The main secrets and recipes for delicious homemade cutlets

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Detailed instructions for those who decide to turn ordinary meat and fish cakes into a triumph of taste. Find out what to add to the reference minced meat, how to bread and cook juicy cutlets in a steam, in the oven or in a skillet.

What to cook cutlets from

Meat

It is better to make minced meat for cutlets yourself from chilled non-lean meat. An almost classic version is a mixture of beef and pork in a 2: 1 ratio. Pure pork cutlets can turn out to be very fatty, and beef cutlets not juicy enough.

You can also add chicken, turkey, or only poultry to cutlets.

A fish

In principle, any fish is suitable for cutlets. The main thing is that there are few bones in it. Therefore, it is better to choose fillets of large breeds: it is much easier to cook cutlets from it than from small bony fish. Salmon, cod, pilengas, halibut are ideal.

Other ingredients

Onion. It must be minced with meat or chopped finely (in this case, it is better to fry and cool it a little), and then add to the minced meat. You can, of course, chop the onion with a fine grater, but this process is a very dubious pleasure.

For 1 kg of meat, 2-3 medium onions are enough.

Stale white bread (loaf). It is needed to keep the cutlets in shape and be more tender. The bread must be soaked in boiled water, milk or cream, squeezed out, removed the crust and passed through a meat grinder. Too much of it is not required: 100-200 g per 1 kg of minced meat is quite enough.

Vegetables: squash, carrots, potatoes, beets, pumpkin. They make the cutlets more juicy and tender. If desired, they can be substituted for bread. It is better to chop vegetables with a grater.

Eggs. Controversial Ingredient: Some chefs think they make the patties tough. However, eggs help to glue the minced meat together. In order not to overdo it, it is better to use no more than two eggs per 1 kg of minced meat.

Salt. For 1 kg of minced meat, about 1 teaspoon of salt is enough.

Spices and herbs. Be sure to add black pepper, garlic and other spices - if desired.

Water, oil, etc. You can add a couple of tablespoons of ice water, a spoonful of vegetable oil or a cube of butter to the minced meat to make the cutlets more juicy.

You can add cream to fish cakes, which will add tenderness to the dish, or lemon juice, which enhances the taste of the fish.

How to prepare minced meat and make cutlets

1. Before chopping meat, remove all veins, films, bones and cartilage from it.
2. If you are mincing all the ingredients, try to alternate them so that the minced meat is more uniform.
3. Minced meat must be kneaded well with your hands and beaten off - this way it will be saturated with oxygen. This can be done in a high-walled saucepan to avoid staining the kitchen. In this case, you need to throw the minced meat at the bottom of the container several times.
4. It is better to cover the finished minced meat with cling film and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so that it can rest. After that, it should be mixed again.
5. You need to sculpt cutlets with wet hands so that the minced meat does not stick to your fingers.
6. Try to form cutlets of the same size, do not grind too small: the larger the cutlets, the juicier they are. Pat the cutlets with your palms to keep them smooth and seamless.

How to bread cutlets

The breading helps the juice stay inside the cutlets, so you shouldn't neglect it. You can use bread crumbs (store-bought or homemade from dry bread), flour, crushed nuts, and sesame seeds.

Please note that crackers absorb more oil. Therefore, if you want to reduce the fat content of the cutlets, choose other breading options or dry the finished cutlets with paper towels.

How to fry cutlets

Place the patties in a well-heated skillet with butter. Be sure to leave a distance between them, otherwise they will not fry, but stew.

First, fry one side over high heat for 1-2 minutes, then reduce heat and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes more. Repeat this on the other side. After that, you can darken the cutlets under the lid for 5-8 minutes.

20 minutes is enough for frying any cutlets. If in doubt, pierce one of them with a knife: light juice indicates that the dish is ready.

How to cook cutlets in the oven

Place the patties on a greased baking sheet and place them in the oven preheated to 180-200 degrees. After 15–20 minutes, pour half a glass of water onto a baking sheet and bake the patties for another 10–15 minutes.

