Kotlety Pozharskie (Russian Ground Chicken Cutlets)

Submitted by littleturtle

"Low fat and low carb, inexpensive dinner. Goes nicely with mashed potatoes. Said to have been created for Alexander I in a popular tavern in the small Russian town of Torzhok. Turkey can also be substituted for the chicken"

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 5 slices home style bread, crust trimmed off (4 oz)
• 1⁄4 cup milk
• 2 lbs ground chicken breasts (or 1 lb ground chicken & 1 lb lean finely ground veal)
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (1/4 lb)
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs, pulverized in a blender or shredded with a fork
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

directions

1. Soak bread slices in the milk in a small bowl for 15 minutes, then squeeze the bread dry.
2. Combine the bread with the meat (grind together if you have a meat grinder), and gradually beat in the softened butter, along with the salt& pepper, until the mixture is smooth.
3. Make 6 oval patties from this mixture (about 1 1/2" thick), then dip each in egg and then in the bread crumbs, thoroughly coating both sides.
4. Clarify the remaining 10 tbsp butter by, without letting the butter brown, melting it slowly in a heavy skillet over low heat and skimming off the foam as it rises.
5. Remove the butter from heat and let it sit for 2-3 minutes so they whey can settle out, then spoon off the clear butter and discard the milky solids at the bottom of the pan, and return 6 tbsp of the butter to the skillet.
6. Place over a medium-high heat and when the butter is very hot fry the patties for about 5-6 minutes on each side or until the outside is golden brown and the inside doesn't look pink when pierced with the tip of a knife.
7. Pour remaining clarified butter over the patties and serve immediately.

Reviews

[Linda R.]

Has anyone made these gluten free yet? I'm going to try.

 

[alinasls]

These were awesome! My Mom used to make these when I was little and that was one of the very few things I ate as a little kid. I was too lazy to clarify the butter, so I just melted it on low heat and watched the cutlets very closely to make sure they didn't burn. Once they were nice and golden brown on the outside, I turned off the heat, put all of them back in the pan (I had to fry them in two batches) and covered the pan with a lid and let it sit for about 5 minutes to make sure the inside was cooked through. These melt in your mouth! I served them with mashed potatoes (just like Mom used to) and am taking leftovers with me for lunch tomorrow. This one is definitely a keeper, thank you so much for sharing! UPDATE Instead of clarifying butter in a pan and standing over it to make sure it doesn't brown in step 4, I made this my step 1. Put the butter in a microwave-safe cup (a cup makes it easier to pour off the clarified butter leaving milk solids on the bottom), melt it, let it sit while I'm working on mixing the ingredients. Then I skim off the "stuff" that's floating on the top and slowly pour off the clarified butter into the pan where I'm going to fry the patties (careful not to pour in the solids that have settled on the bottom). While the pan with the butter is getting hot, I form my patties. UPDATE#2 These freeze great! Form the patties and freeze them on a sheet pan, once frozen you can transfer into freezer bags to save space. I just made about 30 of these patties which will be about 7 meals for our family of 3. Perfect for OAMC.

 

[Laracelia]

My whole family loved these. My boyfriend is from Russia and really enjoyed them and my 18 month old ate a whole one!