What are 100 to 1 cutlets made from? Minced fish cutlets: delicious recipes. Pollock fish cutlets

Cutlets are the same pillar of home comfort as morning coffee with fresh pastries. But if it’s not difficult to brew a cup of Arabica or Robusta, and you can run to the nearest pastry shop for hot croissants, then with minced meat products things are not so simple. Factory-made semi-finished products cannot be compared with ruddy, good-quality homemade cutlets. And the smell spreading through the apartment in waves! And amazing juicy taste! But novice cooks often have problems making cutlets. Either the products fall apart in a frying pan into meat crumbles, or they turn out to be too tough, and even with an unpleasant smell... Sometimes they burn at the edges, while the middle remains raw, not cooked. In this article we will look at a basic recipe for making cutlets. Based on it, you can experiment with ingredients and their proportions, achieving a new taste each time. We will also reveal several secrets of perfect minced meat and explain some rules for frying cutlets.

Ingredients

The main component of this dish is ground meat. In principle, cutlets can be made from any variety: beef, veal, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey. But ideally it is better to take a mixture of two minced meats. Combine lean meat with fatty pork. This way you will achieve a balance of rich taste and maximum juiciness. Fish cutlets are very tasty. But they are made from the same minced meat. So what do you need to make cutlets? The list of ingredients is not limited to just minced meat. You need onions - the eternal companion of meat. The egg acts as a “cementing” substance in the cutlets. The crumb of white bread soaked in milk will add fluffiness to the products. Salt and black pepper are present in almost all dishes. This is a required list of components. Optionally, you can add various vegetables, mushrooms, cheese, herbs, and garlic to the cutlet mixture. Making minced meat cutlets is a fascinating process. Where, if not here, can you experiment with spices? Let's add suneli hops, coriander, cilantro to the minced meat, and from herbs - oregano, marjoram.

Secrets of perfect minced meat

The first rule applies not only to cutlets, but also to other dishes: do not be greedy. Nothing good can come from bad ingredients. Choose high-quality meat: not too old beef, lean pork, young lamb, fresh, plump chicken. Some people only accept hand-chopped minced meat: this leaves more juice between the fibers. But if you do not have sufficient dexterity, mince beef and pork two or three times. The next rule: the loaf must be from yesterday. Fresh bread makes products sticky. Although the classic recipe for making cutlets involves the use of eggs, you can do without them. Some housewives add semolina instead. But to prevent the cutlets from coming out too tough, simply beat off the prepared minced meat. Take the pan and forcefully slam the mixture onto the bottom. Repeat this procedure for at least three minutes, and you will notice how the consistency of the minced meat has changed. It became smooth, as if shiny, elastic, like dough. Such minced meat no longer needs a binding element (eggs or semolina).

Classic cutlet recipe

First, cut off the crust from about a third of the stale loaf and soak the pulp in milk. The classics of the genre can then be diversified with rye crust in kefir or yogurt. While the bread is soaking, take half a kilo of pork and beef and grind it all through a meat grinder 2-3 times. We chop the onion in the same way, but it would be better to grate it - this will make the dish more juicy. Solo pork cutlets will harm the pancreas, and beef cutlets will be clogged. If you only use cow meat, mince the lard as well. In this case, to make the products more fluffy, add a small amount of butter to the minced meat. Squeeze out the bread crumb and also grind it in a meat grinder. Squeeze or finely chop the garlic. Beat in two eggs. Stir the mixture well, add salt, seasonings and herbs. Using wet hands, shape into oval shapes. Roll homemade cutlets in a breading of flour or breadcrumbs and fry them in vegetable oil on both sides. This main dish is ideally served with a side dish of mashed potatoes, boiled vegetables, cereals or pasta.

