Chicken Kotlety
Photo: nayeli @ nyam.ru, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ground chicken is wet and lean, so these kotlety take their body from stale white bread soaked in milk and one egg, then a coat of dry crumbs. Fry them in beef tallow over medium heat and leave them alone. A pressed patty loses its juice.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 2 slices stale white bread, crusts trimmed
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- fine dry breadcrumbs, for coating
- beef tallow, for frying
- sour cream, to serve
Instructions
Tear the bread into the milk and leave it until soft, about 5 minutes. Squeeze it dry and break it up with your fingers.
Put the ground chicken in a bowl with the soaked bread, grated onion and its juice, garlic, egg, sour cream, salt, pepper, and dill. Mix with your hands until it holds together. The mix should be soft, not soupy. Chill 15 minutes.
Spread a shallow layer of breadcrumbs on a plate. Wet your hands, take about 1/3 cup of the mix, and form an oval about ¾ inch thick. Coat both sides in the crumbs. Repeat with the rest.
Heat enough beef tallow in a skillet to coat the bottom, over medium heat. Fry the kotlety in batches without crowding, about 4 minutes a side, until the crust is brown and the center is opaque. Turn once. Do not press them.
Add a little more tallow between batches if the pan goes dry. Hold the finished kotlety on a warm plate and serve with sour cream.
Notes
If the mix sticks to your hands, wet them again. Extra breadcrumbs in the bowl dry the kotlety out.
They keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. Reheat in a skillet, uncovered, so the crust stays crisp.