Wizard Recipes

Meat is the general term for any muscle from any animal. However, most people think of meat as meaning “red meat.”

Meat is composed of three basic materials: water, protein, and fat. On average, lean muscle tissue is about 75 percent water, 18 percent protein, and 3 percent fat. The eventual texture and taste of the cooked meat depend on the amount of fat and water in the tissue and on the kinds ofproteins.

In general, the most tender cuts of meat have more fat and less fibrous muscle. Tougher tissue from older animals often has more flavor. Both limitations can be overcome by using the proper cooking methods.

Roughly 50 percent of the protein in meat comes from fibers that contract the muscle and 30 percent from oxygen-storing pigments called myoglobin and various enzymes. The remaining 20 percent comes from connective tissues that hold the muscles together.

Nutrition

From a nutritional point of view, because the composition of most animals is similar to that of humans, animal tissues supply us with complete proteins. More simply, the protein from animals is similar to that produced in our own bodies. Thus, it contains the full count of essential amino acids.

Red meat is an important source of minerals, including iron, phosphorus, zinc, and copper, and vitamins, including B vitamins and vitamin A. However, there are some nutritional trade-offs to be made.

Red meat can be the main source of fat - particularly saturated fat - and cholesterol in the American diet. Both have been linked by numerous studies to cardiovascular disease.

Too much fat and cholesterol can contribute to the buildup of plaque in arteries, which in turn increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. In addition, diets high in fat have been linked to some types of cancer, particularly colon cancer.

Americans have traditionally enjoyed an abundance of meat in their diets compared with other populations, and tastes in meat continue to evolve. As more people have become aware of the risks of eating too much red meat, consumption of beef has declined.

Recently, it has started to increase again and remains top on the consumption list. An important reason is that as health concerns have grown, both the meat industry and grocers have responded by introducing leaner cuts of meat and lower-fat options, such as lean hamburger. Poultry consumption has grown significantly since the 1970s.

Selection

Many factors influence how tender and tasty meat will be after cooking. These factors include:

• The type of muscle (or cut)
• The amount of fat and connective tissue in the meat
• The age of the cut
• The manner of preparation

Cuts from more exercised muscles (leg, hip, and shoulder) are tougher than those from the center of the animal - the rib, loin, or breast.

Fresher meats are generally tougher than aged meats. Aging causes meats to go through “rigor.” With time, the muscles relax and increase in acidity - a natural way to tenderize meat - and muscle proteins increase their water-holding ability, which enhances juiciness.

Aging is a process that relaxes the tissues, making the beef easier to chew and enjoy. The original process of aging, now called dry-aging, demanded that a carcass hang in a cooler for 3 weeks or more. The surface would dry out and be thrown away. The remaining beef made excellent but expensive steaks.

This process is now reserved for steaks bound for only the best steakhouses. Less fatty cuts are preferred from a nutritional standpoint. However, they are less tender than those with fat marbled through the muscle fibers. “Choice” and “select” grades have less fat and marbling and can be tougher than the “prime” grade unless they are prepared to maximize tenderness.

Storage

Meat is perishable, but there are ways to maximize its shelf life. To do so, minimize its exposure to light, oxygen, enzymes, and microorganisms. All of these can hasten the breakdown of muscle tissue and the decay process.

Keep meat securely wrapped - preferably with opaque butcher’s paper, available at grocery stores - and refrigerated at less than 40° Fahrenheit in a dark place. Bacteria and molds thrive in higher temperatures and humidity.

Refrigerating meat inhibits the growth of these microorganisms, and freezing meat at 0° Fahrenheit or below actually halts their growth. Meat wrapped in butcher’s paper can be stored in the freezer for up to 12 months

In the traditional Mediterranean diet, beef, as well as veal, pork, fish, poultry, and rich dairy products like cheese, was more often used for flavoring rather than as the main event of a meal.

Nestled in a large platter of rice and vegetables, one might find a few small pieces of chicken or shrimp. A prodigious pot of pasta sauce might contain a few clams, some prosciutto, or perhaps some ground meat.