Frying secrets

If you are the lucky owner of a non-stick frying pan, you can skip the breading. Making cutlets from store-bought minced meat requires defrosting the semi-finished product. It must be remembered that the purchased product does not contain any ingredients other than ground meat. This does not apply to already formed store-bought cutlets, which are brought to condition simply by following the instructions on the package. However, sometimes purchased minced meat may contain salt and pepper (this is how unscrupulous manufacturers try to drown out the smell of stale meat), so do not overdo it with spices. Before frying the cutlets, heat the frying pan thoroughly and heat the vegetable oil. Once in a warm environment, the minced meat will immediately stick to the bottom. After turning the cutlets to the other side, reduce the heat and cover the pan. As a rule, fried cutlets emit clear juice when pricked with a fork, but are gray when cut. However, do not rush to serve them to the table. Place the products in a clay bowl and simmer them for a couple of minutes in a warm oven.

Fish cutlets

For this dish, it is recommended to buy fillets to avoid the hassle of cleaning, gutting and removing the bones. There are no special requirements for fish varieties. The main thing is that it should not be too bony. We pass the fillet through a meat grinder twice. We do the same with the white bread crumb soaked in milk. Onions are added to minced fish not raw, but fried until golden brown. It adds flavor to finished products. Some types of fish (pollock, hake) are too watery. To make the cutlets juicy but durable, add flour or semolina to the minced meat. Don't forget about salt, spices, herbs. Such cutlets are most often breaded in breadcrumbs. They can also be steamed and then baked in the oven for twenty minutes. If you fry them, then only lightly - until a golden crust appears. After this, simmer in the oven for another five minutes.

Poultry is considered a more dietary product than meat. It cooks faster than beef and pork, but has a neutral taste. The famous “Cutlets Kiev” are actually chops. But the no less popular “Pozharskie” are made from minced meat. Remove the skin from the chicken and remove the bones. These products will be used for broth. And we scroll the tender fillet through a meat grinder. White bread should be taken in a ratio of 1:10. Mix the soaked bun with the minced meat and pass it through the meat grinder again. Add a little melted butter to this delicate substance, add salt, season with nutmeg and black pepper. Stir the minced meat with a wooden spoon. How to cook chicken cutlets? We form a ball, bread it in finely crushed breadcrumbs and fry until golden brown in hot vegetable oil. Then turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and cook for another five minutes.

Turkey cutlets

The meat of this bird is more elastic than that of chicken. To make the cutlets juicy, you need to add a spoon or two of sour cream to the minced meat. Garlic and onions, cilantro, and parsley go well with turkey. Fry the cutlets in the same way as with minced chicken - until golden brown. But after this, the products are placed in the oven, where they are baked for twenty minutes.

Cutlets with added vegetables

Now we dare to make our own adjustments to the classic recipe. We'll lay out everything you need to make cutlets: minced pork and beef, eggs, bread, milk, flour, butter. And let’s add some vegetables to the classic list. They will not only increase the volume of minced meat, but also add juiciness to the cutlets. Carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini and especially cabbage are suitable for this purpose. This vegetable should be taken at a ratio of 1:1 (in relation to minced meat). We pass the cabbage through a meat grinder along with onions, bread and meat. Drain off the released vegetable juice. Squeeze the garlic into the minced meat, add the egg and spices. For breading we use flour mixed with semolina. Fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.

Stuffed cutlets

Above we looked at how to cook fried cutlets. That is, all the ingredients are kneaded to a homogeneous consistency, and subsequently they are formed into meat products. Now let's learn how to make cutlets with a surprise. The filling can be very different - fried champignons, hard cheese, prunes with a nut instead of a pit. Let's look at the cooking principle using mushrooms as an example. Mix three tablespoons of oatmeal with the egg and leave for a quarter of an hour. Clean the champignons (250 g), wash them, chop them finely and simmer in two tablespoons of butter. Mix 500 g of minced pork with swollen oatmeal and finely chopped herbs, season it with salt and black pepper. Let stand for 10 minutes. We tear off a piece from the minced meat, form a flat cake in the palm of our hand, and place a spoonful of mushroom filling in the middle. Bring the edges together, roll in flour, and place in hot oil in a frying pan. Fry the pork cutlets for 5 minutes on one side and 3-4 minutes on the other side.

