Pozharsky cutlets

Meat Dishes | Russian

Pozharsky cutlets are breaded ground chicken (veal, game) cutlets. They are juicy and crispy. The origin of the cutlets’ name is associated with Yevdokim Pozharsky, the owner of an inn and a restaurant in Torzhok in the early XIX century, where these cutlets were cooked. Alexander Pushkin used to taste breaded veal patties at Pozharsky. The cutlets acquired their modern look in 1830 -1840s under Darya Pozharskaya who inherited the inn after her father's death: she replaced veal with chicken. Darya happened to feed even Tsar Nicholas I with these cutlets. French romantic poets Theophile Gautier and Victor d'Arlincourt also spoke positively of Pozharsky cutlets.

Ingredients

Chicken mince - 800 g
white stale bread without crust - 200 g
20%-fat chilled dairy cream - 200 ml
frozen butter - 150 g
half of the classic frozen wheat loaf – for breading
melted butter for roasting
salt

Preparation method (receipt)

Soak bread in dairy cream. Squeeze out slightly. Mince chicken meat twice: first without bread and then with bread. Salt the minced meat. Grate the frozen butter in stages, stirring the mince with a fork every time. Place the minced meat in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Thickly grate a frozen loaf and brown the crumbs in the oven at 160°C. Shape oval cutlets with damp hands and roll them in the prepared bread-crumbs. Warm up the melted butter in a frying pan and fry cutlets for 2-3 minutes on each side. Place them in a roasting tin and bake in the oven at 160°C for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot.

chicken mince white bread cream butter wheat loaf melted butter