Occasionally a whole fish poached with vegetables and herbs will form the core of a meal, and various types of shellfish are present in small quantities in the diets of most Mediterranean countries. A Turkish or Greek shish kebab typically includes cubes of skewered lamb, but plenty of vegetables, too.

Eating some meat and dairy products certainly makes good sense. High in nutrients, including certain vitamins and minerals, meat and dairy products also add depth, dimension, and flavor to plant foods. Even red meat can be a sensible part of a healthy diet, if the cuts of meat are lean and the portions small, especially for high-fat meat and fullfat dairy products, which contain high amounts of saturated fat.

Eating these foods in moderation is ideal because it guarantees you the nutritional benefits of these animal foods without the excess saturated fat, not to mention excess calories.

In addition to fish (weekly consumption is recommended), you can choose a serving of another source of lean meat about once a week, if desired. Serving sizes are specified in a general range of 1 to 4 ounces but they must be individualized according to dietary needs of everyone.

You don’t need to consume your entire week’s allowance of fish, lean beef, chicken, veal, or whatever you choose at one sitting. An ounce chopped and added to soup one day, another ounce or two added to rice or pasta a few days later, and a few more ounces in a casserole at the end of the week is probably a more authentically Mediterranean way to eat animal foods anyway.

The same goes for cheese-a few shreds here, a sprinkling there. A little highfat cheese, which is highly flavored, goes a long way. Although the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid specifies lower-fat cheeses (such as mozzarella made with part-skim milk) be consumed optionally on a weekly basis or high-fat cheese be consumed monthly (also optional), that month’s serving can easily be portioned out over a number of satisfying meals.

Fish is the one animal meat we recommend consuming more than Americans are generally getting-up to 8 ounces of cooked fish per week-especially the fattier fishes like salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, and tuna. Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids that offer many health benefits (more on omega-3 fatty acids later in this chapter).

If you choose to avoid fish because of concerns for possible contaminants, that’s fine. Our fish recommendation is optional. Just be sure to include other sources of omega-3 fatty acids such as flaxseed, walnuts, and even strawberries.

And what about eggs, those high-cholesterol villains we all thought we knew to avoid? Actually , dietary cholesterol isn’t a threat to the heart health of most people. There are indeed some who are particularly sensitive to dietary cholesterol, usually a genetic condition.

Egg yolks do contain some saturated fat, which is the main reason that we generally suggest a moderate intake of four or fewer eggs per week (including eggs used in cooking). By the way, the egg white is virtually cholesterol- and fat-free, so indulge at will in this high-protein portion of the egg.

Here are some assorted hints to help you with your meat cooking.

Beef. This list from the National Cattlemen’s Association gives you beef steaks with decreasing degree of tenderness.

¨ Tenderloin

¨ Chuck top blade

¨ Top loin

¨ Porterhouse/T-bone

¨ Rib

¨ Rib-eye

¨ Chuck-eye

¨ Round tip

¨ Top sirloin

¨ Chopped steak

Veal. Veal comes from young cattle. It is a very tender, light-colored meat with little or no fat and connective tissue. They market virtually all veal and calf fresh (not frozen). The meat has a high moisture content and doesn’t improve with aging as beef does, so you want to use it soon after purchase.

Baby veal is the most tender and lightest in color of all veal but with very little flavor. It comes from baby animals of mere 2 or 3 days old that weigh between 22 and 55 pounds (10 and 25 kg) (not much more than a large tom turkey).

Meat labeled veal comes from slightly older 1 to 3-month old animals that were entirely milk-fed. The meat is white (there is no iron in milk that would darken the color). If the veal is not white, the animal had supplemental feed, that turns the color pink. Meat labeled calf is still from a young animal in the 3 to 8-month range, just a little older than veal. Calf meat is tender but no longer a light pink color.

