Hey guys, you caught me red-handed while I peek at the ingredients with which one of the most famous jellied meats ever is prepared. Well, just because I don't particularly like buying prepackaged foods, I decided to go into the preparation of Simmenthal meat (or at least a facsimile of it ...), starting simply from the analysis of the ingredients listed on the label. So, let's read together. On the label they declare:
- Broth, prepared with water, honey, natural flavors and spices. Well: we will prepare a vegetable broth prepared with carrot, honey, celery and various spices
- Cooked beef: and here we will use excellent beef muscle (carefully chosen by my dad, who is now my trusted butcher)
- Salt: and we will use flavored salt for meats
- Marsala: which we will use to macerate the meat (yes, because to make it tastier, we will macerate the meat in water, marsala and rosemary)
- Gelling agent (agar-agar), which we will also use
- Thickener (carob seed flour): which we will not use because in my opinion the "agar agar" is sufficient
- Flavor enhancer (the classic monosodium glutamate): which also in this case we will not use because we already have the flavored salt
- Preservative (sodium nitrite): it is a synthetic preservative often added to packaged products (eg canned meats, cheeses, cured meats, etc.) to avoid oxidation of foods and to prevent the development of bacteria such as C. botulinum. Unfortunately, however, this preservative is potentially toxic and can create serious stomach upset. By preparing this meat in jelly with a view to consuming it within 2-3 days, it will not be necessary to use a similar preservative in the realization of this recipe.
Video of the Recipe
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Identity Card of the Recipe
- 61 KCal Calories per serving
-
Ingrediants
- About 350 ml of water
- 3-5 g (exact amount: 1% of the liquid after cooking) of agar agar
- 250 g of shank or another cut of beef
- 100 g (1 medium) of carrots
- About 250 ml of marsala
- 5 g (1 teaspoon) of honey
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 5 g of flavored salt
- 1 leg of celery
Materials Needed
- 4 silicone molds
- Bowl for soaking and other bowls of various sizes
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- Transparent film and scissors
- Pot with lid for cooking
- Sterile gauze for rosemary
- Colander
- Peel vegetables for the carrot
- Skimmer
- Whip
Preparation
To prepare this meat we used the shank of beef: it is a red, fleshy muscle, rich in tendons which, in addition to being suitable for the preparation of roasts, broth and braised meats, is also excellent to be tasted in jelly.
- Cut the shank into small pieces and pour it into a large bowl. Cover the pieces of meat with a macera prepared with only marsala (about 250 ml) or by diluting a part of marsala in a part of water (to obtain a more delicate aroma). Add a sprig of rosemary to the macera and cover the bowl with a sheet of cling film. Leave the meat to marinate for at least 4 hours.
- After 4 hours of maceration, the meat will have assumed a darker color and the liquid, on the other hand, a red tint. Drain the liquid from the meat and pour it into a saucepan of the right size: the pot, in fact, must not be too big to prevent the liquid from evaporating excessively during cooking.
- Pour part of the macera (about 50 ml) into the saucepan, then add as much water as necessary until the meat is completely covered (about 400 ml). Then add the celery leg, the peeled carrot, the flavored salt and the sprig of rosemary, preferably wrapped in a sterile gauze to prevent the rosemary needles from dispersing in the liquid. Cook over low heat for about an hour and a half, preventing the liquid from evaporating too much.
Which room to choose?
It is advisable to prefer a specific flavored salt for meats and vegetables: the mix of spices already contained in the salt, in fact, will give the meat a particular flavor, which is close to that of the reference meat in jelly (Simmenthal).- When the meat is cooked, remove it from the cooking broth with the help of a slotted spoon. Filter the broth through a narrow mesh strainer, preferably using a sheet of absorbent paper to remove all impurities. We have thus obtained a clear and limpid broth. , ideal for thickening with agar-agar.
- Weigh the quantity of broth: this operation is important to know how much gelling agent (agar agar) will be needed to obtain the right consistency of the gelatine (the quantity of agar must be equal to 1-1.5% of the liquid).
Please note
In this specific case, we obtained 250 ml of broth: the quantity of agar is therefore 2.5-3 g.- At this point, pour the broth back into the saucepan and bring it to a temperature of 80 ° C: melt the agar agar with the whisk, always keeping the fire burning, to avoid the formation of lumps. Mix continuously for about 3 minutes.
- Distribute the meat in 4 single-dose molds (silicone, in this case) and cover with the broth in which the agar was dissolved.
- Allow the meat to cool completely until the broth has completely gelled. Remove the meat from the molds and serve, accompanying with fresh vegetables.
Alice's comment - PersonalCooker
And this is the meat in jelly proposed by My-personaltrainerTv: of course, the preparation is not immediate because it is necessary to respect the maceration, cooking and cooling times. But would you like to have the satisfaction of preparing a Simmenthal facsimile at home? I hope you liked it and if you have any doubts write me on You Tube or directly on My-personaltrainer.it.Nutritional values and Health Comment on the recipe
Simmenthal-type meat in jelly is a cooked and preserved dish. The energy value, which might seem negligible, actually varies according to the habit or not of the diner to consume the preservative gelatine; therefore, the values shown on the side also take into consideration this component which is NOT caloric but essential for the success of the recipe. Simmenthal-type meat in jelly provides very low quantities of lipids, carbohydrates and fibers, therefore it needs to be contextualized in a complete meal.
