According to the classic recipe, it is better to choose rather large, oblong-shaped potatoes for the Wood Grouse Nest salad. We peel the tubers and grate them with long straws; I recommend using a grater to prepare carrots in Korean.
Heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan, add some of the potatoes and fry until the strips are crispy and golden brown. We do the same with the remaining potatoes. Transfer the prepared potatoes to a paper towel to remove excess oil from the potato sticks.
Boil the eggs hard for about 10 minutes and cool. Grate the cheese along with the egg yolks, chop the herbs, and chop the garlic through a press. Mix everything together, adding a little salt and mayonnaise so that the mass is suitable for molding eggs. With wet hands, roll small balls into the shape of a quail egg. Place them on a saucer and put them in the refrigerator.
Grate the egg whites on a coarse grater. Cut the boiled chicken fillet into small pieces with your fingers and separate into fibers.
Cut the ham into strips, pickled mushrooms into small slices. If the champignons are small, then you can simply cut them in half.
In a bowl, mix ham, grated egg whites, chicken fillet, and mushrooms. Season to taste, add mayonnaise and stir.
Wash and dry the lettuce leaves. Place them in a circle on a plate. Place the prepared salad on top, making a hole in the center for the “eggs.”
We decorate the salad with potato chips, forming our “nest” at the same time. Place cheese “eggs” in the center.
It is not recommended to store this salad in the refrigerator for a long time, otherwise the potatoes will lose their crispness and soften. If necessary, you can form the “eggs” in advance and prepare the Wood Grouse Nest salad according to the classic recipe, and garnish with potato strips just before serving the salad.
The Capercaillie Nest salad is interesting for its appearance. It is prepared in the form of a nest in which eggs lie. It looks very beautiful on the holiday table, and it tastes good too.
It can be made with meat, smoked chicken, sausage, pickled or fresh mushrooms, etc. Fans of healthy eating generally form a nest of cabbage.
Usually the products are cut into thin strips to look like twigs in a nest. But in general, you can decorate absolutely any salad this way, simply by folding it in the form of a nest and covering it with French fries.
I recently tried the Chafan salad in a trendy restaurant, it also includes French fries, and there it was cut so thin, as if on a Korean carrot grater. It was so crispy, it created a magical sensation. I think that this cutting method would be ideal for a nest.
There are different ways to prepare decorative eggs to decorate this salad: they can be made from grated cheese, a mixture of yolk and any pate (for 2 yolks - 100 g of pate), or you can simply add boiled quail eggs.
By the way, if you need to make this salad urgently, you can buy ready-made French fries.
Classic recipe for Capercaillie's nest salad with meat and fries
This salad includes chicken meat, French fries, and cucumber to add juiciness. You can also add pickled or fried mushrooms to these ingredients. And also some corn for some sweetness. But we will make the basic version, it is also very tender and tasty.
You can cut the ingredients into strips, but since our nest is formed by the decor, the salad itself can easily be ordinary cubes.
According to the classics of the genre, this salad uses eggs made from the yolk mass. But many people also make it with boiled quail eggs. This is very beautiful because the white eggs look contrasting against the background of the fried potatoes. But homemade ones taste better. In this salad we use both options as an example.
It is better to serve the potatoes so that they remain crispy. The blank itself in the form of a nest can be made in advance, and the decor can be finished when the guests are on the doorstep. To make the potatoes crunchy.
Products:
- One chicken fillet (about 250 g),
- Cucumber – 1 pc.,
- Onion – 1 pc.,
- Garlic – 3 cloves,
- Potatoes – 4 pcs.,
- Processed cheese – 1 pc.,
- Chicken eggs – 3 pcs.,
- Quail eggs – 7 pcs. (not necessary),
- Leaf salad,
- A little dill
- Salt, pepper, mayonnaise, vegetable oil.
- Boil the eggs hard. Salt and boil the chicken fillet.
2. Separate the yolks from the whites. Cut the whites into small cubes.
3. Cut the chicken fillet into cubes.
In order for the chicken fillet to be easily cut into cubes, it must be boiled in advance and cooled well. It is advisable to cook it the previous evening.
4. Cut the onion into very small cubes. And either scald with boiling water or marinate. That is, either simply pour boiling water over it and let it stand for 10 minutes. Or pour it over with a mixture of cold water and 9% vinegar in equal proportions, for example, 50 g of water and 50 g of vinegar. Read more ways to pickle onions.