Baby beef is another category you occasionally see at the meat counter. This comes from immature, 7 to 10-month old cattle. Ranchers usually sell these when economic reasons or adverse weather conditions force them to reduce herd size. Although low-priced, this meat isn’t a good buy because these young animals have already lost the desirable characteristics of veal, but haven’t yet developed the true beef flavor and marbling.

By itself, veal is dry with little flavor. Its low fat and high moisture content does poorly in dry heat cooking. It is best if you sauté veal (because frying oil adds lubrication), or serve it in rich sauces or with high-fat fillings. Retail cuts of veal are similar to beef, but the size is smaller-veal round steak, for example, is smaller than a beef round steak.

Pork. Because pork used to be much fatter, you may have to alter recipes from older cookbooks. Add a little more liquid and baste more frequently to compensation for today’s leaner pork.

Like other red meats, pork is best when you roast it slowly at a low oven temperature. If you rush it, you’ll lose more liquid and a hard outside crust forms that heat cannot penetrate evenly. Part of the roast may be done while the rest is still pink. The hard crust also makes carving thin slices difficult.

Cured pork cuts. Salt pork and some brine-cured hams (Virginia and Smithfield, for example) are too salty for many people’s tastes. The answer is to soak some of the salt out. If it is a whole ham, soak it for 24 hours, changing the water many times. A small piece of salt pork takes much less time. Cover it with cold water, bring it to a boil, and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.

Salt content, age of the meat and texture all make a difference. No exact timeline exists to guide you how long to soak a particular piece of salted meat. Let the piece of meat soak a while and then give it a lick test. Keep doing this until you are satisfied with the flavor.

Bacon. Have you ever wondered how much edible meat you actually get when you buy bacon? I selected three different brands: a high-quality bacon from a butcher shop, a better quality bacon from a supermarket deli counter and a standard lower-priced, but not bottom-of the-line brand, from the supermarket display case. I carefully weighed each batch on a laboratory scale and fried them to identical crispness, then weighed the final edible portions again.

The butcher shop bacon and the better-quality supermarket bacon yielded close to the same amount of meat-about 35 percent of the original weight. The standard brand only yielded 27.5 percent.What I lost, nearly three-quarters of the total, was fat and water. The higher-priced bacon had better flavor and the cost per pound (or per kilo) of the edible portion worked out about the same as of the lower-priced bacon.

When you buy bacon, it is more economical to buy a better-quality package and you get a better flavor. Considering such a high loss, bacon costs more than most of the highest-quality meats.

In fact, the price of the edible portion is only just below the price of the highest-priced item in the butcher’s display, fully trimmed beef tenderloin steak or filet mignon.

Lamb. Lamb has a delicate flavor, but to retain it without a gamy overtone, know how to cook it properly. Lamb fat is a hard fat with a lower smoking point than other animal fats, and it burns easily if the temperature is too high. Once it burns, it develops an unpleasant odor and flavor. Never roast lamb in an oven higher than 325°F (165°C).

Leg of lamb has a thin membrane completely surrounding the meat, separating it from the fat layer. This is called the fell. The butcher doesn’t remove it because it holds the bundle of muscle together and helps to retain moisture during cooking. It should be removed, however, in steaks and chops. If it is still there, simply pull it off with your fingers.

If you don’t do this before grilling or broiling, the heat shrinks the fell and makes the meat buckle-as a result it browns unevenly and looks unappealing. Scoring the fell in several places also helps to avoid curling. The term spring lamb refers to the very tender meat from lambs born in the spring, but in North America today it has no meaning because of improved shipping. Lamb ranchers and processors provide young, tender, spring-lamb quality meat year round.

In California, Arkansas and parts of the South, young lambs are born in the fall and flourish in the mild winter. They provide tender meat before the true spring lambs are born in cooler parts of the country.

The five types of dry heat cooking are:

¨ broiling or pan-broiling

¨ sautéing

¨ deep-frying

¨ stir-frying

¨ roasting (baking)

Dry heat cooking methods use high heat and little moisture. Cooking is not entirely dry, as the name implies, because all meat have plenty of moisture that contributes to the cooking process.

