Cutlets

Pozharsky cutlet

Cuisines of Russia, Ukraine and other countries of former Soviet Union

In modern Russian, the word kotleta (котлета) refers almost exclusively to pan-fried minced meat croquettes / cutlet-shaped patties. Bread soaked in milk, onions, garlic, and herbs is usually present in the recipe. When in a hurry, a “cutlet” can be eaten between bread slices like a hamburger, but this fast meal is rarely served in restaurants. It is usually served with pan-fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta, etc.

A particular form of the Russian kotleta known as Pozharsky cutlet is an elaborated version of minced poultry kotleta covered with breadcrumbs or small croutons. A distinct feature of this cutlet is that butter is added to minced meat, which results in an especially juicy and tender consistency.

Another Russian version of a cutlet, called otbivnaya kotleta (отбивная котлета), meaning “beaten cutlet”, is a fried slice of meat, usually pork or beef, beaten flat with a tenderizing hammer or knife handle and covered with beaten eggs, dough or breadcrumbs. The recipe is similar to those of escalopes, schnitzel, Polish, or American cutlets. Today, this dish is simply called otbivnaya, with the word kotleta reserved for minced meat patties.

Chicken Kiev is called kotleta po-kievski (котлета по-киевски) in Russian and similarly kotleta po-kyivski (котлета по-київськи) in Ukrainian, which means “Kiev-style cutlet”.
— Wikipedia

Famous Russian cutlet recipe, favoured by Nicholas I. Despite what seems to be a massive amount of butter required, they’re rather light, yet creamy.

Ingredients

• Chicken mince
• Butter (originally, 1 part butter per 2 parts chicken; 1/4 works perfectly fine)
• Eggs (~1 egg per 500g chicken, plus 3-5 for the breading)
• A couple white bread loaves (store-bought breadcrumbs also suffice, but require more eggs)
• Spices/salt (optional, recommended)
• Non-lard based, non-chunky sauce (optional)
• Onions (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare 2 medium-sized and 1 extra large bowl, a few plates and a regular frying pan.
2. Get the chicken out of the cold and into the XL bowl. Butter, too, but onto a plate.
3. While they warm up, crumb up the bread. By hand. The smaller, the better. If you’re using store-bought crumbs, just put those into a bowl.
4. Mince the chicken, if necessary. Mince the onions, if you desire them. Divide butter, once softened, into medium bits.
5. Add eggs to the meat and put a few into a medium bowl; mix both bowls’ contents thoroughly.
6. Add the spices, salt and/or sauce of your choosing. Some may consider this barbaric, but I found that Heinz’s mustard ketchup works exceptionally well with the recipe. They’ll come out a tad red, though.
7. Add the softened-up butter to the XL bowl and mix thoroughly.
8. MAKE A TEST CUTLET by rolling up a small ball of the mince, then dipping it into the bread, then into the eggs, then into the bread again, compounding the breading slightly between dips. More dips means less leaked butter/juice, but don’t overdo it lest you want more bread than meat in your cutlet.
9. Fry, let cool and then taste the cutlet. (Pozharskiye are very juicy, so liquid in the pan is to be expected.)
10. If unsatisfied, add more flavoring or throw everything away. If satisfied, repeat step 9. (Most cutlet sizes work well. Haven’t tried making giant or tiny ones, though.)