Last week I made holodets for small Russia party. Holodets (холодец)--it's one of Russian foods that Americans very frequently dislike :). It is a meat jelly with meat cuts and spices inside.
This dish’s name “holodets” is from the Russian word “holod”, i.e., “cold”- the final preparation step is to cool in a refrigerator for a few hours.
Holodets Ingredients
- 2 lbs pig, cow or chicken feet (or use chicken legs as an alternative)
- 1 lb boneless meat (any kind of meat, for example chicken thighs)
- Water
- 1 onion, peeled
- 2 carrots
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 gloves of garlic
How To Make Russian Holodets
- Put all the meat, whole onion, carrots, salt and pepper in a large pot ( I use pressure cooker) . Add enough water to completely cover the meat plus an extra inch of water on top of the meat.
- Bring water to a boil and skim off the foam.
- Reduce heat to simmer, cover and simmer for 3 hours.
- Add the bay leaves and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Discard the onion, carrots, and bay leaves.
- Pull the meat away from the bones and discard the bones.
- Add two gloves of fresh minced garlic
- Chop all the meat and put on the bottom of an 8×12 dish (or any size of dishes you want).
- Refrigerate the dish with Holodets overnight.
- Cut Holodets into squares and serve with horseradish or mustard.
Приятного аппетита!