Pork and Beef Aspic
Description
It works for both holidays and everyday meals. Today I’m making my pork and beef aspic: I bought one large shank, two pig’s feet, two ears, and one and a half kilograms of beef. I always season the aspic with garlic—it gives it a distinctive aroma and flavor. So, let’s take a look. Serve with fresh herbs and sauce.
Instructions
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Step 1
1. Soak the pig ears and trotters in vinegar water (I pour it by eye—you don’t need much; the main thing is to remove the odor) and leave them for 2 hours. Wash the knuckle thoroughly and scrape with a knife if needed. The beef doesn’t need any special prep—just rinse the meat under water and that’s it. After two hours, take out the trotters and ears and wash them very thoroughly under running water; scrape all dirty spots with a knife until the skin is light. Where you can’t do that, simply cut off the skin. On the trotters, be sure to remove the nails—they come off easily with a small hatchet or a knife.
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Step 2
2. Take a large pot for cooking aspic. It should hold at least 9 liters; mine is a 10-liter one. Add the meat.
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Step 3
3. Cover it with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 6 hours, skimming off the foam periodically.
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Step 4
4. After 6 hours, add salt, onion, carrot, bay leaf, whole peppercorns if you like, and simmer for another hour.
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Step 5
5. The aspic is ready. Remove from the heat. Discard the bay leaf, peppercorns, carrot, and onion.
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Step 6
6. Remove all the meat with a slotted spoon onto a large platter. Let it cool; uncover the broth as well and let it cool. Peel a couple of garlic cloves.
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Step 7
7. Wash your hands thoroughly and pick the meat off the bones. The carrot from the broth can be used to garnish the aspic; I made little flower shapes and placed them on the bottom of the small plates. Arrange the meat in the small plates; I ended up with 15 of them.
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Step 8
8. Add garlic passed through a press to the warm broth and stir. Check that there are no bones in the broth; you can strain it through cheesecloth. Pour the broth into all the small dishes. On the first dishes more fat rose to the top; on the last ones (in the photo) the broth is less fatty. Refrigerate the dishes overnight to set.
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Step 9
9. The aspic is ready! Enjoy!