Get Cooking_ 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen - Mollie Katzen [68]
COOKING IT RIGHT
Most of the meat and fish included here is cooked in a skillet on the stovetop. Find and adopt a favorite “meat skillet”—a big, wide frying pan made out of heavy material. I vote for cast iron, which is indestructible and remarkably inexpensive, especially when purchased at a garage sale or a thrift store. Some people insist that a cast-iron pan needs to be seasoned—a process involving heating it with oil. Others, including me, believe that all you need to do is dry it very thoroughly after each use, so it doesn’t rust. A good way to do this is to heat the clean, well-rinsed, wiped-dry pan for a few minutes over low heat on the stove. Just don’t walk away and forget to take it off the heat.
Avoid thin-bottomed pans for cooking meat. You’ll end up browning the outside long before the inside is done. Heavier pans, on the other hand, distribute the heat more evenly and gradually.
You’ll sometimes need a lid for your meat skillet, but it doesn’t have to actually match. Any lid that’s a reasonably snug fit is fine.
CHECKING DONENESS
These recipes all include ways to check for doneness. The most reliable of these is using an instant-read thermometer. If you’re new to meat cooking, do yourself a favor and buy one. You can find an inexpensive version in the cooking supplies section of any supermarket. Just make sure what you’re buying is an instant-read thermometer—a needle-like probe with a point at one end and a dial or digital readout at the other. Most measure temperatures from 0° to 220°F. (What you’re not looking for here is a candy/deep-frying thermometer, which will have a bigger probe and measures higher temperatures, typically up to 400°F; a meat thermometer, which gets inserted in the raw meat and stays in throughout the cooking process; or an oven thermometer, which is a dial with no probe that sits or hangs in your oven.)
The concept with an instant-read thermometer, as the name suggests, is that you use it to take the temperature of cooked meat simply by inserting it, waiting a few seconds, reading the dial, and then removing it. Always insert the probe lengthwise so you get as much of it into the meat as you can; aim for the center of the thickest part of the meat and avoid any bones, which can give you a false reading. If, after you read the temperature, you find that whatever you’re preparing needs more cooking time (see “When Is It Done?” on the following page), take the thermometer out and reinsert it when you’re ready to check for doneness again.
GIVE IT A REST
When you cook meat, there’s an important step that happens after it comes out of the pan or off the grill. It’s called “resting,” and it simply means letting the meat sit (on a plate with a rim to catch any juices) for 5 to 10 minutes before you serve it. During cooking, the outer surface of the meat dries out and tightens up, and the juices migrate toward the center. Cut the meat open the minute it’s cooked, and it’ll gush juices from the center—not a good thing. Let it rest, and the outer surfaces will “relax” and reabsorb their juices, making the meat juicier and more tender throughout. Note that during resting, even at room temperature, the meat will continue to cook a bit and the internal temperature is likely to rise by around 5°F, so factor that in when you first check the temperature for doneness.
Okay, omnivores, carnivores, piscivores, and “poultrivores.” Let’s get meating!
WHEN IS IT DONE?
Note that for food-safety reasons, most sources recommend cooking meat to at least 145°F.
STEAK
120°–125°F = rare
130°–135°F = medium-rare
140°F = medium
150°F = medium-well or well-done
GROUND MEAT
Cook to 160°F
CHICKEN AND TURKEY
Cook to 165