Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen (29 page)

7.
Transfer the cooked cutlets to serving plates, and serve right away.

Chicken, Fish, Meat, and You

When it comes to pure protein, we’ve all got our favorite sources. This chapter is for those of you who enjoy chicken, fish, shrimp, and red meat.

Now, most of you who love animal-based proteins, I’m guessing, also love this planet and want to live in a way that respects the environment. And no doubt you’ve heard about the links between livestock raising and global warming. Well, there are two things you can do about this without giving up meat altogether. You can eat it less often (and eat smaller servings of it when you do), and you can also do your best to purchase meat that has been responsibly, sustainably, and, if possible, locally raised.

Find a good meat, poultry, and seafood market with a knowledgeable staff whom you can trust for recommendations. The prices may be a bit higher than what you’d find at the supermarket, but for good reason. You’re getting what you pay for, and this will help you make a new pledge to yourself: “Self, from now on, quality will always trump quantity when it comes to meat (and all food choices, for that matter).” And that said, small butchers tend to feature great specials on whatever they’re trying to sell quickly, so keep your eyes peeled.

HERE’S THE (GRASS-FED) BEEF

If you secretly love a few bites of a good steak but avoid it for fear that it is bad for you (or that you will be stigmatized for this weakness of character), here is some good news. Grass-fed beef can be a very clean and healthy choice, and assuming you are willing to shop carefully and spend a little more on the meat that comes from pasture-raised, grass-fed cattle, you are in for a treat. It tastes really good, and when eaten in modest amounts it can provide you with a much lower dose of both overall fat and saturated fat compared with other beef, and—surprise!—it also delivers a significant amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids (the terrific-for-you kind found in wild salmon and flax seed) and a nice hit of vitamins A and E as well. Why does this kind of beef stack up so well? Because unlike the starchy, low-fiber corn and soybeans that are the mainstay of feedlot cattle (and are accompanied by frightening doses of antibiotics that help Bossie assimilate this otherwise indigestible-to-her stuff), grass provides a low-starch, high-protein, high-fiber diet that translates into healthier cows. They are also likely to be happier, because they get to wander around outside, rather than being cooped up for months in a tightly packed, unclean confinement. And they tend not to become afflicted with E. coli and other toxicity, because they are eating their original pre-industrial-age diet, and they stay healthier and in better balance (and better immunity) this way.

BUYING MEAT

Shop at a busy market to get the freshest product. Raw meat should be moist but not wet or sticky, and should have no off-putting odor. Avoid anything with extra liquid in the pack
age. The meat should be bright red, with white fat on the edge and running though the meat. (Some fat running around the edge of a steak is a good thing; it helps hold the meat together and flavors it. If you don’t want to eat it, cut it off with a sharp paring knife
after
the meat is cooked. Marbling, the fat that runs across the interior of a cut of meat in thin lines, is also a good thing, adding juiciness, tenderness, and flavor.)

For your basic pan-cooked, broiled, or grilled steak, you want cuts that are tender and have good flavor, the best of which come from the rib and the loin. The New York strip and rib-eye are good one-person steaks. Tenderloin steaks (filet mignons) are pricy and very tender but don’t have as much flavor as a strip or rib-eye. The T-bone and porterhouse are big luxury cuts with a T-shaped bone that separates what are actually two steaks: on one side of the bone is a New York strip, on the other, a tenderloin (the porterhouse has a bigger tenderloin piece). The bone gives T-bones (and any bone-in steak or chop) more flavor during cooking.

On the somewhat tougher but very flavorful side, flank steak and skirt steak (both best when marinated) are good choices, as is the large, thick London broil, which is very lean and should be cooked rare and sliced very thin.

“Prime” is the top USDA grade for meat, then “Choice,” then “Select.” The lower the grade, the less marbling the meat will have, and thus the less flavor and tenderness. “Select” is typical supermarket meat-case fare, but it can be delicious, especially if you marinate it.

BUYING FISH AND SEAFOOD

Buy fish from a reputable store where they can tell you its source and how it was caught. Check out seafoodwatch.org for guidelines on buying sustainable seafood—there’s even an iPhone application, so you can get a read on what you’re buying while you’re at the store.

Really fresh fish will never smell fishy. Rather, it should smell like the ocean. The flesh should be glossy and firm with no dark spots, mushiness, or separation. Your best bet is always simply to start by asking, “What’s fresh?”

BUYING POULTRY

Here again, go with a trusted source—a good market committed to offering sustainable/organic local options. Try to get poultry that has been pasture-raised, which means the chickens get to walk—or whatever they do—around outside, pecking their food. And ideally, that food they’re pecking at is healthy, organic, and hormone-free. Your purveyor will tell you, so always ask. Or, if you shop in a supermarket, check out specialty brands that are sustainably produced. Look for poultry that is plump, with creamy-yellow skin and no strong odors.

STORING

There’s a reason your refrigerator has a meat compartment: It’s generally colder in there, and that’s where meat, seafood, and poultry fare best. If you don’t have one, go with the coldest part of refrigerator, which is usually
toward the bottom. Keep meat and poultry in the refrigerator for no more than 3 to 4 days, seafood for only a day or two. Or wrap meat or poultry very well, put it in a resealable freezer bag, mark the date on the outside, and freeze it for up to 3 months.

HANDLING

When handling raw meat, seafood, and poultry, you want to keep things cold and clean to avoid any possibility of bacterial contamination. It’s a good idea to designate a separate cutting board (preferably not made from wood) just for meat, poultry, and seafood (you can even mark one side for just seafood and poultry and the other for meat). Wash the board well in hot soapy water (or, even better, in the dishwasher if the cutting board is dishwasher-safe), and be careful to clean up well after you finish your prep. That means washing your hands thoroughly, as well as the countertop, your knives, and any other implements you’ve used.

MENU PLANNING

Menu planning around a main dish of meat, poultry, or fish generally means giving some thought to side dishes—a potato, rice, or grain dish, plus a vegetable or two and maybe a salad—so check out the recipes in those chapters and plan accordingly. You may need to get potatoes or rice cooked ahead of time, and you want to factor in your vegetable preparation as well in putting together the meal. Don’t stress about the timing, though. Most things that are good hot are also good mostly hot or even warm, so do your best to coordinate (sit down and think it through first)—but beyond that, just do what works and enjoy.

EASY MEETS TASTY AND AFFORDABLE

My choice of recipes for this chapter was based first and foremost on their high simplicity-to-deliciousness ratio, with an eye toward keeping things affordable. We’re working with reasonably priced cuts of meat and types of fish here, not the high-end stuff. But the good news is, some of the best flavor lives at that low end of the price spectrum. “Give me a brisket over a filet mignon any day,” say my meat-appreciating friends, and I know they’re talking about the meat itself and not just the price.

Many of these recipes work well as tonight’s dinner plus leftovers to be chilled and turned into other meals, and you’ll find lots of suggestions along those lines. So even if you’re cooking for one, prepare the full recipe and you can “bank” a second or third meal while you’re at it. Leftover meat and chicken are great added to other things, like salads (lay thin strips or chunks on top), soups, rice and grains (cut the meat into small pieces and stir it in toward the end of cooking), tacos, omelets, and quesadillas.

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.)