How to Cook Meat
– THE BOOK
(Seen first on CoolMaterial.com)
When it comes to men and cooking, the bar is set pretty low. The very least we can do is brush up on our grilling techniques so we don’t screw up the steaks. Here’s a somewhat well known method for telling when a steak has been cooked to the desired level of doneness.
– Touch your thumb and index finger on your right hand together.
– With the index finger on your left hand, touch that ball of muscle underneath your thumb on your right.
– See how that feels? Not really all that firm with some wiggle? That’s how a steak will feel to the touch when it’s rare.
If you touch your middle finger to your thumb and then poke that same muscle, that’s how medium-rare feels. Ring finger is medium, and then your pinkie touching your thumb gives you the almost rock hard firmness of a well done steak. Take a nibble of your hand at that point. Your steak will probably taste the same.
Now that you know a decent trick on how to get one of the basics right, consider picking up a guide
“Particularly attractive recipes include Sage-Rubbed Roasted Loin of Beef with Shallot-Bourbon Sauce.”
I think you’d all enjoy that more than another round of ground-chuck burgers.
You should highlight the roasted whole chicken recipe in the Christina Hendricks Esquire (May?). It’s become a staple for me and is easy as hell to make.
Don’t skimp on your knife. I know it is easy to go and by a simple knife from a department store that is $10-20 but if you are going to be serious in the kitchen, I recommend spending the money on a real chef’s knife. And hold them, don’t just buy one. I just obtained the Wusthof 6″ Chef’s knife
and it has made a world of difference in the kitchen. It has made cutting meat and dicing vegetables (yes something that simple) way easier and cleaner. I also recommend going to antique stores and used bookstores and finding some old cookbooks, you would be surprised at what you can find.
I really need this. I cook so that I can maintain a healthy lifestyle but soon enough you notice that, at least to me, it’s not healthy just eating the same boring things over and over, unhealthy psychologically.
Heh. I’ve gotten to the point where I eat the exact same things every day, except dinner varies among numerous mostly healthy things. A few years ago if I were to try this it would be a nightmare, but I’ve worked up to it so it’s not bad. To me it has become that food is really just fuel; as long as it doesn’t taste nasty I don’t really care about it being repetitive. It makes the splurge meals that come up every once in a while all the more enjoyable. Also, the results I’ve been getting make it really easy to keep going. And I’m doing it for healthy weight gain (in muscle), rather than the usual weight loss people diet for. So it’s not as depressing when it’s slow going because I’m already in good shape.
I agree with you Bryan. I too actually do the same in the beginning of the year when I do high volume workouts, treat food as fuel, its important. For the rest of the year I pretty much want to enjoy food as I go, without sacrificing my health; I’m at a weight and body composition I’m happy with, a little more muscle wouldn’t hurt but I don’t want extra weight to hinder my progress in gymnastics. -Time to get better at cooking. 🙂