Homemade Jelly Meat with Chicken - Holodets
It is a recipe learned from my mother, but adapted to the current conditions of what I could find in the market. I didn't have country chicken, which is perfect for meat jelly, and I don't really like pork jelly (it's too fat) - so I did what I had and what is healthier. It is a food that is made for the holidays, very good, healthy and even with reasonable calories (for those on a diet it is very good).
Wash chicken well.
Portion it, and boil it in a saucepan with water.
When it starts to boil, turn down the heat and leave for 10-15 minutes.
Then take the meat out of the water, wash it well. Throw the water in which the chicken was boiled and wash the pan well. I recommend the procedure to make chicken soup as healthy and clear as possible (that's how housewives are cold :). I also removed the skin from the chicken, also to avoid the toxic substances with which the chicken is treated.
Pour enough filtered water to cover the meat and put the pan back on the fire.
When it starts to boil, add the whole onion (cleaned and washed), the bay leaf, make the fire as small as possible, cover with a lid (leave a crack to let the steam out) and let it boil. If you make commercial chicken, leave it for 1-2 hours, if it is made from pork / beef legs, it should boil for 4-5 hours.
Careful! It should boil very slowly, you can barely see the air bubbles.
You will notice that after it has boiled well, the meat is soft, it is easily removed from the bones and the soup is very fragrant. When ready, turn off the heat and let it sit for another hour.
Then separate the meat soup, put gelatin in the soup and it would be good to put it while the soup is hot well, to dissolve the gelatin (but be careful - gelatin loses its qualities in very hot water).
Then season with salt and allow to cool. When warm, add the crushed garlic and mix.
To make a perfect cooling to taste, know that you should salt a little more than you like (the meat will absorb salt) and a little more garlic. Let it have a strong garlic taste and slightly saltier.
The meat is removed from the bones and placed evenly in 2-3 deep plates, in those of soup or broth.
The soup is poured through a sieve on top of the meat, until the plate is full - it must cover the meat.
Leave the cooling in the fridge for a few hours until it sticks.
Then I recommend beautifying it with some vegetables. I use boiled carrots to make some kind of roses. Cut from a piece of boiled carrot, around a 1.5 cm wide strip.
Then roll the tape.
And put it on its feet, so it should look like that.
Then I use boiled egg slices and greens. You put these as you like. The recipe is a bit Ukrainian-inspired, that's how grandma makes them, my mother learned from her and so on .... :)
Coconut or pork meatballs are made in the same way, only it is boiled longer - 4-5 hours and no gelatin is added. You can chop the meat as you like - larger or smaller pieces, but I recommend removing the bones.
Good appetite!
