It so happened that the vinaigrette all over the world is considered the traditional “Russian salad”.
The reason for this, already become widely known, funny case.
The French cook who served at the court of the Russian emperor pronounced the words “vinaigrette” when he saw how the Russian cook fills the salad with vinegar.
The Russian cook thought that this is the name of a cooked salad in France; he liked this word and since then the Russian classic vinaigrette has been called “vinegar”, though in French.
Generally, multi-component salads appeared in Russian cuisine due to the influence of the French, which from the time of Peter the Great had been brought to Russia a lot to instill European manners into Russian boyars. In Russian cuisine, salads consisted, as a rule, of one ingredient, and vinegar in Russia was known from the beginning of the Byzantine period, from the adoption of Christianity. Another interesting fact is that marinated with vinegar, chopped vegetables, meat and fish were taken on board by mariners, often combining products in one barrel, and pre-Petrine Russia had virtually no access to the sea. Maybe then, thanks to the first sea voyages, a vinaigrette appeared? True, sauerkraut, which our ancestors learned how to cook in pre-Christian times, is still a purely Russian part of the salad, because in this combination a salad with vinegar dressing is still prepared only in Russia.
As for European cuisine, the word "vinaigrette" in it means salad dressing, which includes vinegar. There is an incredible variety of recipes for salad dressings, which makes the range of salads even more diverse.
Vinaigrette with potatoes - the basic technological principles
A small excursion into the history suggests that not only vegetables can be part of the salad, but also fruits, meat, fish. That is, in essence, the vinaigrette is a multi-ingredient salad with dressing, which includes vinegar. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the vinaigrettes is a single component - beet. It is used in boiled and baked form in almost all types of vinaigrettes. It should be noted that, of all the varieties of the root crop, preference should be given to table varieties with intense burgundy color of the fruit, such as Bordeaux, which are distinguished by high taste, have a sweet taste and a soft texture, without a pronounced hard, fibrous structure. Often the housewives in the preparation of vinaigrettes are faced with the problem of using this vegetable in the salad: beet dyes all the other components of the dish in burgundy color, which makes it difficult to create a beautiful, multi-colored composition of vegetables. To avoid staining of beet potatoes and other ingredients of the salad, boil it in salted and acidified water. Cut it into cubes, pre-fold in a separate dish, grease with vegetable oil, mix: “sealing” with oil will keep the natural color of the remaining products.
If the beets are not sweet enough, which certainly affects the taste of the dish, where the combination of all flavors has an important role, then depending on the stage at which the deficiency was found, the situation can be corrected in the following ways:
Add sugar to the water, in the process of cooking beets;
You can sweeten a root vegetable when the beets are already diced: caramelize it, sprinkle lightly with sugar and hold in a hot oven until it is dissolved;
You can also bring the vinaigrette to taste by adding sugar along with salt, mustard and other spices to the dressing.
Vegetables for vinaigrettes, as a rule, are boiled “in uniforms”, but in the home kitchen, unlike catering establishments, you can bake them in the oven by wrapping them in foil to keep the maximum amount of healthy properties in the products. In addition, baked potatoes, beets and carrots have a more interesting flavor, which will be passed on to the vinaigrette. The ratio of all ingredients in a salad should be balanced so that products with a lower moisture content do not prevail over ingredients with a higher degree of moisture, and vice versa. Therefore, traditionally in complex, multi-component salads and vinaigrettes use the same amount of products by weight, taking into account their density and humidity.
As for cutting ingredients for vinaigrettes, they do not necessarily always cut into cubes. Sometimes products cut into slices. For the preparation of layered salads, for example, herring under the “fur coat”, where they are used, as for all types of vinaigrettes, potatoes, beets and carrots are not cut, but crushed with the help of a grater and laid on a dish alternately, layered with mayonnaise. By the way, mayonnaise - sauce, which also includes vinegar.
Recipe 1. Vinaigrette with potatoes, sauerkraut and white beans - the classic version
Ingredients (same quantity, net weight):
Sauerkraut
Beans, boiled
Salted cucumbers
Carrots, boiled
Beet
Potatoes
Onions, pickled
For refueling (to taste):
Salt
Mustard
Sugar
Vinegar
Natural Sunflower Oil
Cooking:
The whole process of preparing and cutting potatoes, beets and carrots is described above. Cut all vegetables of the same size. Peeled onions are cut into thin straws or half rings and kept in water, combined with an equal amount of vinegar or lemon juice to remove bitterness. If the beans are canned, then drain the marinade and rinse it under running water. Let the water drain. It is desirable that the beans were not large, and that it does not stand out in size against the rest of the components. Sliced pickled cucumbers before laying in a dish, hold in a colander to remove excess brine, otherwise the salad will be too watery or even salty. Also do with sauerkraut.
