Kotlety
The Russian Heritage Cookbook Copyright 1998
1 lb. ground beef
1 ½ cups bread crumbs
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp. butter
½ tsp. salt
pinch pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped dill I assumed they meant fresh but I used about 1 teaspoon of dried
1 egg
¾ cup very cold water
½ cup small chips of ice
butter for frying
Fry onion in butter until golden. Combine beef, ¾ cup bread crumbs, fried onion, salt, pepper, dill and slightly beaten egg. Work in the cold water by tablespoon until it is all absorbed and mixture is light and fluffy. Form into small oval-shaped patties (about 2 inches across.) In the center of each put a small chip or two of ice and fold meat around it to squeeze kotlety back into oval shape. Roll in remaining breadcrumbs and fry in hot butter until browned (about 12-15 minutes). Serve with sour cream.
Makes 12-14 kotlety. I only made 4 LOL!
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It wasn't until I was typing out this recipe that I realized these were supposed to be much smaller. That one large patty you see should have been about four smaller ones. Oh well, no harm done. I did have to finish them off in the oven, to make sure they were cooked through.
Kotlety is a Russian meat patty that has many, many variations. A brief internet search brings up variations using other meats, such as pork and chicken, too.
As versatile as ground beef is, I still have trouble coming up with uses for it. Sometimes lean ground beef can be tough in patties, meatballs or meatloaves but these were very tender due to the breadcrumbs and water. I shouldn't have been surprised since I've found that adding a lot of liquid and a good amount of bread makes the best meatballs.
I got this book from the library. My family is Polish and my husband's family is Russian so I've been looking for some good Russian and Eastern European cookbooks. This was definitely one of the best ones I've come across, although I don't know how authentic the recipes are since I have nothing to compare them to. Both of our families have been here for a couple of generations and have only carried on a few recipes. And, I have to assume that when our ancestors arrived they might have had to change recipes right off, since they probably didn't have access to the same ingredients.
Blast From the Past: Russian-Style Chicken Cutlets from August 2006 which I now know were just another variation of kotlety. That recipe was from the cookbook I'm giving away this month. Don't forget to enter to win if you haven't already.
Question of the Day: What are three things you make with ground beef (or any other ground meat)?
P.S. I still can't comment on beta blogs. It's been days which is a long time for something to be broken, even for Blogger.
Well I learn something new everyday, kotlety it is!
ReplyDeleteI use ground meat generally in spaghetti sauce, or ravioli, or meatballs... nothing too out of the ordinary there.
We make something called kefte, which is the same mixture of ground meat. The Greeks call them keftedes, and we Armenians say kefte. :) The recipe calls for lamb, but we use beef.
ReplyDelete2 pounds lamb, finely ground
2 onions, grated
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground chili pepper (optional)
Mix finely ground meat with onions, herbs, and seasonings, and knead vigorously until very smooth and pasty. Wet your hands and divide the meat into 32 egg-sized lumps. Press them firmly around small, square-bladed skewers, two on each skewer, and form into thin sausage shapes. Cook over charcoal or under the broiler for 4-5 minutes, until done, turning over once. Be careful not to overcook, as the meat dries out quickly. Serve at once with bread.
Variations:
For a minty brochette, mix the meat and onion with 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, 3 tablespoons chopped mint, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, salt, and pepper.
When serving, dribble 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil mixed with the juice of 1/2-1 lemon over the brochettes.
I do all sorts of things with ground beef. We've actually found that we like ground beef cooked with chopped onion and taco seasoning, maybe corn and rotel tomatoes, cooked until liquid is gone (or drained, if not using extra lean), and then served up in cabbage leaves with taco fixings....
ReplyDeleteI also make a mean meatloaf.
We make what we call goulash - browned ground beef, taco seasoning, kidney beans, sour cream and wide egg noodles all mixed together and heated through. One of those that's great, and even better the next day.... Hmmmm.... think I'll make that for dinner tonight....
Let's see - there are the ground beef standards - meatballs, meatsauce, plain patties with different goodies mixed in (blue cheese, anyone?)....
the kids love ground beef in their mac and cheese....
We make hamburger stroganoff with extra lean ground beef, shepherds pie with ground chicken, and meatloaf with ground turkey.
ReplyDeleteThe shephers pie is basically the meat cooked in a gravy with potatoes on top, and I still use beef stock powder to make the gravy even though it is chicken because DH and DD like it that way.
And the turkey meatloaf is TURKEY meatloaf. The breadcrumbs are prepared like I would cubes for stuffing, and the seasonings are "turkey dinner" rather than trying to make it taste like beef. This I cook in a loaf pan.
Regular meatloaf gets cooked freeform and looks rather like a giant hamburger patty ROFL.
Oh wow - these look so yummy. I've never heard of these before.
ReplyDeleteI don't really eat ground meat regularly but we use lean turkey meat for burritos sometimes.
Oh wow - these look so yummy. I've never heard of these before.
ReplyDeleteI don't really eat ground meat regularly but we use lean turkey meat for burritos sometimes.
I'm having the same issue with being unable to post to beta blogs, but Blogger doesn't have any mention of the problem on their site. It's driving me crazy!
ReplyDeleteI use ground beef pretty regularly. Hamburgers, meatloaf, spaghetti, etc,. I also use groundbeef in stews and chilli.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to your site and I love, love, love it! I love the recipes, photos, cookbook sharing and your comments.
ReplyDeleteMy top 3 picks for ground beef -- the fabulous Picadillo Tacos from The Border Cookbook; a mouth watering Puerto Rican Beef Emapanada, baked or deep fried; and my all-time favorite, an Aussie Meat Pie. You can't get any better than those three from where I hover over the stove.
Whoops...forgot to answer the beef question.
ReplyDeleteI use ground meat for meatballs, meatloaf and in pasta sauce most frequently. Not very adventurous.
My big three are spaghetti sauce, chili and 'goulash' - which is not goulash at all, but hamb., pasta, tomato sauce (or soup), garlic, cheese and corn...and onions and/or bell pepper if I can sneak them in.
ReplyDeleteI hate this friggen beta blogger. I wish I could switch back.
ReplyDelete