Tips: Meat, Poultry & Seafood
Tips: Meat, Poultry & Seafood
Bacon: Rinse bacon under cold water before frying. This reduces the amount
the bacon shrinks by almost 50%
Chicken Breasts: The best buy at the supermarket is to purchase a large bag
(usually 3-4 pounds) of boneless, skinless chicken breasts from the freezer
section, rather than buying them a pound at a time from the fresh meats section.
Marinating Meats: Lemon and lime juice and vinegar aren’t the only things
that work well as marinades. Try kiwi fruit, either sliced, mashed, or juiced.
For sliced, lay the meat over the slices and lay slices over the top of the meat
as well. Allow 2-4 hours to marinate. For a faster method, mash or juice the
kiwi and use in marinade as a substitute for lemon, lime, or vinegar. This
method only takes about 1/2 hour for tender meat.
Meatballs: When making many meatballs a fast and simple way is to shape the
meat mixture into a log and cut off slices. The slices roll easily into balls.
Another option is to pat the meat into a square and cut it into cubes which
again easily roll into meatballs of uniform size.
Meatloaf: Meatloaf will cook faster if you make it in small rounded loaves or
even in muffin cups. Muffin cups make reheating leftovers a breeze!
Thawing A Turkey: The best way to thaw a turkey is in the refrigerator (in
its original packaging on a shallow baking sheet). You should allow approx. 24
hours for every 5 lbs. of bird weight. The refrigerated method is safest and
will result in the best finished product. For accelerated thawing, thaw the bird
in cold water (in its original wrapping). The cold water must be changed
every 30 minutes. Allow approx. 30 minutes per pound.
Breading Meats: To bread chicken cutlets and other ingredients: Use one hand
for wet ingredients and another for dry when breading – that way you won’t
bread your hands along with dinner. To coat chicken pieces or stew-meat pieces
chicken in nut flour or legal coating mixture: Place the coating mixture in a
plastic bag
(self-sealing is the most convenient), add the chicken or beef, seal, and shake
until
the coated. Shake off any excess coating before you cook the chicken or beef.
Room-Temperature Meats: Allow meat to stand at room temperature 1 hour before
cooking: It will cook more quickly, brown more evenly, and stick less when
pan-fried. (Do not do this with highly perishable meats like ground beef and
organ meats.)
Pan-Fried Meats: For even, deep browning of pan-fried meat and poultry: Blot
the surface of the item with paper towels to remove excess moisture before
cooking.
Roasting Poultry: Do not roast poultry in a oven temperature lower than 325
degrees. Poultry should be roasted at 325 degrees or higher to avoid potential
food safety problems.
Roasts: Roasts should be allowed to “rest” 10-15 minutes after being removed
from the oven. This allows the juices to settle before carving.
Preparing Meats For Cooking: Leave a thin layer of fat on steaks and roasts
during cooking to preserve juiciness. Pat steaks, cubes and pot roasts dry
with paper toweling for better browning. To make cutting into strips for
stir-frying
easier, partially freeze beef to firm. Salt beef after cooking or browning.
Salt draws out moisture and inhibits browning.
Grilling On Skewers: When using wooden skewers for kebabs, soak in cold water
for 10-30 minutes to prevent them from burning. Thread shrimp onto skewers
lengthwise so they won’t curl as they grill. They’re also less likely to fall
into the fire.
Whole Fish: Scale a fish easily by rubbing vinegar over its skin. To neatly
bake a whole fish, wrap in aluminum foil. When done cooking, open the foil and
gently slide a spatula under the fish.
~kitchen.robbiehaf.com
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 3:58 am and is filed under Foods. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
