Cookthink

What's the point of resting meat before cutting it?

Letting cooked meat rest before you cut into it can be patience-trying for the hungry carnivore. But it's worth it for a number of reasons. High heat makes muscle proteins in the meat contract, pushing juices toward the center. If you allow your meat to relax -- anywhere from 5 minutes for a steak to around 40 for a turkey -- liquid that has been pushed out of tightened meat cells is able to circulate and be reabsorbed, making the meat more tender. This also means the juice will stay in the meat, not run all over your cutting board or plate. It also helps even out the temperature of the meat. Remove your cooked meat and place it on a wooden cutting board (or, as some chefs insist, on a wire rack above a plate to capture juices, which allows air to circulate on its underside, preventing it from becoming soggy). You can also loosely tent the meat with foil; again, be careful not to wrap it too tightly, lest you lock in the moisture and lose your crisp crust. Note: The internal temperature of meat rises while it rests, due to the residual heat from the oven. So invest in a digital, instant-read meat thermometer and get in the habit of pulling your meat out before it's done to your liking. Recipe: Roast Leg Of Lamb With Garlic And Rosemary (Cookthink) Reference: Does searing meat really seal in moisture? (Cookthink) Reference: Do I need a digital, instant-read meat thermometer? (Cookthink)

What is extra-virgin olive oil?

Extra-virgin olive oil is the precious unrefined first result of cold-pressing olives to make a fruity liquid that contains less than one percent acid. Extra-virgin olive oil is the most expensive olive oil variety, and it is best appreciated in salads or as a garnish to give preparations a final flourish. If you are using olive oil to cook, it's fine to use regular olive oil. Greece is the #1 consumer of olive oil in the world and also the leading producer of extra virgin olive oils, which account for 82 percent of their olive oil production. The U.S. is not a member of the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), which regulates olive oil standards worldwide, and the IOOC does not recognize the U.S. standards for extra-virgin oil. There is much controversy in the olive oil world, with accusations of corruption and adulteration smearing consumer confidence and shedding doubt on the purity of so-called virgin olive oil.

Do I need a digital instant-read meat thermometer?

For $10-25, you'll have the most foolproof way to ensure that the meat you cook is done to how you (and the people you're feeding) like it. It's simply the most reliable way to get meat right. Here are the temperatures to aim for. If you're going to let the meat rest before serving it (which is a good idea), take it out 3F (single pieces of meat) to 5F (roasts and whole birds) cooler than the temps listed below: Pork slightly pink: 150F Poultry (chicken, turkey, cornish hen) 160F Beef rare: 125F-130F medium-rare: 130F-135F medium: 135F-150F Lamb rare: 125F medium-rare: 130F medium: 135F Duck Whole duck: 170F in the thigh Breasts: rare: 130F medium-rare: 135F medium: 140F Sausages and ground meat: 170F Note that trichinosis (which used to be danger with under-cooked pork) is killed at 137F. Salmonella is killed at 160F. If you're worried about salmonella, cook everything to 160F.

Cookthink PSA: Buy tongs!

Tongs are the most useful tool in the kitchen. Having a good pair of tongs is like having a heatproof robotic arm in the kitchen. Consider a partial list of things you can do with a pair of tongs: stir something in a sizzling pan; flip something in a sizzling pan; move something around in a sizzling pan; spear something in a sizzling pan; push something in a sizzling pan to check for doneness; hold something above a sizzling pan to taste it; take something out of a sizzling pan. And that's just around a sizzling pan. Standing around a grill or reaching inside an oven, tongs are critical. You can spend a small fortune on specialty tongs, but you don't have to. OXO's Good Grips stainless steel tongs are inexpensive and probably as special as you’ll ever need. So here's our public service announcement - buy tongs now.

How to make a brine for a turkey (or any other meat)

The next time you roast a turkey, try brining it. The brine lends flavor as well as moistness to your bird, and though it means starting the process a few days early, it only adds a few minutes of extra work. Bring a gallon of water to a simmer and then 1 cup kosher salt and 1/4 cup sugar, plus a few aromatic additions: 10 or so each of green, white and black peppercorns; 2 bay leaves; 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 1 teaspoon garam masala; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 2 star anise and 2 tablespoons honey. Let the mixture simmer for a few minutes, then let it cool and refrigerate overnight to let the flavors mingle. In a large container (5-gallon food grade tubs work well, and so does a clean cooler), submerge the turkey and let it soak for at least 6 hours in the refrigerator. Pull the container out of the fridge a couple of hours before roasting the turkey and be sure to pat the bird dry before putting it in the oven.

Are turkeys American?

In the 1500s, Europeans found turkeys in Mexico, domesticated them back at home and then repatriated them to the United States when they settled in the new world. America's big, bland national bird was prized by Pilgrims and it's still the main event at our annual feast of shared blessings and family feuds. Ben Franklin's suggestion that the national bird be changed from the eagle to the turkey was largely ignored, as was his cooking advice. For an "uncommonly tender" turkey, he unkindly recommended electrocution. Farm-raised turkeys may be too fat to fly, but lithe wild turkeys do just fine in the air.

What do we mean by shimmering oil?

Shimmering oil is hot oil that is nearing its smoke point. At room temperature, common cooking oils like vegetable and olive oil seem fairly thick. Put them in a pan and heat them though, and they thin out when you swirl the pan. As they get hotter, they tend to "flow" and coat the pan more easily. In the right light, when you look at oil that's at a good temperature for sautéing -- nice and hot, but not yet smoking -- it shimmers. It forms "tines" like those on a wine glass. It looks colorful, iridescent even. Shimmering oil is good for sautéing because it increases the chances that the food won't stick. Hot oil immediately seals the bottom of food, creating a natural barrier between it and the bottom of the pan.

What does deglaze mean?

Deglazing is a fancy term for using the flavor-packed brown bits stuck to the bottom of a pan to make a pan sauce or gravy. To deglaze, just skim excess fat from the pan you've just used to cook meat or poultry. Then add a small amount of liquid -- such as wine, stock or water -- to the cooking juices and boil quickly over high heat, stirring constantly to dislodge the brown bits and evaporate any added alcohol. From here, you can reduce the liquid to a desired consistency, then maybe finish it off with a touch of cream, a knob of butter or a squeeze of citrus juice. After you take the pan off the heat, you can sprinkle in some chopped herbs and last-minute seasonings. Or if you want to be very French about it, you can finish by straining the imperfections from your sauce. Vegetables can also be used to lightly "deglaze" a pan to which you have just browned a bit of meat. Water from the vegetables (especially onions) will have the same dislodging effect. And deglazing to make a flourless gravy for poultry can be as simple as removing a chicken from a roasting pan, straining excess fat, adding water and stirring vigorously until the liquid is uniform and slightly reduced. Reference: What is a pan sauce? (Cookthink) Recipe: Pan-Roasted Pork Chops With Mustard-Caper Sauce (Cookthink)