international experience

World cuisine gives us many recipes for very tasty cutlets. Everyone is familiar with Turkish kofte. These cutlets are made from beef or lamb. The Georgian dish kepila is popular in our area. These are beef cutlets, to which barberry grains give a Caucasian flavor. If you take advantage of international experience, preparing minced meat cutlets will turn into a most exciting activity. Meatballs, meatballs, meatballs, Serbian ustipci... Cutlets stuffed with processed cheese, Parmesan, a piece of lard - with minced meat, you can prepare many different dishes. But let’s focus on Dalmatian polpetas. These small cutlets are typical for all Balkan peoples. But in Dalmatia they are stewed in tomato sauce. Preparing cutlets from minced meat, in which beef is twice as much as pork, will not take much time. Add garlic, onion, parsley, eggs, pepper and salt to it. If the minced meat is thick, dilute it with a small amount of milk. Mix with your hands. Let's pass the mass through the meat grinder again. Form small meatballs, roll them in flour and fry in hot oil on all sides. Then place them in a wide frying pan in one layer and pour in tomato juice. Simmer covered for half an hour, and then sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs.

Procurement for future use

You can make semi-finished cutlets from minced meat prepared according to the following recipe. Pass half a kilo of beef through a meat grinder twice. Scroll once a kilogram of pork, white bread soaked in milk (300 g), two onions and four cloves of garlic. Beat an egg into the minced meat, pour in 150 ml of unsweetened sparkling water. Salt and season with your favorite spices. Stir the mass and beat it. Wet your palms with ice water and form into patties. Cover a wooden board with cling film. Place raw cutlets on it so that they do not touch each other. Wrap the board with the products in film and place in the freezer. After a few hours, you can transfer the homemade cutlets into a bag. They will be stored for a long time in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator.

To make the cutlets more uniform, it is recommended to use large fish. You can remove all the bones from it faster. Small fish need to be ground in a meat grinder several times. This is the only way that all the bones will be crushed and will not be felt when eating the finished cutlets.

Secrets of making delicious fish cutlets

When preparing such a dish for children, the fish should be minced twice. You can also grind it using a kitchen machine or blender. Minced fish cutlets are cooked by steaming, grilling, in a slow cooker, oven or in a regular frying pan. Cooking secrets:

• It is important to choose a fresh product. The fish's gills should be light red. An unpleasant odor indicates staleness.
• It is better to choose not very fatty fish. Suitable river, sea, lake: cod, halibut, pilengas, pink salmon, pollock, pike perch, pike.
• If the fish is too dry, add a small amount of fat.
• You can buy ready-made minced meat, but if it is frozen, the product loses some of its moisture when defrosting. As a result, the juiciness of minced fish cutlets deteriorates.
• To hold the minced meat together, add eggs, vegetables, a stale loaf soaked in milk, herbs, cereals, lard and even cottage cheese. Before frying, the cutlets are breaded in breadcrumbs, flour, bran, and ground crackers.
• You only need to place the products in a well-heated frying pan so that they do not lose their juiciness.
• Suitable spices for fish include turmeric, mild curry, ground ginger, and nutmeg.
• When molding, you need to dip your hands in cold water. It is recommended to keep the minced meat in the refrigerator for half an hour beforehand. This will make the cutlet mixture thicker.

Pollock fish cutlets

• Time: 40 minutes.
• Number of servings: 6 persons.
• Difficulty: easy.

According to this recipe, minced fish cutlets are prepared with the addition of zucchini. It is better to grate their pulp rather than blend it in a blender - this way the vegetable in the cutlets will taste. Instead of pollock, you can use hake for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• semolina – 3 tbsp. l.;
• garlic – 2 cloves;
• breadcrumbs – 40 g;
• sunflower oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• pepper, salt - to your taste;
• zucchini – 1 pc.;
• pollock fillet – 1 kg;
• egg – 1 pc.

