Russian Holodets

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!