Chicken Aspic with Gelatin

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make chicken aspic with gelatin? Gather your ingredients. Any chicken parts work for aspic; I used thighs and drumsticks. Wings, feet, and other bone-in parts are good too, since they contain the collagen with gelling properties. You can also make it from breast meat for a lighter version, but in that case use twice as much gelatin, because breast has almost no natural gelling collagen.

2. Step 2:

   

   Wash the chicken, put it in a suitable pot, and cover with cold water. Set the pot over low heat and bring it to a boil.

3. Step 3:

   

   Skim off the foam with a slotted spoon. Lower the heat and cook the chicken for 1 hour.

4. Step 4:

   

   Wash and peel the carrot and onion. You can leave a yellow onion unpeeled, in its skin, which gives the broth a lovely golden color. Mine was a red onion, so I peeled it.

5. Step 5:

   

   Add the whole onion and carrot to the broth. Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.

6. Step 6:

   

   Then salt the broth and add the spices: ground black pepper, allspice berries, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Cook another 10 to 15 minutes. The chicken should be cooked well enough that the meat pulls easily off the bones. Pierce it with a knife to check.

7. Step 7:

   

   Remove the chicken from the broth and let it cool. Strain the broth through a sieve. I skimmed off some of the fat with a spoon, since the broth came out quite rich. Discard the onion; you can use the carrot to decorate the finished aspic.

8. Step 8:

   

   Sprinkle the gelatin over 50 ml (about 3 1/2 tablespoons) of cold boiled water and let it bloom for 10 minutes.

9. Step 9:

   

   Stir the bloomed gelatin into the warm (not boiling) broth, mixing thoroughly until it's fully dissolved.

10. Step 10:

    

    Peel and mince the garlic. You can chop it, grate it, or press it.

11. Step 11:

    

    Pull the chicken meat off the bones and shred or cut it into pieces. Arrange it in the dish you'll use to set the aspic. For a holiday presentation, you can top it with decoratively cut carrot, hard-boiled egg, and fresh herbs.

12. Step 12:

    

    Scatter the minced garlic evenly over the meat. Carefully pour the broth into the mold. Stir the meat gently with a fork so it's evenly spread through the broth. Let the aspic cool completely, then refrigerate it to set, which takes several hours, and is even better left overnight. Serve the chicken aspic chilled, with mustard or horseradish. Enjoy!