What's the point of resting meat before cutting it?
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)
The word "canola" is a derivative of the phrase "Canadian oil, low acid."
Let's break that down a little further. Canola oil was first developed in Canada (in the 1970s), so that takes care of the "cano-" part of the word.
What about the "-la" or "low acid" part? Canola oil is made from varieties of rapeseed that contain very little amounts of something called erucic acid. Rapeseed naturally contains high levels of erucic acid, which has been suspected of being toxic to some animals in high levels.
People have been cooking with rapeseed oil for centuries. However, given the suspicions about its cumulative negative health effects, breeders began developing rapeseed that contained only small traces of erucic acid. And that's how "cano-" got its "-la".
Unlike champagne and asiago cheese (and scores of other foods and drinks), which must be made in a certain area to be considered the real thing (and labeled as such), Dijon mustard does not have to be made in Dijon, France.
In fact, most of the world's Dijon mustard is not made in Dijon, France.
So what makes a Dijon a Dijon? Well, all mustard is made by mixing ground mustard seeds (white, yellow, brown, or black) with vinegar, water, grape must, and other liquids. What makes a mustard a "Dijon mustard" is the use of wine must and white wine which -- in combination with brown and/or black mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon and other spices and herbs -- give Dijon mustard its distinctive tangy flavor.
Reference: What does "emulsify" mean?
Recipe: Fettucine With Salmon, Lentils, Mustard And Cream
Recipe: Grilled Herb-Mustard Chicken Breasts
Recipe: Superfantastic Brussels Sprouts (VeganYumYum)
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.
what you should know
Marjoram is oregano's calmer, sweeter fraternal twin. Oregano = zesty + peppery + lemony. Marjoram = delicate + floral + round. The two are often used interchangeably, but if you get up in their mix you'll see some big differences.
the tear-smell test Get a fresh sprig of marjoram and a fresh sprig of oregano. Tear an oregano leaf in half. Hold it up to your nose. Smell that piney resin? That jolt? It's sharp, isn't it? Almost one note.
Okay, wait a few minutes, then do the same thing with the marjoram. Smell the complexity? The spice is still there but it's perfumed, heady. Almost soapy. (If you use too much of it, that soapiness can take over a soup or sauce.)
the short and long of it You hear conflicting views about the best use for marjoram. First, you hear it's a great sauce and stewing herb that lends some woodsiness to long-cooked dishes. Then, you hear that marjoram should be added at the end of cooking so that you don't lose its delicate flavor.
We're marjoram centrists. When we're roasting, grilling or broiling something, we like a lot of marjoram and we like it on its own. The high heat tames that soapiness, leaving a delicate floral taste to contrast the meat. In sauces, salads, and dressings, where the marjoram's more potent, we like to use it sparingly and we taste as we go.
what you need
Claudia Roden was born in Egypt, where most of the cultivated marjoram in the world comes from. She's written many great books on the food of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Right now, we're into her new Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon.
Can you survive without a Zyliss herb mill? Yes. Do you feel a little dignified when you use one? Yes. Is it up to you to decide if that kind of dignity is worth $12? Yes.
Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs versus Herbs and Spices: The Cook's Reference. In a steel cage match between the two, we're not sure who would come out on top. They're equally good.
what you do
Next time you're feeling like a quesadilla, stow the cilantro and try mixing marjoram and coriander with Monterey Jack. Against the cheese's gooey richness, the marjoram brings in a little lemon that the coriander picks up on and rounds out as orange. It's a match made in cielo.
We liked a toned-down version of moros y cristianos, the famous Cuban dish of black beans and rice. Though usually you'd use dried oregano, we think that fresh marjoram gives it more complexity.
Marjoram is underused as a flavoring for root vegetables. With carrots and Brussels sprouts roasted at high heat, marjoram highlights the sweet and woodsy qualities of the vegetables.
But if you really want to talk about marjoram and roasting, you've got to talk about lamb. To see what the herb's all about, try this seared and roasted rack of lamb inspired by one of Brys' favorite cooking shows, Take Home Chef.
Parsley used to be a gross-looking garnish on the side of your plate. Now, we think of it as one of the best go-to herbs to work into your cooking. It adds a bright but relatively neutral herbal flavor to almost any dish.To prep it, first rinse and shake dry the leaves. Hold the bouquet at an angle with the leaves against the cutting board. Run your knife down the side of the bouquet to slice away the leaves. It's fine to remove some of the tender stems along with the leaves.Now just run your knife back and forth across the pile of leaves, chopping them as coarsely or as finely as you need to. The closer to the end of the cooking you plan to add the parsley, the finer you'll want to chop it. But since parsley's so tender it's usually okay to keep the the chop coarse.
