★★★Meat~!★★★
Okay, it's been a few days since I updated this blog. I'm really sorry for the wait. I just couldn't find the time to sit down and type up a proper entry. I got some bad news last week so I was a bit down but well, life goes on and I just have to deal with things.
So, this entry will talk about some basic tips when it comes to preparing meat. There are basically 3 categories of meat dishes I will be talking about here (curry will get a separate post):
1.) Meat in soup
2.) Roasted/Grilled
3.) Stir fried
Soup: When it comes to making broth and using meat in the broth as opposed to just using vegetables (or using stock or cubes), there are a few important things you need to consider. The most important one is to wash the meat before you actually make the broth.
Prepare the meat first, meaning, cut off all the bits that you do not want on it like excess fat or anything else that might not have been cleaned off it yet (this usually happens if you get chicken I think, that there are still bits hanging off here and there you should chop off). Once you've done that, rinse it under some warm water and put it into a pot. Fill up the pot with water and put in about a tablespoon of salt. Turn on the heat and wait until the water starts boiling. You will notice that a lot of scum (?) will be forming and floating on top along with some oily stuff. It won't look very tasty and well we are cleaning the meat after all.
Turn off the heat and take the pot down. Rinse and clean the meat thoroughly, getting rid of the oil and scum. Then put the meat back into the pot (or another pot) and add the other ingredients and spices (as described in the pasta post here). You will notice that after you cleaned the meat like this, your broth will be really clear and you don't need to take off the scum from the top anymore at a later stage. There won't be a weird aftertaste either (cause by the scum).
My recommendation is to add fresh garlic to the soup because it provides a nice aroma and also gets rid of any unwanted meat tastes (sometimes the meat can have a weird 'stench' when cooked, depending on what kind of meat it is).
Also, if you want to reduce the amount of sugar you might need to add to the broth, I'd recommend putting in apples. We experimented with this here at home (because there are members in my family with diabetes so the less sugar the better or well, more 'natural' sugar is better) and it tastes wonderful. But I guess not everybody has access to sweet, 100% organic apples (I forgot the kind, too...Elstar? or Pinowa? I think one of the two...or Jonagold? ok see how good my memory is...) so yeah, I can't give this as a general tip. Usually carrots will suffice ^o^.
Grill/Roast: When making steak, the best thing is usually to use a whole, big block of meat instead of using already sliced pieces of meat but I know that not everybody has access to big blocks of meat or you don't have enough people around for something like that. The tips I'm giving apply to both though, a big block or just a slice. The only thing that varies are the times - obviously, since a big block takes more time to cook than a single slice or several single slices.
Marinating the meat is the most important step next to the actual cooking. By chance, I discovered something really neat that makes the meat soft and tender and allows the spices to fully develop and spread during the marinating process. There's a Dutch company called "VacuVin" that makes several kitchen gadgets - you can find there homepage here. I use the "Instant Marinater". It work by means of creating a vacuum inside the marinating bowl. The technology originally came from keeping wine fresh by the same method by sucking out the air of the wine bottle and thus keeping it fresh. Pretty neat!
So, before creating the vacuum, I add some basic stuff to the steak. Pepper, garlic powder and some oil. DO NOT put in SALT! If you do, it will get really, really messy when you cook the meat because it will send oil and other burning hot things everywhere. Also, the meat juices will be drawn out and leave the meat dry and chewy. Roll the piece of meat in the spices and rub them in a bit, then create the vacuum and keep it in the fridge for about 2 hours or so. If you do not have VacuVin thing, using a tupperbox or marinater bag (ziplock will probably work) will also work, although it won't provide the same results. It will still taste good though, so no worries there ^_^ Maybe just leave the meat to marinate a little longer than with the vacuum.
When you want to cook the meat, heat up a pan with some oil in it. Don't use too much oil. Just covering the bottom of the pan with a thin layer will be fine. Although with no salt it will be spraying around less, I'd recommend wearing long sleeves and maybe gloves when you prepare the meat. Put it in the pan and cook it evenly from all sides. Like, when one side becomes brown and tasty looking, flip it over immediately.
Once all sides are good but the middle is still a bit soft and raw, put the pan into a pre-heated oven, or use another dish or grid to put it onto. If you use a big piece of meat, you'll probably need a couple of minutes in the oven, like 10+ or so. If you use a slice, just a few minutes are fine, depending on how you like your meat (rare, medium rare etc.). I like my meat medium and rosy~ ^o^ ! Oh and don't make the oven too hot. I think a temperature around 150°C is more than enough, so the meat can finish cooking slowly and the meat juice stays inside and doesn't evaporate. Yum ^o^!
Once you take it out of the oven, cut it and enjoy the nice color in the middle~! Once you serve it, everyone can add salt (or soy sauce or Maggi or whatever you like) and other spices to adjust the meat to their tastes. Adding some herb butter or garlic butter is also very nice. I sometimes add roasted garlic chips on top, too.
Stir Fry: I think this is the easiest of the three. Basically you just need to pay attention to the cooking time for the meat so you don't cook it too long. To adjust this you can vary the size of the meat.
Seasoning can be added to the meat before you cook it or during the process. I usually do a little bit before and then some more during, so I can adjust the taste of the whole dish better and not just the meat. Except for pepper and garlic, I usually use liquid seasoning when I add it during the cooking process e.g. soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce (there are also things like teriyaki or sukiyaki stir fry sauces etc.).
My general rule of thumb when stir frying stuff is, to add in the ingredients in the order of their cooking time. The ingredients that need longer go in first (or are sliced thinly to reduce cooking time). Then all the rest goes in afterwards. For meat, beef needs to be cooked very shortly. Chicken takes longer and pork is somewhere in between.
RECIPE: Turkey Skewers
For 2 people you need:
500 gr Turkey Thigh Meat (usually that's just 1 upper part of the thigh, the 'momo' part)
1 big onion (preferably the 'sweet' and not too spicy kind used for salads, which you can eat raw as well)
Herbs de Provence seasoning mix (or other herb mixes with rosemary etc. you can look it up)
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
How to:
Cut the meat into chunks. I'd recommend using meat with some skin (or fatty bits) still on it, otherwise it'll become very dry when you put it in the oven later. You can overcome dryness with a good sauce though (so you can also use breast meat if you like it better than thigh meat). Season the meat and prepare the other ingredients - the onion and the skewers!
Soak your wooden skewers for about 30-60 min in water before you use them. If you're using metal ones, that is not necessary. Soaking the wood prevents them from catching fire in the oven.
Once you're done with the preparations, you can start putting the meat and onion onto the skewers.
Of course you can also add other vegetables as well and use other meat. This is just an example. I used the turkey meat and onion at that time because I didn't have anything else in the house and I was hungry and had left-over garlic+herb tzatziki sauce from the day before.
Depending on how big you made the meat and onion bits, the time in the oven will vary from 15-30 minutes at around 180-200°C.
I think that's all for this entry ゎぁぃ♪ ヾ(*⌒∇⌒)八(⌒∇⌒*)ツ ゎぁぃ♪
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