5. Add half of the processed cheese, grated on a fine grater, to three yolks. Add a pinch of salt, a little finely chopped dill and a heaped teaspoon of mayonnaise. Squeeze three cloves of garlic. Stir until smooth.
6. You need to make small straws out of potatoes. This is difficult to do with a knife, so we use a Korean carrot grater.
When deep-frying potato straws, you do not need to add salt to them, otherwise they will become soggy. You can add salt later.
7. Make French fries. Pour in plenty of oil and heat. Divide the potatoes into 2 parts and fry in two batches. This can be done in a special mesh or simply pulled out with a slotted spoon. The potatoes fry quickly, wait until golden brown and remove. Place on napkins. Add a little salt.
8. While the potatoes are frying, drain the onions and place them in the salad. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper, two heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise. Mix well.
9. Now roll the eggs from the yolk mixture.
To ensure that the eggs are the same, take the yolk mass with a heaped teaspoon.
10. Place lettuce leaves or any greens on a plate. And on them - a lot of salad. Then form a nest by making an indentation in the middle using a spoon.
11. Finely chop the dill. It is important to keep it dry, so wash it beforehand and let it dry.
12. Place the potatoes on the sides of the salad, trying not to show the salad.
13. Fill the middle of the salad with herbs. And lay out the eggs.
14. You can also add quail eggs to eggs made from yolk. Salad ready!
Wood grouse's nest salad with smoked (or boiled) chicken - my favorite recipe
This is not a very ordinary recipe, because in addition to potatoes, carrots are also fried, and cucumbers are not used. But the salad turns out juicy and tasty. I made it with the simplest decor option, but the guests still appreciated the salad.
You can use ham instead of fillet. But I think it tastes better with chicken.
Products:
- Potatoes - three or four large
- Onions – 2 pcs.,
- Carrots - four large ones,
- Eggs - five or six,
- Chicken (boiled or smoked) – 300 g without bones,
- Mayonnaise – four – five tbsp.,
- Mustard – 1 tbsp.,
- Garlic – 1-2 cloves,
- Dill, parsley.
I think this salad tastes better with smoked chicken.
- Peel the vegetables. Boil the eggs hard.
2. Cut the potatoes into small strips (alternatively, you can grate them using a Korean carrot grater).
3. Also cut the carrots into small strips. Cut the onion into half rings.
3. Cut the chicken fillet into cubes.
4. Separate the whites from the eggs and cut into cubes.
5. Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Fry the potatoes. Place a colander in a bowl and place the potatoes in it to drain the oil. If there is old oil left in the pan, pour it into the sink, wipe it with a napkin on a fork and add two more tablespoons of new oil. Fry the carrots. Place in a colander too. Then also fry the onion. Then add potatoes, carrots and onions to the eggs.
6. Add chicken.
7. Stir.
8. Squeeze two 1-2 cloves of garlic through a garlic press. Add 4-5 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 1 tbsp. mustard.
9. Stir the salad. And make a hole in the center.
10. Finely chop the greens. Crush the yolks with a fork, add 1 tbsp. mayonnaise and chopped dill and parsley. Stir. And from this mass mold oval testicles.
11. Decorate the salad with them, placing them in the recess.
Wood grouse nest with cabbage and quail eggs - decorate step by step
This is a lighter, less calorie version of the salad, which does not use fried potatoes and contains cabbage. It’s better to take Chinese cabbage, but if you don’t have it, then regular cabbage will do. All vegetables are cut into strips so that they look like twigs in a nest.
Products:
- Chicken (boiled or smoked) – 100 grams without bones
- Chinese or regular cabbage – 100 grams,
- Cheese – 100 grams,
- Quail eggs – 5-7 pcs.,
- Mushrooms - one hundred grams,
- One apple
- One onion
- Half a lemon
- 5 nuts (you can have almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts),
- Mayonnaise.
- Boil the eggs hard, cool and peel.
2. Cut the onion into thin strips. Also slice the mushrooms thinly.
3. Place the onions and mushrooms in a hot frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, add salt to taste and fry.
4. Also cut the cheese into strips. Place the third part on a separate saucer; it will be needed for decoration.
5. Also cut the chicken into strips, set aside a little for decoration.
6. Cut the Chinese cabbage into thin strips and also set aside a little.
7. Slice the apple thinly too, squeeze out lemon juice to prevent it from darkening. Also part - on a separate saucer.
8. Place all the cuttings in a separate bowl, mix, add mayonnaise to taste (about 5 tbsp). Finely chop the nuts.
Transfer the salad mixture to a plate and form a nest. Place the reserved and chopped ingredients (to which mayonnaise was not added) on top.
