Pozharsky rissoles

Rissoles are among the most popular Russian dishes. People are not only fond of pork and lamb chops and cutlets, they also like rissoles made from minced beef, lamb, pork and veal. There are also chicken, fish, game, beetroot, kidney-bean, cabbage, carrot, and many other kinds of ris­soles. Rissoles are served with various vegetables and sauces. They are popular in every home, and every housewife knows which meat is best for rissoles, knows that bread soaked in milk makes them light and succulent, and has many other hints for making them.

Rissoles are normally shallow-fried, but deep-frying them is a more traditional method. This is how the popular Pozharsky chicken rissoles are cooked. Deep-frying requires a lot of very hot butter. When deep-fried, the whole surface of the meat is quickly covered in a thick, crisp, yet not tough or over-cooked, crust, and then continues to cook slowly while the butter penetrates right through the rissole.

They are called Pozharsky rissoles because in 1826 the poet Pushkin composed these jocular lines in a letter to his friend S. Sobolevsky, describing his journey from Moscow to Novgorod:

'Stop in Torzhok, find time to dine;

'Pozharsky will give you a feast.

'Sample his rissoles, fried they are fine,

(Don't fail to!)

'And go on your way well at ease.'

Torzhok is a small town near Moscow, where at the time there was a popular restaurant owned by a man called Pozharsky. It was most renowned for the dish which in time became known as Pozharsky rissoles.

To make these rissoles, first clean a chicken about one kilogramme in weight. Take the meat and skin from the bones, mince and add about 100 grammes of white bread without the crust, soaked in milk. Put this mixture through the mincer again, add a little melted butter and salt, and mix thoroughly. Form this mixture into small rissoles and coat in bread-crumbs. Drop the rissoles into a deep pan of butter and fry for five minutes, until a light brown crust has formed.

Then take the pan with the rissoles and place for five min­utes in a hot oven. Place the rissoles on a dish and pour some melted butter over them. They are usually served with a variety of vegetables, such as peas, beans, cauliflower and potatoes.

 

IV. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and expressions and reproduce the sentences in which they were used:

- хлеб замоченный в молоке

- весом около одного килограмма

- слегка подрумяненная корочка

- разогретый духовой шкаф

- хлеб без корки

- пропускать через мясорубку

- различные овощи

 

V. Complete the sentences:

1. Rissoles are made from ….

2. Rissoles are served with ….

3. Bread … makes rissoles light and succulent.

4. Deep-frying ….

5. Cook slowly while … the rissoles.

6. To make Pozharsky rissoles first ….

7. Form the mixture into small rissoles and ….

8. Place the rissoles on a dish and pour ….

 

VI. Read the definitions and translate the words:

Chop - a small piece of meat, esp. lamb or pork, usually containing a bone.

Rissole - a small round flat mass of cut-up meat cooked in hot fat.

Cutlet - a small piece of meat for one person, cut with a bone attached.

Shallow frying - frying on a pan in hot fat or oil, when the food is fried on both sides.

Deep-frying - immersion of food in hot fat or oil. Deep-fried foods are called fritters.

Grilling - a rapid method of cooking poultry, fish, cuts of meat by heat, the source of which may be gas, electricity or charcoal.

 

VII. Fill in the table:

meat	vegetables

 

Lamb, kidney-beans, chicken, carrots, beef, veal, potatoes, pork, cabbage, peas, beans, cauliflower, goose, cucumbers, tomatoes.

 

VIII. Answer the questions:

1. What are rissoles made from?

2. What are rissoles served with?

3. What makes rissoles light and succulent?

4. What is the most traditional method of making rissoles?

5. Why are the rissoles called Pozharsky?

6. What is the first step of making rissoles?

7. How can rissoles usually be served?

 

IX. How can Pozharsky Rissoles be made?

- First clean …

- Skin … mince and add …

- Form ….

- Drop ….

- Place the pan ….

- Serve ….

 

X. Translate the recipe from Russian into English:

РЯЗАНСКИЕ КОТЛЕТЫ

Ингредиенты

300г говядины,

300г свинины,

500г сливочного масла,

3ст. ложки муки,

2/3 стакана молока,

3 яйца,

50г масла,

соль, перец.

Способ приготовления

Проверните на мясорубке говядину и свинину, посолите и поперчите. Добавьте взбитые яйца с молоком. Сделайте котлеты, обваляйте их в муке, смочите в яйце и обжарьте с двух сторон. Подавать с жареным картофелем и зеленью.