Cooking method:

1. Grind the clean and dried fillet into minced meat along with garlic and onion.
2. Peel the zucchini and remove seeds and grate it. Beat an egg into it, add salt and pepper.
3. Mix minced fish with zucchini, add semolina, stir.
4. Form cutlets, bread them in breadcrumbs.
5. Fry in hot oil until golden brown on each side.

River fish recipe

• Time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Number of servings: 3 persons.
• Difficulty: easy.

Freshwater fish fillets are better suited for cutlets than other types. Their advantage is the guaranteed absence of allergies in children. In addition, large freshwater fish are tough, so their cutlets are made like meat.

Ingredients:

• white onion – 1 pc.;
• table salt - to your taste;
• river fish in fillet form – 200 g;
• semolina – 3 tbsp. l.;
• ground fine pepper - a pinch.

Cooking method:

1. Wash the fish fillet, dry it, and inspect for small bones.
2. Using a blender, grind together with the peeled onion, add salt and pepper.
3. Add semolina, stir, put in the refrigerator for an hour.
4. Form cutlets, roll in semolina.
5. Fry in a hot frying pan until golden brown.

Pink salmon dish

• Time: 1 hour.
• Number of servings: 6 persons.
• Difficulty: medium.

Fish cutlets, like meat cutlets, can be cooked with various sauces. The classic version of the gravy is made from tomato paste. It can be replaced with fresh tomatoes, but you need to remove the skins from them before chopping.

Ingredients:

• onion – 1 pc.;
• pink salmon – 1 kg;
• greens – 1 bunch;
• water – 200 ml;
• ground black pepper - a pinch;
• carrots – 2 pcs.;
• egg – 1 pc.;
• vegetable oil – 4 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

1. Rinse the carcass, separate the fillet from bones and skin, and cut into slices.
2. Cut one peeled onion and one carrot into 4 pieces.
3. Using a meat grinder, chop the herbs, vegetables and fish.
4. Beat the egg into the prepared minced meat, add salt, pepper, and mix.
5. Make cutlets, fry them on both sides until golden brown.
6. Dilute the paste with water, pour this mixture into the frying pan with the cutlets.
7. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

10 recipes for making amazing cutlets
Every housewife should be able to cook delicious, satisfying homemade cutlets. If you want to know all the subtleties of how to cook cutlets, what side dish is best to serve them with, and many other subtleties, in this section you will find answers to all your questions.
1. Chicken cutlets with mushrooms
Ingredients:
Chicken (young),
Onion,
Carrot,
Parsley root
Black peppercorns,
250 grams of mushrooms,
Milk - 200 ml,
Egg yolks - 5 pieces
Recipe:
The chicken must be boiled along with onions, carrots, parsley root and pepper. Cool directly in the broth in which the chicken was cooked. Then the meat is separated from the bones. The meat is cut into small, even cubes and mixed with pre-boiled and chopped mushrooms.
Fry 1 tablespoon of flour in butter, dilute hot milk so that lumps do not form, add salt. Place chicken fillet and yolks into the resulting mixture. Then simmer over the fire for just a few minutes and stir continuously. Be sure to cool the resulting mass and form into balls. They should be small in size. It is necessary to flatten them, the thickness of the cutlet should be approximately 1 cm thick.
First breaded in flour, egg and then breadcrumbs. Fry in any heated fat.
Tip: There is no need to add egg white to minced meat intended for cutlets: when frying, it coagulates instantly, because of this the meat begins to release more juice and the cutlets come out dry.

2. Chopped chicken cutlets with Adyghe cheese
Ingredients:
chicken fillet 300 g
Adyghe cheese 150 g
raw egg 1 pc
flour 1 tbsp
mayonnaise 1 tbsp
salt, pepper to taste
ground sweet paprika 1 tsp
curry 1/3 tsp
garlic 2-3 cloves
Cooking method:
Cut the fillet and cheese into small pieces (about 0.5 cm on a side). Add everything else to them, mix thoroughly. Leave in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Then fry in oil like pancakes over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side.