Cover the hole with finely chopped nuts and place quail eggs there.
Capercaillie's nest - recipe in layers
Wood grouse's nest salad can be made by laying out the ingredients in layers. And you can decorate not only with eggs, but also by making figurines of hatched capercaillie. Due to the large number of products, it turns out to be practically the main dish - here you have both chicken and potatoes.
Ingredients:
- Chicken fillet – three hundred and fifty g,
- Potatoes - 4 large,
- Pickled mushrooms – three hundred g,
- Two onions
- Two medium cucumbers
- Three chicken eggs,
- Several quail eggs for decoration (6 pcs.),
- 1 processed cheese,
- Two carrots
- Two cloves of garlic
- Mayonnaise, salt, pepper to taste,
- Leaf salad,
- Cloves - twelve sticks.
- Boil all the eggs and one carrot. Boil chicken fillet in salted water.
- First we make French fries. We cut it thinly. It is advisable to deep-fry the potatoes, but if you don’t mind oil, you can just do it in oil. It will taste better deep-fried. Place several layers of paper napkins on a plate and potatoes on top.
To make the French fries especially tasty, you can prepare them in advance - marinate the potatoes cut into strips for several hours in water with 1 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp. Sahara. Then drain the water and freeze the potatoes. And when you need it, throw it directly into the deep fryer. This is how you get real French fries. It’s also convenient that you can prepare it in advance.
3. Cut the onions into quarter rings. Carrots - into strips.
4. Place vegetables in a frying pan with heated oil and fry until golden brown.
5. Cut the chicken into strips.
6. Mushrooms – also in strips.
7. Cut the cucumber into strips too.
8. Peel the eggs, remove the yolks. Set the yolks themselves aside for decoration. And cut the whites into thin cubes.
9. Let's start assembling. The first layer is mushrooms.
12. The next layer is fresh cucumbers.
13. Then lay out the egg whites and spread with a thin layer of mayonnaise.
14. Decorate the top with fried potatoes, forming a nest. Place lettuce leaves on the sides.
15. Transfer the yolks to a separate plate, add 1 tbsp. mayonnaise, a little finely chopped dill or other herbs, salt, mash with a fork. Form oval eggs.
To make it easier to mold eggs from the yolk mass, wet your hands in cold water.
16. Place the eggs in the well of the lettuce. Peel the quail eggs and the remaining chicken eggs. Use cloves to make eyes, and use raw carrots to make beaks and wings for an adult chicken.
Beautiful presentation of Wood Grouse Nests
Watch the video where the preparation of this salad is very clear and detailed and how it can be beautifully served by forming it in a ring.
A fairly simple, but very tasty and original salad called Wood Grouse’s Nest. The basis of this dish can be almost any salad, but the decoration is invariably made from crispy potato straws and eggs. I think that on the holiday table such a salad will take its rightful place among the many culinary masterpieces that you will prepare with love for your family and guests.
The Wood Grouse Nest salad includes tender chicken meat, fluffy chicken proteins, lots of juicy cucumbers and crispy onions. I advise you to use the amount of mayonnaise according to your personal preferences, but it is advisable to make this cold sauce yourself (). If you are too lazy to bother with homemade eggs, you can boil quail eggs, but they will be white, and we need mottled ones (this is what female capercaillie lay).
Ingredients:
(400 grams) (300 grams) (6 items ) (300 grams) (250 milliliters) (150 grams) (100 grams) (3 branches) (1 branch) (1 teaspoon) (1 pinch)
Cooking the dish step by step with photos:
First of all, let's put the chicken to boil - you can use absolutely any part of the carcass, but I like the legs better. Place them in boiling salted water so that the meat does not have time to release all its juices to the broth. After boiling, cook the chicken legs for about 30 minutes over low-medium heat. We also boil chicken eggs hard - 9-10 minutes after boiling over medium heat.
Next, let's prepare the Potato Pie - it will not only be in the salad itself, but will also become a decoration for the dish. For crispy fried straws, I advise you to choose smooth, medium-sized root vegetables, preferably without eyes, so that the stripes are long and of the same size. Peel the potatoes and wash them in cold water.
Then we choose one of two grinding methods. You can take a sharp knife and cut the tubers into very thin, long strips. But it is much more convenient to use a Korean carrot grater. Then three potatoes in one direction so that you get long strips
Now you need to rinse it thoroughly to remove the starch, otherwise nothing will work. We wash the potato straws in cold water 2-3 times until they are transparent.