It is advisable not to mix any salads too intensively and often, but in the case of the vinaigrette, you will have to do this twice, considering that the products laid have a sour or salty taste, individually, because you need to determine how much sugar, salt and vinegar are permissible to use in the dressing . Try a vinaigrette without dressing and add the missing ingredients to bring it to taste. You can cook the dressing separately and pour the vinaigrette with it half an hour before consumption, or add the necessary ingredients separately.
Recipe 2. Vinaigrette with potatoes and green peas and fresh white cabbage
Ingredients (150 g each, net weight):
Yield: 5-6 servings
Baked Potatoes, Peeled
Carrot
Beet
Fresh White Cabbage
Green Peas, Canned
Pickles
Green onions
Lemon juice 150 ml
Sugar
Salt
Unrefined oil
Cooking:
Replacing vinegar with lemon juice, you can get a new taste of the usual vinaigrette. Before you squeeze the juice from the lemon, remove the zest from it: you can also add it to the vinaigrette. If you do not like this option, then the zest is useful for other dishes. To squeeze out more juice, hold the lemon for a few seconds in boiling water.
Finely chop fresh cabbage, sprinkle it with lemon juice, salt, sprinkle with sugar and lightly crush to release the juice. Let stand for at least an hour. Chop green onions finely and soak in lemon juice. The rest of the vegetables, peeling, cut into cubes, the size of a pea. Combine all the ingredients and refuel.
Recipe 3. Vinaigrette with potatoes, marinated herring and quail eggs under mayonnaise
Ingredients:
Potatoes "in uniforms" 450 g
Onion, small (onion) 300 g
Quail eggs 12 pcs.
Beetroot, baked 250 g
Fresh cucumbers 200 g
Carrots marinated 150 g
Herring fillet 800 g
Vinegar
Salt
Allspice
Carnation
Sugar
Mayonnaise
Sprigs of parsley and dill (for registration)
Cooking:
The main components of this salad are potatoes, herring and eggs.
Cut the herring fillet into thin slices, keeping the knife at a 45º angle so that the pieces are quite wide and can be rolled up. Place the herring in a separate plate and soak in a marinade of vinegar combined with water in a 1: 1 ratio, crushed allspice and mashed clove buds. If the herring is lean, add some vegetable oil to the marinade. Pickling time - at least 3 hours.
Choose potatoes of the same size, round shape, wash them and boil them in the peel. Cool slightly, remove the peel and cut into thin slices, about the same size as herring slices. Chop small onions with thin rings and marinate in vinegar or lemon juice, adding salt and sugar.
We act in the same way with fresh, peeled and washed carrots: we shred thin round plates and place them in marinade. Choose large root vegetables for salad to get rings of 2-3 cm in diameter. Use the remaining pieces of peeled carrots for cooking other dishes. For convenience of preparation, place the carrots in the marinade, separate from the onion.
Cut the beetroot into thin slices and use the figured cutouts for cookies to squeeze the “flowers” out of each plate. Put the finished beet pieces on a plate and “seal” with vegetable oil.
Cooked and peeled quail eggs are prepared as follows: cut off part of the protein from the narrower side of the egg, in order to give it stability. On the opposite side we remove the protein, making a zigzag with a knife to get the shape of a lily.
Fresh cucumbers are cut into thin plates of oblong shape so that they can be bent in half. In the center of each plate of cucumber we make cuts at a distance of 0.5 cm, not reaching the edge, so that when bent, we get semirings.
My dill leaves and parsley, remove the water. We begin to form a festive vinaigrette on a flat and wide dish. For the convenience of laying out, use the skewers:
On 5 round slices of a potato in the form of a flower, overlap lay on a dish.
Between the potatoes, put the "flowers", cut from the beets.
Raising the edges of the “flowers” of potatoes and beets, place slices of fresh cucumbers bent in half under them - if necessary, use skewers to secure the composition, and place greens on the skewers.
On the beet "flowers" set the eggs. Roll the slices of herring into a tube, wrapping each one in 5 carrot “petals” and securing the resulting “flower” with a skewer. Set it on potato slices.
Disassemble the onion slices into rings and place them perpendicularly throughout the entire dish, between the fragments of the composition.