Since extra moisture is not welcome because it reduces the high cooking temperature, it is always a good idea to wipe the seafood thoroughly with a paper towel just before cooking or, if fried with breading, before applying the coating.

The hottest heat in dry cooking method is grilling (barbecuing) and broiling. To avoid sticking, brush the surface of the grill or broiler pan with a film of oil, and for added insurance, do the same with the meat.

The intense heat (with some help from the brushed-on oil) rapidly browns the surface of your meat. By the time you cook the inside, the surface color is a deep caramel brown or, if you’re not careful, charcoal black.

Never turn the meat more than once either on the grill or under the broiler. This keeps handling to a minimum and produces attractive grill marks. Determine the time to cook one side, set your timer and don’t even peek until the time is up. Quickly flip the piece over and set the timer again. Now you can get ready to check the internal temperature.

When you are grilling smaller pieces, skewer them. Keep heavy work gloves near the grill to turn skewered meat.

A quick and easy way of cooking meat is pan-broiling, which is similar to grilling or broiling. To pan-broil meat, place it in a heavy preheated skillet over medium heat. Cook the meat directly on the hot surface without water or oil, turning only once.  This is an excellent way for preparing steaks and ground meat patties. Some cooks sprinkle salt in the pan before adding the meat to prevent sticking.

Initially the meat may stick a little, but if you detach it from the pan right away, the fat and juices from the meat keep it from sticking again.

Sautéing, deep-frying and stir-frying all use oil. Sauté meat in small amount of fat on strong heat. Sautéing is easy, not messy, very quick and the meat absorbs a minimum of fat.

Keep the pan in constant motion for even browning and to avoid sticking. If you are planning to serve the meat with a sauce, you can use what’s left in the pan as a base-the highly-flavored oil   with some deeply-browned food particles and possibly some juice.

Deglaze it by adding a little wine or stock, even water. The liquid dissolves the particles and within a minute you have it cooked down into a sauce.

Deep-frying and stir-frying are both high-heat methods. The difference is in the amount of oil you use-plenty for deep-frying, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan or wok for stir-frying.

Food absorbs more fat in deep-frying than in any other cooking method, but if you do it properly, you can reduce fat absorption. Deep-fried food of any kind is wonderful but home deep-frying is messy.

Two of the most nutritious plants in the world are weeds- wild spinach and nutrient-rich grass- and some traditional dishes like the Mediterranean ones, are frequently using wild green plants, herb or spices. The surrounding fields and woods are full of plants that contain higher levels of phytochemical substances than their domesticated relatives. Why? Because of the fact that these plants had to defend themselves against pests and diseases. For along time, man has selected and cultivated the sweet plants, many of the compounds that plants produce to defend themselves have a bitter taste. Also, wild green plants are generally richer in omega-3 fat acids than their domestic relatives, who have been selected precisely to resist more after they are collected.

If you have the chance, eat meat from wild animals. Generally the meat from hunted animals contains less saturated fat and more omega 3 fat acids than the meat from domestic animals. The hunted animals that we eat have a varied nutrition, based more on plant than on cereals. (The nutritional profile of cattle raised on pasture is very similar to that of hunted meat)

Generally, wild fish have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than farmed fish, which are often fed with grain. If we judge by the experience of the population who consume a lot more fish, like Japanese, it would be possible that eating several times more wild fish every week we could reduce the risk of heart affections, live longer and maybe we could be even happier.

I still hesitate to recommend you wild species because many of them are in danger of extinction; many wild fish almost disappeared because of overfishing. So far, all the recommendations offered comply with your health and the environmental health. Most of them come to support agricultural practices that enhance soil and water health. Unfortunately it is in this case not recommended. There are too few animals and wild fish left (except deer and wild pigs) so that we can reduce them by hunting them. Luckily, some of the most nutritious fish species like salmon, mackerel, sardines and anchovies, are well managed and in some cases, there are even plenty of them. So do not forget this full of fat fishes.

If you have enough space, buy a freezer.