Then you need to remove excess moisture, for which we place the straws in a colander or sieve. Now the potatoes will not darken.
At the end of preparation, lay out paper towels (napkins) in several layers and distribute potato straws on top in an even layer. The less moisture there is in the potatoes, the faster and better the Potato Pie will cook.
Take a saucepan or any other dish, not wide and deep enough. Pour refined vegetable oil into it and heat it over medium heat until a slight smoke appears. You can check the readiness of the oil this way: just throw a couple of potato straws into it. If the oil begins to sizzle and bubble immediately, it means you can cook in it. You need to add potatoes in portions, otherwise they will not be able to cook properly. I did this in 5 steps. Throw some of the potatoes into boiling oil and fry over medium heat for 3 minutes. At first, the potatoes will become very soft, it will seem that they are crumbling into porridge. At the same time, the oil boils and bubbles very actively. But this is one of the stages of preparing potato pie. Then you will see how the boiling begins to subside (even though we did not reduce the heat), and the potato straws become dense and elastic. And finally, the potatoes will begin to acquire an appetizing blush. Attention, the most crucial moment! Just when the straw starts to brown, it will be ready in a matter of seconds, so don’t leave the stove. Using a slotted spoon, remove the finished portion of potato pie and place it on a paper towel. Prepare the rest of the potatoes in the same way.
We transfer each portion of the finished straw to paper so that it absorbs excess oil. Just 400 grams of root vegetables yielded a decent amount of Pai potatoes. Now you can salt it, but to be honest, I didn’t even salt it - and it’s so delicious.
Wash fresh cucumbers, dry them and cut them into thin cubes (almost into strips). If the skin is too tough, cut it off. Cucumbers with too watery inside (where the seeds are) can also be processed: scrape out the contents with a teaspoon or coffee spoon, and chop the dense pulp.
Peel the onion and cut into thin feathers or strips. If you come across a very bitter onion, pour boiling water over the chopped sticks, then rinse under cold running water and squeeze out. If desired, you can marinate the onion in a tablespoon of any vinegar (lemon juice), a pinch of sugar and salt. Then drain the marinade and use the onion in the salad.
When the chicken eggs are ready, place them directly in a saucepan under cold running water for about 5 minutes. During this time, they will cool down and the shells will be easier to remove. We clean boiled eggs, separate the whites from the yolks.
Mash the yolks with a fork and place in a bowl. Add a little (literally a teaspoon at first) mayonnaise and a sprig of fresh dill (chop finely with a knife).
Mix everything thoroughly to form a plastic mass that does not particularly stick to your fingers and holds its shape. Just don't overdo it with mayonnaise!
We make balls from the yolk mixture, giving them the shape of eggs - our salad is called Wood Grouse's Nest. The size of the eggs should not be very large - I got 10 pieces. Let's put them in the refrigerator for now.
The chicken legs are also cooked - remove them from the broth (it can be used as a base for first courses) and let them cool slightly so as not to burn your hands.
Wash the chicken meat, add water and place on the fire. Cook in salted water until done. Then cool the meat. Boil the eggs hard and cool. Peel the potatoes, wash them and grate them using a Korean carrot grater. Then rinse the grated potatoes well in several waters, dry and deep-fry until golden brown for three minutes. Place the finished potatoes on a paper towel to remove excess oil. To prepare these potatoes, I used this recipe. Cut the pickled cucumbers into strips and place in a bowl. Cut the onion into small cubes and add to the pickled cucumbers.
Peel the eggs and separate them into yolks and whites. Grate the whites on a medium grater and add to the salad with cucumbers and onions.
Cut the cooled meat into cubes and add to the salad.
Season the salad with salt and mayonnaise, mix well.
Place the yolks in a bowl.
Add a little mayonnaise and a sprig of finely chopped dill to the yolks.
Mash the yolks with a fork and mix thoroughly to form a plastic mass. Roll the resulting egg mass into small balls. I got 5 pieces.
Place the salad in a heap on a suitable dish, making a small depression in the form of a nest in the center.
Top the salad with prepared potatoes.
Place sprigs of dill in the center where we made a depression. Place the eggs that we rolled from the egg mass on top of the dill.
Serve the delicious Wood Grouse's Nest salad with chicken immediately after cooking, so that the potato straws on top do not soften.
Bon appetit!
