Clear Turkey Aspic (Kholodets) – Homemade Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. Nowadays you can buy chilled turkey that has never been frozen. Otherwise, it needs to be thawed first. It's better not to rush this: move the meat from the freezer to the fridge in advance. Overnight it will thaw and release hardly any juice. By the way, you can make turkey aspic from drumsticks alone, adding the leftover carcass – it has lots of bones, so the dish is more likely to set.
   
2. Wash the meat and remove all the skin – it's not needed. Trim off any remaining fat and membranes. Cut the meat into pieces – the goal is to make them thinner. Slice the fillet in half horizontally and then into two or four pieces. For the drumsticks, it's enough to cut them lengthwise to expose the bone. Put the meat in a pot and cover with 2.5 l of cold water.
   
3. How to cook turkey aspic
4. Put the pot on the heat and bring the water to a boil. When cooking poultry, the water often turns cloudy and milky. In that case, as soon as it starts to boil, I drain the water right away, rinse the meat and cover it with cold water again. Add a whole unpeeled carrot to the water. I don't add other roots to turkey aspic, but an unpeeled onion is a must – it gives the stock an amber color.
   
5. Put 2-3 bay leaves, 6-8 black peppercorns and 1-2 allspice berries into a spice bag. Add 2-3 unpeeled garlic cloves as well. Tie the bag and drop it into the broth. Simmer at a very gentle boil for at least 3 hours. Never let the broth boil hard – only a gentle simmer, with the surface barely moving. Then discard the spice bag and transfer all the meat to a plate.
6. Next, do the setting test. If the broth sets well, you can leave it as it is. My grandmother used to reduce it by almost a third, which concentrated the gelatin from the bones. At home it's easier to add gelatin. Either way, the fat must be removed from the surface of the broth. You can use a spoon, but a paper napkin works better: unfold an ordinary paper napkin and lay it flat on the surface of the broth. The fat will stick to the paper and you can throw it away with the napkin. By the third or fourth time there won't be a trace of fat left.
   
7. Cut the cooked fillet into large pieces. Pull all the meat off the drumsticks and break it into pieces. Make sure no small bones, cartilage and the like get into the dish. Should you clarify the broth? I prefer turkey aspic, or aspic from any other meat, to be dark amber, well set and with a light “frost” on the surface. The broth must be strained through a dense cloth – that's essential. If you want to clarify it, cool it and add the whites of 2-3 eggs whipped to a foam and mixed with crushed eggshells. After mixing the broth with the whites, start heating it. Gradually the whites will coagulate, trapping the particles that make the broth cloudy. Then strain the broth through a dense cloth or filter paper.
   
8. Arrange the pieces of meat and a little parsley in suitable bowls or dishes. All that's left is to pour in the broth. Season the broth with salt and pepper to taste, and add a few crushed garlic cloves if you like. Bring to a boil and take off the heat. After 10 minutes, strain again or pour into another container so that no bits of garlic end up in the dish. If the setting test was less than satisfying, add 15-25 g of instant gelatin, soaked in half a cup of water or cooled stock. The gelatin should dissolve in the stock without a trace.
   
9. Pour the mixture over the turkey in the prepared bowls. Put the bowls somewhere cold. Such dishes usually set in a few hours. If you make it in the evening, by morning you'll have a firm and very clear aspic. Mine comes out with the texture of fruit jelly and slices perfectly with a knife. Get a large plate ready. Dip the bottom of a bowl into hot water for 30-60 seconds. Cover the bowl with a serving plate and turn it over. The aspic will easily come away from the sides and land on the plate.
   
10. We usually serve aspic with grated prepared horseradish – the recipe came from my father, and that's how we make it. Some prefer it with mustard. This dish goes best of all with mashed potatoes, which are better served separately.