You can also cook fried patties in the oven. In this case, it is better to bake them at a temperature of 160-180 degrees.

How to cook cutlets in a slow cooker

For cooking in a multicooker, the "Frying" or "Baking" modes are suitable. Average cooking time is 40-50 minutes.

Turn the cutlets every 15-20 minutes. If they start to burn, you can add a little water (about ¼ cup).

How to steam cutlets

The easiest way to prepare a meal is in a double boiler. You just need to pour the amount of water indicated in the instructions inside, put the cutlets, turn on the device and cook, depending on the minced meat:

• 20-30 minutes - for poultry and fish cutlets;
• 30-40 minutes - for meat cutlets.

If you don't have a steamer, the patties can be cooked in a water bath. To do this, boil water in a saucepan, put a large sieve on top so that it does not touch the liquid, and cover the structure with a lid. Please note that in this case, the pan and sieve should be approximately the same diameter.

Recipes

Pozharsky cutlets

Ingredients

• 750 g chicken flesh (equal parts breast fillet and thigh fillet);
• 350 g stale loaf;
• 220 ml of milk;
• 30 g butter;
• 2 eggs;
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper;
• ghee or butter - for frying.

Preparation

Soak 150 g of loaf in milk. When it swells, squeeze it and pass it along with the chicken pulp through a meat grinder. Do not pour out the milk: it will still come in handy. Add 30 g soft butter, salt and pepper to the minced meat, mix well and set aside.

Prepare the breadcrumbs separately. To do this, cut the remaining 200 g of the loaf into small cubes (about 4 mm sides) and dry them. Add eggs and a pinch of salt to a bowl of milk and stir.

Shape the minced meat into medium cutlets with wet hands. Dip each in milk mixture, then roll in breadcrumbs and place in a well-heated skillet with butter. Fry the patties over medium heat on both sides until golden brown.

Meat cutlets with mushrooms

Ingredients

• 300 g of beef;
• 200 g of pork;
• 150-200 g of fresh champignons;
• 1 onion;
• 1 egg;
• 2 slices of stale white bread;
• 1-2 cloves of garlic;
• flour - for breading;
• vegetable oil - for frying;
• salt, pepper and other spices to taste.

Preparation

Prepare the mushroom filling first. To do this, rinse and dry the mushrooms thoroughly, and then cut them into small slices. Finely chop the onion, fry until soft. Add the mushrooms and fry until all the water has boiled away. Finally, season with salt and pepper and let cool.

While the filling is cooling, you can cook the minced meat. Pass the meat through a meat grinder, add bread soaked in water (without crusts), an egg and chopped garlic to it. Stir the minced meat until smooth, add salt and spices, mix again and beat with your hands. You can chill the minced meat in the refrigerator, but remember to stir and beat again after that.

Shape the minced meat into a flat cake with wet hands. Place the mushroom filling in the middle. Cover it with a fresh minced patty and make a round patty. Try to make sure that the filling does not come out of the minced meat, and the cutlet itself is even, without seams.

Dip the cutlets in flour and place in a skillet preheated with oil. Fry on both sides until golden brown (as described above) and cook over low heat, covered.

Fish cakes with minced egg and oatmeal

Ingredients

• 700 g cod fillet;
• 1 onion;
• 2 eggs;
• 9 tablespoons of oatmeal;
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and ground pepper to taste;
• 100 g butter;
• vegetable oil - for frying.

Preparation

Pass the cod fillet and onions through a meat grinder. Add greens, 3 tablespoons of oatmeal, lemon juice, salt, pepper to the minced meat. Stir everything and let sit for 30 minutes. At this time, boil the eggs, cool and cut into cubes. Add eggs to minced meat and stir.

Grind 6 tablespoons of oatmeal in a coffee grinder or blender: they will be needed for breading cutlets. With wet hands, make a tortilla out of the minced meat, place a teaspoon of butter in the center and form a cutlet.

Dip the cutlets in chopped oatmeal, fry in vegetable oil until golden brown and immediately transfer to a baking dish. Send it to an oven preheated to 180 degrees and bake for 10-15 minutes.