Broth to brilliance: Transform your leftovers into gourmet cutlets

Many homes mark weekends with cooked broth. This soup has many variations because on Mondays, it turns into tomato soup, and the vegetables inside can be turned into pâté. The meat, which often forms the base of the broth, is also suitable for transforming into a new dish. Instead of discarding it, fry the cutlets.

Although cooking a vegetarian broth is not complicated, the classic meat version remains the most popular. This is not surprising, as adding beef or chicken adds a lot of umami flavour and depth. This is how our grandmothers and mothers cooked, and now we follow in their footsteps. After cooking, the meat can be added to the soup as an "extra" or set aside and transformed into special cutlets.

In the kitchen of a resourceful housewife or householder, nothing goes to waste—and very well, because wasting food is a habit that can easily be remedied. Our grandmothers knew this well, making tomato soup, stew, pâté, or pierogi filling from broth and its ingredients. In my house, however, delicious cutlets reigned, which, at first glance, could be mistaken for classic minced cutlets.

The best meat is chicken or turkey, but you can also use mixed meat. Feel free to experiment with other spices, such as garlic, marjoram, or smoked paprika.

They taste perfect with potatoes or rice and a simple salad or beetroot.

Ingredients:

                  
• 10.5 oz cooked poultry meat from the broth
• 2 eggs
• 1 onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon chicken seasoning
• 1 teaspoon fresh dill
• 0.7 oz clarified butter or oil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Method:

1. Clean the broth meat from bones, skin, and cartilage. Peel the onion.
2. Grind the meat and the onion in a meat grinder or food processor.
3. Add the eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and chopped dill. You can add garlic, sweet or hot paprika, or a ready-made chicken spice mix.
4. Mix everything thoroughly.
5. Form the cutlets and coat them in breadcrumbs.
6. Heat the oil or clarified butter in a pan and add the prepared cutlets.
7. Fry on both sides until they are appealingly browned.
8. After frying, place a small piece of clarified butter on each cutlet. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for a few minutes to make the cutlets juicy.

A simple and delicious dinner is now ready. Enjoy your meal!