If you find a good supplier of meat, produced in a traditional way, on a pasture, buy a big amount of meat- a quarter of veal, or a whole pig. This is a great method to eat healthy without spending a lot of money. Freezers are a much cheaper than you expect because of the fact that you don’t open them as often as refrigerators. Besides, if you have a freezer you will buy larger quantities of season goods, then they are plenty and therefore cheaper. And (unlike conservation) freezing doesn’t significantly diminish the nutritional value of fresh products.

Nourish yourself like an omnivorous

No matter if you eat or not animal products, try to enrich your nourishment with some new food species, not just with new products. The confusing diversity of foods in supermarkets is misleading because many products are made of the same plants- especially from seeds- like soybean or grain. The higher your diet is more varied in terms of consumed products species, the more you will answer several nutritional needs.

This is an argument assumed from nutritionists, but there is a better one which involves a larger vision on health.

The biodiversity of food means greater biodiversity of cultivated lands. If we don’t reduce the mono-crops that are nourishing us in the present, farmers no longer would have to spread so many chemical fertilizers, and soils, plants animals and hence the people would be much healthier. Health is not restricted only to your own body and probably what is good for the soil is good for you as well. This brings us to the following rule: Eat products grown and cultivated on healthy soils

Meat illustrates the idea that the health of food product can not be separated from the health of the food chain. This means that the health of the soil, of the plants, of the animals and of the consumers depend on each other.

This leads us to a special rule for those who consume products of an animal origin: You are not only what you eat, you are also the consumed food of the animal that you eat.

This means that the animal nutrition whereby we eat is influencing the nutrition quality and the consequences that food has over our health, no matter if it is meat, milk or eggs.

This is supposed to be evidence, but unfortunately it is a systematic ignored truth of the industrial food chain, in his endeavor to produce huge quantities of cheap animal proteins. This effort changed the nourishment of the majority animals bred for consumption; they went from green plants to seeds and cereals over, because of the fact that animals grow faster and produce more milk and eggs if they are fed grains rich in calories. Some of these animals are ruminants which are evolved to feed on grass; if they eat too many seeds they get sick, therefore grain fed cattle should receive antibiotics.

Even those animals that tolerate cereals, like chickens or pigs, are much healthier if fed with fresh green plants, therefore their meat and eggs are healthier. Generally if the animals raised for consumption are fed with grass, their meat, milk and eggs contain much healthier natural fats (more fat acids omega 3 and conjugated linoleic acid or ALC, less fat acids omega 6 and less saturated fat) and higher amounts of vitamins and antioxidants.

Sometimes is the difference visible, for example the yellow butter or the orange yolk is because of the beta-carotene content in fresh grass. So it is worth spending more money looking for products from animals raised in a traditional way on pasture. And even if, seen from the outside, an industrial egg looks exactly like the one coming from hens fed on grass; the industrial egg is several times more expensive than the first one and the two are completely different. So the rule to eat more leaves and less seeds are applied not only for humans but also for animals that are part of our tropic chain

But what about the meat? Unlike plants that we can not take out from our nourishment, we are not allowed to eat meat- with the exception of the vitamin B 12- all the meat nourishes can be achieved from other sources. (The little amount of B 12 that is necessary for our body is not hard to achieve, it is in all the products of animal origin and it’s produced by bacteria. Therefore you can get the B 12 vitamin consuming dirty food, altered or fermented products).

But meat, whose procurement people have made enormous efforts and from which people feed many years, is a nutritious nourishment which contains all the essential amino acids and many vitamins and minerals, and I haven’t found any convincing reason to exclude it from my nutrition. (I do not mean by this that we don’t have good ethical or ecological reasons)

Probably it is not such a good idea to eat large amounts of meat, as we do it now (each American consumes an average of 90 kg of meat per year) especially if that meat comes from an extreme industrialized food chain. According to studies, the more consumed meat- especially red meat- the bigger is the risk of heart disease or cancer. But studies on “flexitarieni” show that, in small quantities- less then a portion per day- meat increases the risk of illness. Probably Thomas Jefferson was right when he recommended meat only for flavor like a” spice for vegetables” than as a main meal. I didn’t know which of the component elements of the meat are supposed to concern us (saturated fat? The type of iron? Carcinogenic substances produced by cooking and conserving?)

