Mimi Goodies – Cooking healthy

Men like cooking steaks, even on their big day
Father’s Day is a funny holiday, and I mean that in the “peculiar” sense of the word.

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If you want to make your food taste like the recipes from restaurants, you’re going to have to beef up your arsenal of cooking skills.  Don’t fret, however, because some of the techniques and ingredients that give restaurants their edge are ones you can easily learn yourself!  Here are 2 things you need to learn to imitate recipes from restaurants.

 

1. Use High Heat!

 

Now you certainly shouldn’t use the highest possible for everything you cook, not by a long shot.  However, one of the things that the recipes from restaurants take advantage of is the tastiness that using very hot pans can give your food.

 

This is especially true for meat.  The reaction of the proteins denaturing on the outside of a peace of meat in response to high heat is called the maillard reaction, and it is responsible for that nice, tasty crust on the outside of pan-seared pieces of meat.

 

To make your food taste like the recipes from restaurants, a basic method you want to master is pan-searing followed by roasting.  When you’re cooking steaks, chicken breasts, and other hearty pieces of flesh, sear them in olive or canola oil for 1-2 minutes per side in a skillet, and then move them to a 300-350 degree oven to finish.  The tasty crust on the outside will be well worth the effort!

 

2. Use you Aromatics

 

“Aromatics” is the term chefs use for onions, shallots, garlic, and other ingredients they use in recipes from restaurants. Almost anytime you start a dish in a skillet, you want to begin by sautéing some of these ingredients until they are golden brown, and until you get a nice aroma going in the kitchen.

 

Even if you don’t like the flavor or texture of these ingredients individually, this is an important step to imitate recipes from restaurants!  If you dice them finely and sauté completely, you will not notice them in the final product, but the flavors will be excellent.

Grill Daddy, Grill: Men like cooking steaks, even on their big day
Father’s Day is a funny holiday, and I mean that in the peculiar sense of the word.

Read more on Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I have never cooked organic meats, but there is an all organic meat market near my new place, and I plan to buy some. I was wondering if there’s in difference in cooking them vs. cooking non-organic meats. Particularly steaks, ground beef and chicken. Thank you.