Tips from the Chef on meat, Poultry & sea food- V

Tips for Cooking Meat, poultry & sea food cooking

·         When you cook chicken or meat, you should first cook over high heat to seal juices and then lower the heat and cook till tender

·         If you want to store fish for more than a day, first clean it, rub it with salt, turmeric and maybe, a dash of vinegar, and then freeze. It will stay fresh.

·         Don't salt meat before you cook it. The salt forces the juices out and impedes browning. Instead, salt meat halfway through cooking, then taste when the meat is done and adjust the salt as needed.

·         Meat that is partially frozen is much easier to cut or slice.

·         Cooking of hamburgers may take hell of a long time. To cook them a little faster, you could poke a hole in the middle of the hamburger patties while shaping them. This helps them cook faster and the holes disappear once the burgers are done.

·         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.

·         To help keep meats moist during a long grill or barbecue, add a pan of water close to the fire, but away from the meat.

·         To coat chicken evenly, you can place the seasonings or crumbs in a plastic bag, and then add a few pieces at a time and shake them well.

·         For golden-brown fried chicken, roll in powdered milk instead of flour before frying.

·         To prevent bacon from curling, dip the strips in cold water before cooking.

·         Sprinkle a little amount of salt in the frying pan before adding bacon to fry. That way it will not splatter all over.

·         To ensure that sausages keep their shape, put them into cold water, bring to a boil and then drain immediately and grill or fry in a saucepan.

·         When you cook chicken or meat, you should first cook over high heat to seal juices and then lower the heat and cook till tender.

·         To avoid kebabs from becoming hard and chewy, marinate them for a longer time and avoid over cooking them.

·         To get rid of the smell of prawns, apply salt and lemon juice to the prawns before cooking. Leave for 15-20 minutes, then wash off and proceed with the recipe. This is usually done with prawns,fish & all kinds of sea food.

·         For better results, mutton should be of a younger animal. It looks pink and not red and texture should be firm. If it is red and looks 'wrinkled', it will be tough.

·         Softening chicken for salads and sandwiches chicken in salads and sandwiches is usually poached. What poaching does is surrounds the chicken with liquid, so no moisture is lost and cooks the chicken gently, as opposed to grilling or pan frying.

·         How can you tell that steaks are done? Color can be a good indicator of doneness. This is because myoglobin which gives meat its color, changes from red to pink to brown as meat cooks. A rare steak is bright red. A medium-rare steak is dark pink with some red present; a medium steak is very light pink in color and of course, well-done is brown.

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