Okay, I surrender. I just can't cook meat.
I mean I try, but I just can't get it right. It is either undercooked, overcooked, or a little of each. And yes, you can comment away about meat thermometers, about taking the meat out 5-10 degrees before it is supposed to be done, about feeling the bounciness of it, etc. etc. I know it all. I've heard it all. I've been lectured on it all.
And it doesn't help that my gourmet-trained-to-cook-in-a-northern-italian-restaurant husband, upon being asked how I know when the chicken is done, replies, "When it is done." Sigh.
Last night I fried some pork chops. I took them out when the middle was bouncy but not hard, white but not pink. Perfect? Well the corners, and the bits near the bone were raw. Yes, raw. What's a girl to do? Turn the pan, flip them around, yadda yadda. I do it all. I just got unlucky in this particular skill department.
A few days ago I broiled some steaks. My husband exclaimed, "These are perfectly cooked!" My secret? That evening I had an overtired screaming baby strapped to me in the front carrier as I cooked, and I was desperately trying not to singe her as I checked the meat. And I had stuffed my four year old in front of a movie so I could concentrate on one crisis at a time. Perhaps I should do that every night. My nerves would be fried, the baby would grow up a frightened, exhausted, burned young thing, the four year old would have frozen brain cells, but at least we all would be well fed.
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Sigh!! My daughter, an Uruguayan (beef country!) once-removed who doesn't know how to cook beef? It is easy! Just put the chops in the VERY hot frying pan. If you are cooking pork (kosher pork, of course!) lower the heat and cook covered (it helps the cooking and avoids splatter). How long? Until ready, of course (cut at the center; it should be cooked, not pink. Same for lamb.) For beef and veal, leave the heat on high and cook UNCOVERED (damn the splatter! You can cleen that later) until pink in the center. NOT WELL DONE BEEF, PLEAAAAASE! In Uruguay, that is a crime, punishable with a steady diet of overcooked Brussels' sprouts and raw parsnips!
ReplyDeleteOh well... beautiful, talented, accomplished, smart, a gret daughter, sister, wife, and mom, and an all-around wonderful person should be enough; she does not need to be a Cordon Bleu cook, as well (but it helps...) RG
Me again! Forgot to tell you to turn the meat once at about midpoint in the cooking process. How do you know it is midpoint? Easy! It is half way between the beginning and the end... Seriously, folks, after three or four minutes for beef, and between seven to ten for pork, depending on the thickness.
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