In our family, the winter holidays, especially Christmas, are an opportunity to gather the whole family around the table and enjoy delicious dishes specific to the period. I think one of them is this: the best meat jelly recipe with vegetables, pork and turkey meat, a delicious dish.
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When We Usually Cook It
This recipe is usually prepared during the winter and, more precisely, for Christmas or New Year's Eve because my grandmother always cooked in large quantities, usually 10-12 servings. It is not a complicated recipe, it only requires a long cooking time and is a little meticulous, but I assure you that you will get a sensational dish.
As you know, aspic is a gelatinous product obtained from the extended boiling of pig parts such as the head, ears, skin, and trotters until the collagen is released.
We will do the same; only I chose to add some turkey wings, rich in collagen, for extra flavour and meat. And to get an even more complex taste, we will add some vegetables, but let me show you what ingredients we use.
Ingredients
Because this recipe is not missing from the Christmas menu, I started to get the necessary meat in time. So I bought a half of pork, which I set aside for the aspic, half the head with the entire ear, two trotters and the tail.
And for more collagen, I also used about 300 g of pork skin, but you can omit them if you can't find it.
You can find this ingredient in Eastern European shops or butchers; even if you can't find them all, you can use several trotters together with a pork shank.
As I said, I also completed the list of ingredients with 1.4 kg of turkey wings, about two pieces, which will also add a quantity of healthy collagen to the meat jelly. As an idea, you can also use turkey drumsticks because they contain both gelatine and a large amount of meat.
There are many recipes in which the aspic is made only from meat, but I like to use vegetables. I will use about five carrots, a sprig of leeks and a few celery stalks (about 100 g), and at the end, you will see one head of garlic.
How to Make the Best Meat Jelly Recipe
Simmering
Because we will make a large amount of pork jelly, we need a large pot for soups, usually between 10-15 l, because we have a large amount of bone-in meat. We place the pork on the bottom of the pot, over which we put the turkey meat.
As you can see, I didn't bother to portion the pork head; I left it whole because it fit in the pot. We placed the vegetables over the meat, which I left whole.
Season with four tablespoons of salt (should be in such quantity), a tablespoon of peppercorns and two bay leaves. Fill the pot with cold water, which must exceed the ingredients' level, and put the pot on fire.
For the beginning, turn the heat to the maximum until it starts to boil, then reduce it to medium to low for about 30-35 minutes, during which time we gather the foam formed on top with a spoon.
We need to do this to get a clear pork jelly finally. After half an hour, turn the heat to low and simmer everything for at least 3-4 hours, until the meat comes off the bone and the bones and skin will release gelatine from them.
I applied a trick, not to stay in the kitchen for so long; I put the pot in the oven at 120 degrees in the evening before going to bed and left it until almost morning, about six hours. When I woke up, it was ready.
Splitting the Aspic
Leave the pot aside to cool to work more efficiently with the ingredients. Remove all the solid contents of the soup pot, separate the meat with the bones in a bowl and separate the vegetables.
Now we can do a test to see if we managed to make the aspic. Put a little juice from the pot on a small plate and put it in the fridge for ten minutes. If it hardens, it has succeeded; if not, we will have to add food gelatine. It worked out perfectly for me!
Add the Garlic
We put the meat and vegetable stock left in the pot we will pass through a sieve in which we put one head of crushed garlic. This sieve is primarily to retain all the residues in the pot, and secondly, we will flavour the meat jelly with garlic.
I will debone all the meat, which is a slightly complex operation, removing all the bones, including the small ones.
Divide the Meat and Aspic
We prepare some containers to keep the meat jelly, which can be plastic bowls or even more bottomless plates depending on the number of servings or the size of the storage space.
I used some square plastic bowls with lids to keep in the fridge without taking up too much space.
Divide the boned meat evenly in these bowls, then pour over the stock rich in gelatine. Some add from boiled vegetables or even boiled egg; I prefer to leave only the meat because the cooked vegetables spoil faster.
We have to cover the containers and place them in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, and wait for the aspic to harden.
With that, I finished making the best meat jelly recipe, a delicious Christmas dinner dish we can be proud to make.
Serving this Meat Jelly
If the pork jelly has cooled and hardened, we can serve it. We take a bowl from which, if necessary, remove part or all of the fat layer above. Serve cold, cut into more giant cubes and sprinkled with Hungarian sweet paprika.
Oh, I was going to forget, be sure to serve with sliced red onions and lemon juice on top.
If you tried my jellied meat recipe and you like the best meat jelly recipe, I recommend some more tasty pork recipes from our blog, such as:
- Easy Oven Baked Pork Steak Recipe
- Fried Breaded Pork Chops Recipe
- Basic Easy Meatloaf Recipe
- Pork Steak-With Fries, Salads and Garlic Sauce
- Simple Pork Tenderloin Stew Recipe
- Slow-Cooked Pork Shoulder in the Oven
- Braised Pork Knuckle Recipe
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Best Meat Jelly Recipe
Equipment
- 1 large soup pot
- 3 mixing bowls
- 1 strainer
Ingredients
- 700 g pork trotters 2 pieces
- ½ piece pork head
- 300 g pork rind
- 250 g pork tail 1 piece
- 1,4 kg turkey wings 2 pieces
- 400 g carrots 5 pieces
- 1 piece leek
- 100 g cellery stalks
- 4 tablespoon sea salt kosher
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns black
- 2 pieces bay leaves
Instructions
- Place the pork meat on the bottom of the pot, over which we put the turkey meat. Place the vegetables over the meat, which I left whole. Season with salt, peppercorns and two bay leaves. Fill the pot with cold water, which must well exceed the level of the ingredients and put the pot on the fire.
- Turn the heat to maximum, until it starts to boil, then reduce to medium to low for about 30-35 minutes, during which time we gather the foam formed on top with a spoon. After half an hour, turn the heat to low and simmer everything for at least 3-4 hours, until the meat comes off the bone and the bones and skin will release gelatin from them.
- Leave the pot aside to cool; after them, remove all the solid contents of the soup pot, separate the meat with the bones in a bowl and separate the vegetables. I will pass the juice left in the soup pot through a sieve in which we put one head of crushed garlic.
- Debone all the meat, which is a slightly complex operation, removing all the bones, including the small ones. Divide the boned meat evenly in the plastic bowls, then pour over the stock, which is rich in gelatin. Place them in a cool place, such refrigerator, and wait for the aspic to harden.
- Take a bowl from which, if necessary, remove part or all of the fat layer above. Serve cold, cut into more giant cubes and sprinkled with Hungarian sweet paprika. Serve with sliced red onions and lemon juice on top
Diane says
That is an interesting recipe! It reminds me a bit of one that my father's uncle used to make in the fall. I think he used just pork, but it might have been more. Another one he made was called head cheese. Have you ever made that?
This is one I can pass on to my sister who misses our uncle's special treats even more than others! Thanks for sharing!
Timea says
Hi Diane, indeed in the original recipe I used only pork, I adapted this recipe a bit. Head Cheese I never prepared but I ate a lot as a child, it is very tasty.
Lawrence says
Hi Timea.
What an absolute wonderful meat jelly recipe! It sounds and looks really delicious!
I really need to try this out! Whilst it has got some painstaking parts to the recipe and does take a while to cook and prepare, I really think this will be the best meat jelly I would ever taste!
Wish me luck in giving this a go!
Timea says
Hi Lawrence, thanks for the appreciation, I really recommend trying the recipe, it is incredibly tasty.