Salad “Grouse's Nest” differs from other snacks of this type with a special preparation and serving technology. He laid out on a dish in such a way that resembles a bird's nest filled with eggs. Instead of branches, french fries, cut into very thin sticks or even straws, are used. Initially, for the preparation of snacks they used game, later they began to replace it with poultry meat. Then came the recipes with ham, mushrooms, other ingredients, and supporters of healthy eating thought of replacing fried potatoes with cabbage. Salads made according to different recipes, have a different taste, combines them only a kind of design before serving.
Cooking Features
There are several moments, the knowledge of which allows you to make the salad “Grouse's Nest” especially tasty and beautiful.
- Vegetables for salad are usually cut into strips, chicken or ham can also be cut into thin strips, although a cubic form of cutting is also allowed. The main thing is to cut the vegetables forming the top layer of the snack in thin bars or straws, otherwise it will not look like a nest.
- Potatoes for salad are fried on high heat in a large amount of oil before they acquire a golden hue. Put ready potatoes on a napkin and wait for it to cool. During this time, the napkin will absorb excess fat, so that the snack will be less calorie.
- For the salad, you can use ready-made french fries, but preference should be given to the product, fried in thin slices, rather than in large bars, otherwise the finished dish will look less aesthetic.
- Do not put unrefined products into the salad, otherwise its shelf life will be significantly reduced.
- Do not make out the salad long before serving. If you put the potatoes on a snack, dressed with mayonnaise, long before the feast begins, the potato pieces will soften, stop being crispy, which will negatively affect the taste of the whole dish.
- If you do not have time to cook eggs from boiled yolks, replace them with boiled quail eggs. To taste, they give way homemade, but apparently the salad from such a replacement will only benefit.
The process of making salad “The Grouse's Nest” is not very complex, but the result is an elegant dish that can be called a culinary masterpiece and placed in the center of the festive table.
Classic salad recipe “Grouse's Nest”
Composition:
- boiled chicken meat - 0, 3 kg;
- potatoes - 0, 4 kg;
- chicken egg - 6 pcs .;
- vegetable oil - 0, 25 l;
- mayonnaise - 150 ml;
- onions - 100 g;
- cucumbers - 0, 3 kg;
- dill - 30 g;
- parsley - 15 g;
- salt, black pepper powder - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Boil the chicken meat, cool it, separate it from the bones, remove the skin. Meat disassemble into fibers or cut into small pieces.
- Cook the chicken eggs. It is necessary to boil for 9-10 minutes after the water boils, aging not to exceed the specified time - during long-term boiling the egg yolks get a lead color. Cool the eggs with cold water and clean.
- Peel potatoes. Try to take tubers of the same size so that the potato straws will also be the same.
- Cut the potatoes into thin, long straws. Fold in a colander and rinse under cool water. This is necessary to flush the starch. Thanks to this, the potato straw will not darken.
- When the water has drained from the potatoes, place it on a towel and dry it.
- Heat the oil in a deep saucepan. When smoke comes from him, check whether it is sufficiently warmed up by throwing potatoes into it. If the oil has hissed, you can fill it with the first batch of potatoes. It is better to fry in portions of approximately 100 g. It takes from 3 to 5 minutes to roast each batch, depending on the thickness of the straw. As soon as the potatoes are reddened, remove it with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper napkin. Gradually brown the whole potato.
- Wash, shake well, and chop greens finely.
- Wash cucumbers, blot with a napkin, remove tips. Cut the vegetables into strips.
- Remove the husks from the bulb, cut it into thin quarters of rings. You can pour onions with boiling water to remove bitterness. After the “water procedure” it is required to dry it.
- Take the eggs, remove the yolks from them.
- Grind proteins on a coarse grater.
- Place the yolks in a small bowl, carefully mash with a fork. Continue to knead, adding mayonnaise on a teaspoon, until the mass acquires a consistency convenient for the formation of "capercaillie eggs". Add to the yolk mass about a quarter of the chopped greens, mix thoroughly. Roll the balls, giving them the shape of eggs, put them on a plate. From the specified number of yolks should be 8-12 eggs.
- In a large bowl, fold the egg whites, chicken, cucumber straw, onion. Add about a quarter of the fried potatoes. Add remaining mayonnaise, mix.
- Place the salad on a wide plate in a slide, make a small depression in the center.
- In the well, pour in the remaining greens.
- Decorate the edges of the salad with the remaining potatoes.
- Place eggs made of yolk mass on greens.
Despite the fact that the salad making technology “The Grouse's Nest” has its own specifics, it can hardly be called complex. Only time is needed: it takes about an hour and a half to cook snacks along with cooking meat and eggs.
Salad "Grouse's Nest" with ham and mushrooms
Composition:
- smoked chicken (meat) - 0, 2 kg;
- ham - 100 g;
- marinated mushrooms - 0, 2 kg;
- potatoes - 0, 4 kg;
- vegetable oil - 0, 25 l;
- lettuce leaves - 3 pcs .;
- quail eggs - 3-6 pcs .;
- chicken eggs - 2-3 pcs .;
- mayonnaise - 100 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Cut the chicken, ham and mushrooms into thin oblong pieces, mix. Honey mushrooms are added without grinding.
