically it will look very beautiful. Note that the tomatoes in this photo are still purely for scale.
And this dressing should be cooked in ghee. You can take vegetable oil, but cow oil will create a wonderful bouquet of flavors. If you dare to cook, see for yourself.
And then onion over medium heat must be brought to a golden brown state. Do not overcook only. Why do you need heartburn?
Then the carrots are sent to the pan. Optimally - grate a couple of medium-sized carrots on a coarse grater. Mix gently. Simmer until the carrots are soft. It will be very harmless to add a couple of scoops of broth in the process. Remove from above, To with fat.
Tomatoes. If we talk about fresh ones, then you definitely need soil ones. You know, so fragrant, sweet with a slight sourness. In a word - real. If such are caught, then it is imperative to remove the skin from them and grind them.
But such tomatoes are not so common nowadays, or they cost like black caviar. Therefore, you can use all kinds of canned food. BUT! In no case should you take pickled ones. Only in its own juice. Again, if the tomatoes are unpeeled, the skins must be removed. Otherwise, you risk getting incomprehensible rags in the soup, moreover, inedible.
And, of course, if you have jerky in stock, then add. You will not regret. A little necessary.
In total, you need to take three hundred grams of tomatoes. Well, if very good ones, you can four hundred.
And in their pan. That is, tomatoes. Stir gently.
And yet I add a tablespoon of good tomato paste to the top. The dressing acquires piquancy and the taste becomes richer.
And simmer over low heat. It is necessary to somehow select the temperature regime so that it, the dressing, seems to be fried, but not fried, and stewed, but not in the trash.
Cook until the dressing acquires a grilled tomato flavor. It is necessary that all the tastes in the pan acquire a commonality, when there is nothing without each other.
Try it closer to the end.If suddenly there is too much acid, tomatoes are like that, balance the taste by adding a little sugar.
As soon as the gas station is ready, we begin the assembly process.
I have a big pot like this. Kazan sample. And cast iron, too. I highly recommend having one.
The first thing to do is to send the gas station to it. Five to seven minutes, gently stirring, warm up.
And then add the cucumbers. They are, if anyone has forgotten, with pickle. I recommend that if cooled, then warm up to the boil.
The queue of the contents of the pan with mushrooms and olives, olives, capers. We stir, not forgetting about the delicate handling of the contents of the boiler.
Add shrimp, mix and let stand for a while. It is necessary to evaporate excess moisture, to ensure that the contents of the boiler do not turn into porridge, namely a little ... well, let's just say - concentrated.
And ... we fill the already harvested, almost completely, villager with broth.
And although the broth has already been strained, I strongly advise you to use the strainer again. What if there is such a scaly left.
Stir and let it stand on "slightly above medium" heat until whisking appears. In no case should you allow some kind of violent boiling.
It's the fish's turn. We carefully lower the prepared fish into the cauldron. I will repeat again, then that this is really important, from my point of view. Do not simmer. Let it take more time until ready, but it's worth it.
When the pike perch comes to this state - consider it almost ready.
And then it's time to bring the balance. If it is necessary to add salt, or to quench excess acid with sugar, for example. In general, adjust the taste of the soup in accordance with your idea of the villager.
And, of course, greens. For my part, I can give only one recommendation. Do not get carried away with greens. You risk getting too much spice. It is better to add it later to the bowl with the ready-made soup, if anyone needs it.
Five minutes, turn off the heating and put the lid on the boiler. And of course, you have to endure. The best thing is until tomorrow. But, at least half an hour, let the villager stand quietly. If, of course, you can.
And, of course, a slice of good, sweet - sour, aromatic lemon in each plate. I highly recommend it.
Sour cream, believe me, does not spoil the villager, but it's a matter of taste. Someone needs it, some don't.
Angela at the meal!
