The secrets on jelly with meat broth to prepare for Christmas

Meat broth and gelatine: the basis for every recipe

To prepare jelly, and all the tasty dishes we can present with it, the secret lies in preparing a spicy broth and the beef we use. With gelatin we can indulge ourselves and bring Russian salads, aspic with meat, fish aspic and tasty boiled meats to the table; all with a unique and Christmassy scenic effect.

To prepare the ideal meat broth for jelly, we will have to have patience and boil it for at least 4 hours (less if we use a pressure cooker) in order to create a good concentration of collagen which releases the meat. We can prepare the meat broth for jelly in many ways, depending on the dish we want to cook, using beef or a calibrated mix with chicken, chicken and pork.

To have a good, tasty meat broth we can use cuts of boiled meat - which you can find in our Bollito Box - or boiled meat - which you can find in the Lesso Box -. To give more aroma to the broth we can use the classic vegetables and herbs to give a unique and personal taste: onion, carrot, celery, tomato, bay leaf and rosemary are the best.

The ideal cuts of meat for a good broth for jelly

Considering that the right base is always given by strictly bone-in beef, a good jelly can be prepared with many different cuts of meat: it depends on the final dish we want to prepare.

The ideal cuts of meat for a good jelly are those we use to prepare boiled meat, the important thing is that the base is beef with tasty pulp - muscle is always better - but above all very rich in cartilage to release collagen. We can also use less noble parts, such as tongue and offal, but a bone component must always be present. To use more accessible and well-known cuts of meat instead, the white steak has a good dose of fat, a bone inside and a very intense flavour. If we want to use slightly leaner cuts of beef, we can make a broth with priest's hat or brisket .

These cuts of beef are capable of creating an adequate jelly, but they almost always need a thickener, if we do not want to use it we can cook a broth with a balanced mix of muscles, bones, legs and thigh: in this case you will have a jelly that is already very thick after being placed in the refrigerator.

In addition to beef we can add other cuts of meat to the broth to give it very particular nuances:

• The combination of beef and veal will make the rich jelly delicate in taste.
• Pork meat such as legs, ribs and shank will give a stronger and more local flavour
• Chicken , hen and capon meat will give tenderness and a very delicate taste
• Chicken meat and beef shanks together will give the jelly a delicate taste but with a local touch

How to make jellied broth

The main method for making jellied meat broth is to let it rest in the refrigerator after it has cooled and wait several hours. The other method for making jellied broth is to use a lot of bone: also time-consuming but at the same time the most traditional and tasty. Cooking the bone can take up to 48 hours to release the collagen. This substance is the most natural thickener, and thanks to the lowering of temperature it congeals, making the broth jelly.

To shorten the time, making the broth into jelly using isinglass is perhaps the most popular method. Like the previous procedure, after preparing a good broth, and letting it cool, you will have to clarify and filter it and then add the glue and let it do the job.

Tips for a top jelly

After all these technical notions, here is a super concentrated list to bring an impeccable jelly with beef broth to the table.

• After cooking, the meat should be skimmed, put on a plate and left to cool. In the meantime, be sure to strain the broth through a sieve or cheesecloth.
• For the broth we always use very fresh cuts of Italian meat.
• When we prepare the aspic, we cover the mold with transparent film before inserting the gelatin to facilitate the extraction of the ready dish.
• Pay attention to the vegetables for the broth: let's make sure we have fresh and clean products as a base.
• The broth requires a lot of seasoning and spices. The most suitable are: juniper, bay leaf, rosemary, ginger, thyme and cloves.
• If we use bones and offal to prepare the jelly broth it is better to buy them in butcher shops with traced products, already processed and already sawn into several parts.
• The ratio of water and meat when cooking broth for jelly should be one to one.

Here are all the secrets for preparing jelly with meat broth, soon we will give you some tasty recipes.