- Grate grated potatoes for cooking Korean salads, rub in boiling oil. Put on a napkin to glass the water.
- Boil chicken and quail eggs, cool them under cold running water, peel.
- Coarse chicken eggs, add to the rest of the ingredients.
- Add mayonnaise, mix.
- Place the appetizer on the lettuce leaves, giving it a nest shape.
- Cover with roasted potatoes.
- Place quail eggs in the center.
This version of the snack has a more savory taste than the one made according to the classic recipe, but is among the most popular, since the dish is nourishing.
Salad "Grouse's Nest" with cabbage
Composition:
- potatoes - 0, 2 kg;
- boiled chicken meat - 0, 2 kg;
- processed cheese - 70 g;
- chicken egg - 2 pcs .;
- carrots - 100 g;
- sauerkraut - 0, 2 kg;
- sour cream or mayonnaise - to taste;
- salt, pepper - to taste;
- fresh greens - 50 g.
Method of preparation:
- Freeze, rub the cheese.
- Peel boiled and cooled eggs. Squirrels and yolks rub separately.
- Mix half of the yolks with cheese by adding a spoonful of sour cream and mayonnaise. Form the eggs. Dip them in sour cream or mayonnaise, then roll in the remaining yolks. Put on a plate.
- Boil potatoes and carrots in uniform, coarsely rub.
- Cut boiled chicken meat into small cubes.
- Combine carrots, potatoes, egg whites and chicken in a bowl, add salt and pepper, mix with sour cream or mayonnaise.
- Put a slide on the dish, make a well in the center.
- Cover the salad with cabbage, in the center, place the chopped greens.
- Put eggs on cheese and yolks on greens.
This variant of the appetizer will appeal to those who care about their health and try not to include too high-calorie dishes in the menu.
Salad “Grouse's Nest” with chicken: a step-by-step recipe with photos
You will need:
- boiled chicken fillet - 1, 5-2 pcs .;
- boiled chicken eggs - 3 pcs .;
- potatoes - 2-3 pcs .;
- onions - 2 pcs .;
- mushrooms - 300 g;
- durum cheese - 250 g;
- mayonnaise - for refueling;
- salt - to taste;
- lettuce leaves, dill - for decoration.
Preparation:
1. Cut the cooked chicken fillet into strips.
2. Clean the onion, cut it into half rings.
3. Cut the mushrooms into straws. Fry with onions in a hot skillet until cooked.
4. Clean potatoes. We rub on an average grater. Fry in a large amount of vegetable oil.
5. Separate the whites from the yolks.
6. We remove the yolks to the side, we will need them a little later. Squirrels cut into strips.
7. Rub cheese on a coarse grater or cut into strips.
8. Mix chicken fillet, fried mushrooms with onions, cheese, half of french fries and proteins. Add mayonnaise. We salt. Stir well.
9. Put the salad on a plate covered with lettuce leaves.
10. Crumble dill finely and sprinkle salad.
11. On the edge of the dish we lay out the remaining french fries, creating a kind of nest.
12. Mash yolks with mayonnaise, you can add a little chopped dill. We form several eggs from the egg mass and spread them in the center of the salad.
13. Our delicious salad “Grouse's Nest” is ready.
How to decorate a salad
The style of the salad “Grouse's Nest” is laid in the recipe and is reflected in the name of the appetizer. However, he admits certain variations, which allows the cook to give the dish made by him unique features.
- The use of quail eggs simplifies the process of cooking salad, but makes it the same type. You can rectify the situation by cutting a protein of one egg in a zigzag manner and removing its upper part. The protein is placed on top of the rest of the eggs, the egg itself is cut and the vertically bare yolk is placed upwards. It remains to decorate the yolk, making it look like a hatched chick. To do this, use pieces of vegetables and olives.
- If it seems to you that the “capercaillie” eggs, molded with their own hands, do not look quite aesthetically pleasing, hide them in quail egg whites by removing the yolks from them.
- It is possible to use the combined filling of the “nest”: fill it with whole quail eggs and put in it 2-3 nestlings molded of their yolk mass. They can make a tuft and peck of boiled carrots, eyes - from pieces of olives.
- Salad looks nice when serving in bowl or small plates.
- Salad will look more elegant if it is laid out on lettuce leaves, and after the “nest” is ready, spread half the cherry tomatoes around the perimeter.
Even using the standard design options for salad “Grouse's Nest”, you can be sure that it will decorate the festive table.
Salad "Grouse's Nest" is prepared from a small number of ingredients, it turns out nourishing and not too high-calorie, especially if you abandon the potatoes in its composition in favor of cabbage. Whatever cooking option you choose, it will look elegant and appetizing.