Recipe for pork and beef cutlets. Classic cutlets: a step by step recipe

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Cutlets are the greatest work of culinary art. It can be said that the acquaintance of a small person with meat dishes begins with them. They are also good because you can fry them a little more on the weekends - and for several days you don’t have to worry that, having come from work, you have to stand at the stove in order to feed a hungry family. However, some housewives avoid cooking them. And not because they are too lazy to mess with minced meat: they complain that, completely following the recipe for pork and beef cutlets, they end up with hard, flat or falling apart imperfections. In this article, we will reveal the intricacies of preparing this wonderful dish and suggest some interesting variations of it.

Tricks and secrets: what to do to make cutlets delicious

It would seem that something simpler - twisted the meat in a meat grinder and fry for your pleasure. However, for splendor andjuiciness of the final product, you need to know some nuances.

1. In principle, all you need for cutlets is meat and onions. There are recipes that are really only these components and are limited. However, in order for the juice to remain inside the cutlet, and not flow out wasted into the pan, a third ingredient is required - bread. In the traditional version - white, but you can also use rye. The bread should be dried out: fresh gives the final result some sourness. You can use grated potatoes for the same purpose, but it is better to start such experiments after mastering the basic recipe well.
2. It is better to make minced meat only on your own, from personally selected fresh meat and immediately before frying.
3. Egg is added for better “sticking” of minced meat. However, it also makes it tough. When using potatoes in eggs, the need disappears; in the case of "bread" cooking, no more than one egg per pound of minced meat is taken.
4. It is better to scroll the onion along with the meat or grate it - chopped, it feels good in minced meat, cutlets lose their uniformity.
5. In order for the preparation of cutlets to be successful, the mixed minced meat must be beaten off. The easiest way to do this is to put it in a bag and slap it on the table with different sides.
6. When frying, it is important to remove all burnt pieces - then the next cutlets will not stick and extra, ugly and tasteless "additions" will not stick to them.

Now let's get cooking. And let's start with the standard option.

Classicmeatballs

Meat is taken in equal proportions: pork is fatter, beef is lean (and it is best to find veal). For one and a half kilos of minced meat, two large onions and a third of a loaf soaked in milk and squeezed are allotted. Real classic cutlets do without garlic, but if you are a garlic lover, you can add a couple of cloves. S alt and pepper - to your taste (you need to lick the minced meat with the tip of your tongue and determine if there are enough of them). When you are about to cook cutlets, the step-by-step recipe will look like this:

1. Load chopped meat (both types) into a meat grinder with a squeezed loaf and onion. Grind.
2. Beat eggs into minced meat (in our case 2-3); knead. S alt, pepper, if desired, add other spices.
3. Fold into minced meat in a bag and beat it on the table.
4. Stick cutlets (so that the stuffing does not stick to your hands, they need to be slightly moistened with cold water).
5. Bread in breadcrumbs or flour and fry in a hot pan.

This is best done with ghee, lard is in second place, and odorless vegetable oil is at the very bottom of the list. The first side is fried in an open container, the second is already under the lid.

Freckled cutlets

Some people - especially children, pregnant women and the elderly - do not like the specific "cutlet" smell. In this case, a recipe for pork and beef cutlets was invented to avoid its formation. The minced meat itself is prepared traditionally, but an egg is beaten in parallel with it (one is enough for a pound of meat),it is s alted, peppered and a very thin omelet is baked - like a pancake. It is finely chopped and interferes with minced meat. With this addition, cutlets are even juicier, more beautiful (like yellow "specks" on each) and without unwanted smell.

Blow cutlets

For those who avoid fried food for he alth reasons or because of the presence of small children, here is a recipe for homemade pork and beef cutlets baked in the oven. Minced meat is prepared as in the classic recipe, cutlets are molded in the same way, however, they are breaded not in breadcrumbs or flour, but in semolina - this way they stick to the baking sheet less and retain their shape better. Before laying the cutlets on a sheet, it must be put in a heated oven for a couple of minutes so that the oil with which it is lubricated is slightly warmed up. Cutlets will stay in the oven for half an hour; turn them halfway through cooking to prevent the top from turning white.

Baked with surprise

The oven recipe for pork and beef cutlets can be complicated and complemented by some pleasant surprises. For example, very finely chopped or ground champignons can be added to ready-made traditional minced meat - a little less than 200 grams per pound of meat. For flavor, you can also add chopped dill. Cutlets this time are made a little more flattened. Laid out on a sheet, they are smeared with sour cream, tomato circles are laid out on top and put in the oven for half an hour. Then they are taken out, sprinkled with cheese - and back, for another five minutes. Delicious dish!

Steam cutlets

Another option, very suitable for fans of proper nutrition and young parents. Steam cooking cutlets is especially easy for those who managed to get a slow cooker. You don’t need to invent anything special with minced meat - the standard one will do. Cutlets are formed and rolled in breadcrumbs. Half a liter of water is poured into the bowl of the apparatus, and a “colander” for steam cooking is attached on top. Prepared cutlets are laid out in one layer (and this is fundamentally important!) In it. If there are a lot of them, you will have to cook in batches. For half an hour, the "Steaming" mode is set - and go read a fairy tale to your child. The only thing that can be reproached with such cutlets is their pale appearance, but all steam dishes are distinguished by this. It does not affect the taste in any way.

Stuffed cutlets

Having mastered the basic culinary techniques and making sure that the result is excellent, you can diversify and modify the recipe for pork and beef cutlets. For example, add vegetables (cabbage or zucchini) to minced meat, stuff cutlets with something tasty. The first thing that comes to mind is a piece of frozen butter: as a result, your cutlets will be even softer and juicier. A good taste is given by the filling of chopped eggs with onions or soft cheese. And lovers of taste contrasts and unusualness can put pitted prunes in the middle - you will get just an amazing dish!