3. Turkey cutlets
You will need:
Turkey fillet 500 g
Onions (100g) ½ pcs.
Wheat bread 30 g
Milk 120 ml
Sea salt ½ tsp.
Ground black pepper ¼ tsp.
Dried parsley 1 tsp.
Vegetable oil 40 ml
Turkey fillet cutlets according to this recipe are lean, fluffy and at the same time quite dense.
Cut the fillet into not too large pieces, peel half a medium onion or one small one whole and also cut into several pieces.
Soak the dried bread in milk for 10-15 minutes until it is completely saturated with milk and softened.
Use a blender to turn the meat with onions and bread soaked in milk (along with milk) into a homogeneous mass.
Add salt and pepper.
You can also add dried or finely chopped fresh herbs. Mix the minced meat well.
With wet hands, form the minced meat into even cutlets and place in a heated frying pan with oil. Fry over medium heat on both sides until golden brown. At the end, you can cover with a lid for a few minutes to ensure that the cutlets are well cooked.
Serve warm with fresh vegetables and herbs.

4. Cabbage cutlets with cheese
I offer you a simple and delicious cutlet recipe.
cabbage - 500 g
sour cream 2-3 tablespoons
hard cheese - 50g
egg - 1 (2 are possible)
flour 2 tbsp.
vegetable oil for frying, salt, black and red pepper
Preparation:
Finely chop the cabbage, fry in vegetable oil for 1-2 minutes, add sour cream and simmer over low heat until soft, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Cool. Add grated cheese and egg, mix thoroughly.
Form small cutlets, roll in flour (optional) and fry on both sides until golden brown.

5. Meat cutlets
Meat - 1 kg
Onion - 1 head
Egg - 1 piece
Stale white bread - 300 g
Grind the meat in a meat grinder through a large wire rack, or buy coarsely minced minced meat.
Finely chop the onion into cubes of approximately 4–5 mm. Do not twist the onion under any circumstances, the cutlets will be much worse. Add chopped onions to the minced meat.
Soak the bread in water, squeeze out all the water and add to the minced meat. The main theme in cutlets is the amount of bread. For about a kilogram of minced meat I put a little more than a third of a sliced ​​loaf. If you add little bread to the cutlets, they will turn out tough and tasteless.
Beat the egg into the minced meat - it will prevent the cutlets from falling apart in the frying pan.
Add salt and pepper to taste, then knead the minced meat until it is a homogeneous mass.
Heat the frying pan slightly, pour in sunflower or olive oil, and place the shaped cutlets. You should not make the cutlets large and too thick, they will have to be fried longer and all the juice will be lost from them; a thickness of about 1.5 cm will be sufficient. When the cutlets are browned on one side, turn them over. The cutlets need to be turned over a couple more times. Under no circumstances add water or cover with a lid - this will boil them. 7–8 minutes is enough for a 1.5 cm thick cutlet to be fried.

6. Chicken cutlets “Tender”
Chicken breast - 750 g
Onion - 1 piece
Mayonnaise - 150 g
Wheat flour - 2 tablespoons
Cut the chicken breasts into cubes, pour mayonnaise, add finely chopped and fried onions, and seasoning for chicken. Place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1-2 hours. Then add flour and mix well.
Fry, spooning into the pan like pancakes.

7. Homemade chopped cutlet
Ingredients
Beef or pork 300g
Boiled-smoked brisket 50g
Bacon 50g
Onion 40g
egg 1pc
tomato
Starch 2 tablespoons
Cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise
Red wine 4 tbsp.
pepper, spices to taste.
How to cook
Chop the meat products into small cubes.
Add spices, wine, finely chopped onion, salt.
Mix the minced meat with the egg and starch and mix.
Form cutlets (1.5 cm thick) straight
on knee butter through a culinary ring.
Fry on both sides until slightly crusty.
Mix sour cream with mayonnaise 50/50 and add grated cheese.
Place the sour cream “cap” on the tomato rings, which
then cover the cutlets.
Bring the cutlets in the oven/grill until cooked (5-7 minutes).