It is possible that the problem consist in the fact that by eating a big amount of meat, we cut out the vegetables from our plate.

But excessive consumption of industrial meat exposes us to bigger quantities of saturated fat, fat acids omega-6, human growth hormones and carcinogenic substances than recommended.

Meat illustrates the idea that the health of food product can not be separated from the health of the food chain. This means that the health of the soil, of the plants, of the animals and of the consumers depend on each other.

Like I was discussing yesterday, meat has its ups and downs… Take into consideration also the following:

Here are some secrets to achieve your goal: a healthy tasty meal:
-Cut off all white fatty parts from raw meat before cooking it
-Cook the chicken with the skin, but remove it before consuming the meat.
-For healthier cooking, don`t add oil to the meat; add water or beer, wine, tomato   juice, spices and herbs… It gives a better taste and with a lower health cost
-The meat is fresher when the color is lighter, so chose pink pieces of meat if you want them tender.
-Boil the meat in already boiling water, in order to keep the nutrients sealed in the meat. If making soups, use cold water
-Don’t buy already minced meat. It has a high fat content. Prepare it yourself from low fat meat. It takes longer but it’s healthier.

Here are the calories table for 100 g of raw meat:

CALORIES FOR 100 G OF RAW MEAT
CHICKEN, TURKEY 100 CAL
BEEF 120 CAL
PORK 120 CAL
LIVER 150 CAL
LAMB 160 CAL

Also, keep in mind that:

- the meat from the chicken legs contains 3 times more iron than the chicken breast
- chicken leg contains more fat than chicken breast
- chicken and turkey skin is made 100% form fat
- goose and duck are richer in iron than chicken and turkey
- 150 g of roast beef contain 20% of the daily needed quantity of iron for women and 25% for men.

Did you know that some foods take their toll own our mood? Some nutrients are absolutely mandatory for the good functioning of our brain and nervous system which is in charge, among others, with our good well being. Here are some of the most important nutrients to keep us happy!

1) GLUCIDS

Glucids are in charge of stimulating the production of  serotonin, a neurotransmitter that influences the so called ‘good mood’. Sugar, for instance, is one of them, but, in order to keep our organism healthy, it is better if glucids are consumed in forms of cereals, bread, potatoes, beans, but not in excess, of course, because the body will transform them into fats. Also, eat generous portions of fruits and vegetables, and, the wonderful chocolate, that, even if you care about your figure, you can consume from time to time, but in small quantities. You may non know this, but the sweet tooth you always have may be a sign of lack of serotonin.

2) MINERALS

Iron. It is essential for the whole organism, helping neurotransmitors to be formed and transported. We can find it in meat, fish, some vegetables, nuts, cereals and seeds.

Zinc. It plays almost the same role  and it is found in the same foods as iron, with the exception that we can find plenty of zinc also in liver and oysters.

Magnesium. With calcium, it helps transmit the nervous impulses. If you are stressed, your magnesium level decreases, decrease that can lead to anxiety or depression. We can get magnesium from nuts, peanuts, almonds, sesame seeds, green leafed vegetables, fish, seafood, cereals.

3)B VITAMINS

Folic Acid (B9). Stimulates the serotonin secretion. Lack of folic acid can lead to irritability

agressivity, depression. B12 Vitamin can be found in green leafed vegetables, wheat,

soya, eggs, liver, oysters, cereals, and B6 in bananas, avocados,

asparagus.

4)FATTY ACIDS

Last researches show that fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6 which we can find in fish, seafood, regulate some hormonal actions, including the ones for our mood. These acids are very important to our brain, improving consistently our cognitive capacity. according to these studies, consuming one portion of fat fish, at least once a week decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer. Also, fatty acids contribute to improving you skin aspect, being used in cosmetic treatments.

Original Articles. Constant-Content.