PREPARING MEATS

Certain procedures are often applied to meats before cooking to add flavor and/or moisture. These include marinating, barding and larding.  

Marinating

• Marinating is the process of soaking meat in a seasoned liquid to flavor and tenderize it. Marinades can be simple blends (herbs, seasonings and oil) or a complicated cooked recipe (red wine, fruit and other ingredients). Mild mari­nades should be used on more delicate meats, such as veal.
• Game and beef require strongly flavored marinades. In wine-based marinades, white wine is usually used for white meats and red wine for red meats. Not only does the wine add a distinctive flavor, the acids in it break down connective tissues and help tenderize the meat.
• Veal and pork generally require less time to marinate than game, beef and lamb. Smaller pieces of meat take less time than larger pieces. When marinating, be sure to cover the meat completely and keep it refrigerated. Stir or turn the meat frequently to ensure that the marinade penetrates evenly.

Barding

• Barding is the process of covering the surface of meat or poultry with thin slices of pork fatback and tying them in place with butcher's twine. Barded meat or poultry is usually roasted. As the item cooks, the fatback continuously bastes it, adding flavor and moisture. A drawback to barding is that the fatback prevents the meat or poultry from developing the crusty exterior associated with roasting.

Larding

• Larding is the process of inserting small strips of pork fat into meat with a larding needle. Larded meat is usually cooked by braising. During cooking, the added fat contributes moisture and flavor. Although once popular, larding is rarely used today because advances in selective breeding produce consistently tender, well-marbled meat.

Dry-Heat Cooking Methods

• Dry-heat cooking methods subject food directly to the heat of a flame (broiling and grilling), hot air (roasting) or heated fat (sauteing and pan-frying). These cooking methods firm proteins without breaking down connective tissue. They are not recommended for tougher cuts or those high in connective tissue.

Broiling and Grilling

To serve a good-quality broiled or grilled product, you must start with good quality meat. The broiling or grilling process adds flavor; additional flavors are derived from the seasonings. The broiler or grill should brown the meat, keeping interior juicy. The grill should leave appetizing crosshatch marks on the meat's surface.

Selecting Meats to Broil or Grill

• Only the most tender cuts should be broiled or grilled because direct heat does not tenderize. Fat adds flavor as the meat cooks, so the meat should be well marbled. Some external fat is also beneficial. Too much fat, however, will cause the broiler or grill to flare up, burning or discoloring the meat and adding objectionable flavors. Connective tissue toughens when meat is broiled or grilled, so trim away as much of it as possible.

Seasoning Meals to be Broiled or Grilled

Meats that have not been marinated should be well seasoned with salt and pepper just before being placed on the broiler or grill. If they are preseasoned and allowed to rest, the salt will dissolve and draw out moisture, making it dif­ficult to brown the meat properly. Some chefs feel so strongly about this that they season broiled or grilled meats only after they are cooked. Pork and veal, which have a tendency to dry out when cooked, should be basted with sea­soned butter or oil during cooking to help keep them moist. Meats can be glazed or basted with barbecue sauce as they cook.

Cooking Temperatures

• Red meats should be cooked at sufficiently high temperatures to caramelize their surface, making them more attractive and flavorful. At the same time, the broiler or grill cannot be too hot, or the meat's exterior will burn before the interior is cooked.
• Because veal and pork are normally cooked to higher internal temperatures than beef and lamb, they should be cooked at slightly lower temperatures that their exteriors are not overcooked when their interiors are cooked properly. The exterior of white meats should be a deep golden color when finishing
• Degrees of Doneness
• Everyone request and expect meats to be properly cooked to specified degrees of doneness. It is your responsibility to understand and comply with these requests. Meats can be cooked very rare (or bleu), rare, medium rare, medium, medium well or well done.
• Larger cuts of meat, such as a Chateaubriand or thick chops, are started on the broiler or grill to develop color and flavor and then finished in the oven to ensure complete, even cooking.
• Determining Doneness
• Broiling or grilling meat to the proper degree of doneness is an art. Larger pieces of meat will take longer to cook than smaller ones, but how quickly a piece of meat cooks is determined by many other factors: the temperature of the broiler or grill, the temperature of the piece of meat when placed on the broiler or grill, the type of meat and the thickness of the cut. Because of these variables, timing alone is not a useful tool in determining doneness.
• The most reliable method of determining doneness is by pressing the pie of meat with a finger and gauging the amount of resistance it yields. Very rare (bleu) meat will offer almost no resistance and feel almost the same as raw meat. Meat cooked rare will feel spongy and offer slight resistance to pressure. Meat cooked medium will feel slightly firm and springy to the touch. Meat cooked well done will feel quite firm and spring back quickly when pressed.

 

Accompaniments to Broiled and Grilled Meats

 

• Because a broiler or grill cannot be deglazed to form the base for a sauce compound butters or sauces such as bearnaise are often served with broiled or grilled meats. Brown sauces such as bordelaise, chasseur, perigueux or brown mushroom sauce also complement many broiled or grilled items.
• Procedure for Broiling or Grilling Meats
• 1 Heat the broiler or grill.
• 2 Use a wire brush to remove any charred or burnt particles that may be stuck to the broiler or grill grate. The grate can be wiped with a lightly Oiled towel to remove any remaining particles and to help season it.
• 3 Prepare the item to be broiled or grilled by trimming off any excess fat and connective tissue and marinating or seasoning it as desired. The meat may be brushed lightly with oil to help protect it and keep it from sticking to the grate.
• 4 Place the item in the broiler or on the grill. Turn the meat to produce the attractive Crosshatch marks associated with grilling. Use tongs to turn or flip the meat without piercing the surface (this prevents valuable juices from escaping).
• 5. Cook the meat to the desired doneness while developing the proper surface color. To do so, adjust the position of the meat on the broiler or grill, or adjust the distance between the grate and heat source