8. Fish cutlets with mashed potatoes “New Wave”
Ingredients
Cod fillet – 700g
Fresh red fish fillet (I used salmon) – 100-150 grams
Raw thawed shrimp – 8 pcs.
Eggs – 1 pc.
White bread, stale – 1/3 loaf
Heavy cream – 100 g
Milk – ½ liter
Fresh dill - small bunch
Green onions - a few feathers
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
For mashed potatoes:
Potatoes – 500g
Salt to taste
Soy sauce - 1 tsp.
Sesame oil – 1 tbsp.
Evaporated balsamic vinegar for serving
How to cook
Wash the cod fillet, palpate for any remaining bones and remove them. Dry the fillet thoroughly with paper towels and grind through a meat grinder 2 times. Cut off the crust from the bread, cut the pulp into small pieces and soak in milk for 5–7 minutes. When the bread gets wet, grind through a meat grinder.
Cut the red fish fillet into small pieces with sides 1.5 by 1.5 cm. Remove the intestinal vein from the shrimp, cut into 1 cm pieces. Chop the dill and green onions. In a deep bowl, mix the minced fish, red fish cubes, chopped shrimp, green onions and dill, add the egg, salt and pepper, knead thoroughly. Gradually pour in the cream in small portions, literally a spoon at a time, thoroughly kneading the fish mass each time. (Attention: it may happen that the fish fillet has been well frozen (and possibly more than once) and the minced meat with such fish may be a bit runny, so in this case the amount of cream will have to be taken significantly less). With wet hands, form the minced meat into cutlets, giving them form round cakes, place them in a row on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30 minutes, focusing on the capacity of your oven. Today, mashed potatoes are on the side dish. Everyone has their own way of making puree. In this case, I have the poorest one: boil peeled, washed potatoes in salted water until tender, pour the broth not into the sink, but into a large cup (bowl, smaller saucepan), mash the potatoes with a potato masher, gradually adding potato broth, and bring to a smooth puree. I don't add any butter, milk or eggs. Potatoes, salt and water. Mix sesame oil with soy sauce, beat lightly with a fork. Using a cooking ring, place mashed potatoes on a serving plate, make a small depression in the middle, pour in the sesame-meat-soy mixture. Place fish cutlets, decorate with evaporated balsamic vinegar .

9. Chicken cutlets with creamy nut filling
Ingredients
500 g minced chicken
50 ml cream
~8 cm of leek
3 g garlic
1 piece of loaf
salt, white pepper
1 heaped liter of flour
50 grams each of butter and milk drained
50 g walnuts
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
a little salt
1 tbsp flour
small egg + 1 tbsp milk
2 tbsp ground breadcrumbs
How to cook
Mix the minced meat ground through a large wire rack with chopped onion and garlic, a loaf soaked in cream, salt and pepper. Knead our minced meat well and put it in the refrigerator. Melt the drained butter in a frying pan, sprinkle flour on top and stir well. Add milk, stir and turn off as soon as it boils. Add medium chopped nuts, cilantro and salt. Divide the minced meat and filling into 4 parts. On a damp palm (we keep our hands moisturized all the time), distribute the minced meat into the middle of the filling and form a cutlet. Bread in flour, then in an egg mixed with milk and finally in breadcrumbs. Fry in a considerable amount of oil, over medium-low heat on all sides.

10. Chicken cutlets with cottage cheese in crispy breading
Ingredients
500 g minced chicken
200 g cottage cheese
50 g milk or cream
1 egg
1 turnip onion
2 g garlic
3 tbsp chopped dill
salt pepper
unsweetened corn flakes (breading)
How to cook
Mix the minced meat with cottage cheese, egg, dill, milk (cream), chopped onion and garlic, salt and pepper.
With wet hands, form small cutlets and roll in corn flakes. If the flakes are large, chop lightly, just press with your fingers
Fry over low heat for 4-5 minutes on each side. Do not cover the pan with a lid.