Recipe 4. Vinaigrette with potatoes, eggs, celery and pickled mushrooms
Ingredients:
Baked potatoes 200 g
Boiled eggs 4 pcs.
Baked Beets 150g
Green onions 100g
Lemon juice 50 ml
Marinated champignons 300 g
Prunes 70-75 g
Gouda type cheese
Garlic 15g
Chopped walnuts (for dressing)
Mayonnaise
Oranges 400 g
Greens (for decoration)
Cooking:
For the salad, choose champignons of the same small size. Finely chop the onion and soak it in a solution of lemon juice and water; slightly squeeze to remove excess liquid. Prune steamed with boiling water and finely see when it swells and cools. Add in a slice of chopped garlic and 50-60 g of chopped nuts. Combine this mixture with grated boiled beets; mix it up. Peel oranges and membranes; break the lobules in half. All other ingredients rub on a large vegetable grater.
Lay the salad layers in the following order: potatoes, seasoned boiled beets, eggs, cheese, oranges, green onions. Put the mushrooms on top, hats up. Each layer pour mayonnaise.
Recipe 5. Vinaigrette with potatoes, duck, apples and celery
Ingredients:
Smoked breast duck 400 g
Potatoes “in uniforms” 200 g
Marinated beets 250 g
Carrots, boiled 150 g
Celery, boiled (root) 100 g
Apples, sweet and sour 300 g
Filling:
Table vinegar 20 ml
Tangerine juice 50 ml
Oil, mustard 40 ml
Salt
Honey 30g
Ground pepper
Rosemary, fresh
Cooking:
Start cooking the salad with a dressing: it should be drawn for at least an hour.
Prepare the remaining ingredients. Apples need to choose a sweet and sour variety with dense pulp. With the duck breast to remove the skin. Duck meat can be replaced with smoked beef or jerked sausage. All components of lettuce cut into the same cubes and combine in a salad bowl. Pour in the dressing, stir and let it brew. For decoration, use the ingredient in the dish.
Recipe 6. Vinaigrette with potatoes and salted salmon
Ingredients:
Boiled beets 150 g
Salmon fillet 350 g
Boiled potatoes 250 g
Marinated onions 120g
Eggs 5 pcs.
Black olives 200 g
Carrots, boiled 100 g
For refueling:
Olive oil 80 ml
Salt
Ground pepper
Balsamic vinegar 40 ml
Sugar
Cooking:
All ingredients, except eggs and olives, cut into cubes. Cut the olives across, into rings. Pound boiled yolks with butter, salt and pepper. Add vinegar and sugar. Squirrels, cut them finely and add to the salad.
Recipe 7. Vinaigrette with potatoes, sea kale and squid
Ingredients:
Boiled eggs 4 pcs.
Squid fillet, boiled 300 g
Marinated onions 100 g
Boiled potatoes 250 g
Sea kale 200 g
Cooked beets 150 g
Filling: Balsamic Vinegar, Refined Oil, Sugar, Salt
Cooking:
Beetroot, boiled squid carcass and potatoes cut into thin strips. In the sliced beets, add butter and mix well. Chop the onion in half rings and soak it in cold, boiled water, acidified with vinegar. Add sugar and salt. Separate the yolks from the eggs and grind them with vegetable oil, add balsamic vinegar. Combine all the ingredients, fill and mix, hold 30-40 minutes before serving.
Vinaigrette with potatoes - tips and tricks
- To make vegetables for vinaigrette boil or bake quickly and at the same time, sort them before cooking by size. In this case, beets, it is desirable to choose a medium-sized.
- All salads have a short shelf life, especially after adding a dressing to them, so always try to cook them in the amount needed for one meal.
- Boiled or baked vegetables for vinaigrette can be stored whole for 24 hours, in a closed container in a refrigerator, by pouring a little salt into it at the bottom. This method of preparation and storage makes it possible to divide the cooking into two stages and to better allocate time: before using the vinaigrette, you can always get the boiled vegetables beforehand from the refrigerator and immediately begin cutting them, which will not take much time, especially if there are corresponding salads kitchen appliances.
- For salads, you need to choose potatoes with a higher starch content so that it does not crumble when sliced. If, during cooking, it turned out that only a variety of crumbly tubers is available that are very suitable for making mashed potatoes, and there is no time left to go for the potatoes, cook what you have, but add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to the water so that the potatoes do not crumbled. Salt potatoes only before the end of cooking.