Meat

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

You can also add chicken, turkey to the cutlets, or cook them only from poultry.

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 make cutlets from it than from small, bony fish. Salmon, cod, pilengas, halibut are ideal.

Other Ingredients

Onion. It needs to be passed through a meat grinder with the meat or finely chopped (in this case it is better to fry it a little and cool), and then add it to. You can, of course, chop the onion using 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 so that the cutlets keep their shape and are more tender. The bread must be soaked in boiled water, milk or cream, squeezed out, the crust removed and passed through a meat grinder. You don’t need too much of it: 100–200 g per 1 kg of minced meat is quite enough.

Vegetables: zucchini, carrots, potatoes, beets, pumpkin. They make the cutlets more juicy and tender. If desired, they can replace bread. It is better to chop vegetables using a grater.

Eggs. Controversial ingredient: Some chefs believe it makes the cutlets 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 as 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 the fish cutlets, 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 pass all the ingredients through a meat grinder, try to alternate them so that the minced meat is more uniform.
3. The minced meat must be kneaded well with your hands and beaten - this will saturate it with oxygen. You can do this in a pan with high walls so as not to dirty the kitchen. In this case, you need to throw the minced meat several times to the bottom of the container.
4. It is better to cover the finished minced meat with cling film and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to rest. After this, it should be mixed again.
5. You need to make 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 make them too small: the larger the cutlets, the juicier they are. Pat the cutlets with your palms so that they are even and without seams.

How to bread cutlets

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

Please note that breadcrumbs 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 cutlets in a well-heated frying pan with oil. 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 the heat and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes. Repeat the same with the other side. After this, you can simmer the cutlets under the lid for 5–8 minutes.

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

You can also finish fried cutlets 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

The “Frying” or “Baking” modes are suitable for cooking. Average cooking time is 40–50 minutes.

The cutlets must be turned every 15–20 minutes. If they start to burn, you can add a little water (about ¼ cup).

The easiest way to prepare a dish is in a double boiler. You just need to pour the amount of water specified in the instructions inside, put the cutlets in, 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 double boiler, you can cook the cutlets in a water bath. To do this, boil water in a saucepan, place 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 the sieve should be approximately the same diameter.

Recipes

Ingredients

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

Preparation

Soak 150 g of loaf in milk. When it swells, squeeze it out and pass it together with the chicken pulp through a meat grinder. Don’t throw away the milk: it will come in handy later. Add 30 g of soft butter, salt and pepper to the minced meat, mix well and set aside.

Separately prepare the breading mixture. To do this, cut the remaining 200 g of loaf into small cubes (with sides approximately 4 mm) and dry them. Add eggs, a pinch of salt to a bowl of milk and stir.

With wet hands, form the minced meat into medium-sized cutlets. Dip each one in the milk mixture, then roll in breadcrumbs and place in a well-heated frying pan with butter. Fry the cutlets over moderate heat on both sides until golden brown.

Ingredients

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

Preparation

First prepare the mushroom filling. To do this, thoroughly rinse and dry the mushrooms, and then cut them into small slices. Finely chop the onion and fry until soft. Add mushrooms and cook until all the water has evaporated. Finally, add salt and pepper to the filling and let it cool.

While the filling is cooling, you can prepare the minced meat. Pass the meat through a meat grinder, add bread soaked in water (without crusts), egg and chopped garlic. Stir the minced meat until smooth, add salt and spices, mix again and beat with your hands. You can cool the minced meat in the refrigerator, but do not forget to mix and beat it again after that.

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

Dip the cutlets in flour and place in a frying pan heated with oil. Fry on both sides until golden brown (as described above) and bring to readiness over low heat under the lid.

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 and pepper to the minced meat. Mix everything and leave for 30 minutes. During this time, cool and cut into cubes. Add the eggs to the minced meat and mix.

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

Roll the cutlets in crushed oatmeal, fry in vegetable oil until golden brown and immediately transfer to a baking dish. Place it in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and bake for 10–15 minutes.