Blog

Welcome to the first post in a series I’m entitling, “Kitchen Basics 101”. I thought it would be fun to cover different topics that us home cooks often struggle with or wonder about. I’ll give you all the tips, insights, and resources I can to get you mastering these basic techniques and gaining some real confidence in the kitchen! Because I got married so young, I was the first in my group of friends to be a wife, which led to me being the first in my group of friends to really get serious about cooking. When my friends and younger ladies I knew began getting married I used to put together my own cookbooks for them with all my favourite recipes with the hope of getting them on the right track in the kitchen with some tried and true favourites. Well, you friends are going to be my new bride to be’s so pull up a seat and let’s get started!

This first subject came in response to one of you over on Instagram (shoutout to Leanna!) who asked for posts about how to prepare/cook meat. I probably wouldn’t have thought to tackle this otherwise, so thanks for the great question! Rubbery, mealy, chewy, soggy, bland, tough, under/overcooked… are these adjectives that describe the meat you prepare sometimes? It’s discouraging for sure – meat is expensive, so of course it’s frustrating when the end product is less than appealing! I’ve been there. Salvaging unappealing meat by hiding it in soup or drowning it with melted cheese on toast… you won’t find me letting perfectly edible meat go to waste. But there is a better way, and hopefully these tips will spare you from many a meat mess. For this post I’m going to focus on individual portions of meat – think chicken breast, pork tenderloin, fish filets, steak, etc. I’ll tackle the larger cuts like roasts and whole birds in another post! Let’s dive in.

Buy the best quality meat your budget can afford (but know that you can still make great tasting meat on a tight budget). If you can afford to purchase organic grass-fed/pastured meats from a local farmer, obviously you’re going to be operating with a head start. The nutrient content, taste, and texture cannot be beat (similar to home grown garden produce). However, personally (and I’m guessing this will be true for a lot of you as well), this is just not something we can afford to do at the moment. So, I look for buying fresh (not frozen) meat from reputable dealers (Costco is my go to) in bulk to save money and still get good quality meat. If that doesn’t work for you either, buying frozen is perfectly fine also. I would suggest making sure there are no added ingredients/seasoning to the meat as this can affect the texture and it may contain added preservatives and chemicals like MSG, high sodium, etc. You can still make delicious food on a budget. Do not feel bad if you cannot afford to buy the best of the best – I totally get it and I’m right there with you!

Pre-portion your meat. Let’s start with when you get your meat home from the grocery store. Since I buy in bulk, I make it a habit to portion the meat right away into air tight freezer bags in the portion size we will use for meals. Let’s walk through a case of boneless skinless chicken breasts for an example (and I will continue to use this chicken through the post to demonstrate each tip). I wouldn’t dream of setting aside a whole chicken breast per person. First of all, it is much too thick to cook through properly with the pan searing method, so you will almost always end up with texture issues from over/undercooking. Secondly, no one needs that large of a serving of meat in one sitting! The recommended serving size of meat is a deck of cards, so save yourself some money and portion that breast up! Check out this plate: on the Right side is a whole chicken breast, on the Left side is THREE portions of meat cut from a chicken breast of the exact same size. I would say you can get 2 adult servings and 1 child size serving from each chicken breast.

Here’s how I cut it up. First I remove the chicken tender – this is the small piece of meat that will be hanging off of the chicken breast (some may be removed already but most will have a tender attached). There will be a natural spot to just cut the rest off so go ahead and do that. Chicken tenders work great as child sized portions or you can collect them all together and freeze for meals that require smaller pieces of chicken (like pasta, stir-fry, butter chicken, etc).

Now take the remaining chicken breast and cut it down the middle lengthwise as if you’re opening it into a book. Go about 2/3 of the way, then open up the breast and lay it flat and cut along the natural line where the meat unfolds. This will produce two nice chicken breasts that are thin enough to cook quickly in a pan. Tada! 3 portions, 1 breast.

After I’ve cut all the chicken breasts into 3 portions I start sorting meal size portions for our family into freezer bags. I like to portion for 4 adult servings (supper and lunch the next day for hubby and I, because leftovers are the key to victory ;)) and a serving each per child (because kids eat sandwiches!). Do what works for you! Squish the meat as flat as you can in the bag and push out as much air as possible. This helps prevent freezer burn which is the #2 culprit for unappealing meat texture (we’ll get to #1 in a second) and will allow for quicker, even thawing. Label them how you like and store them in the freezer (they also stack nicely when they are flat like this, bonus!)

Thaw properly. Ok, so you want to cook your meat and it’s in the freezer. You will want to thaw it completely before working with it (if we’re talking about ground beef, sausage, slow cooked roasts, etc, it is entirely different, however with individual portions of meat it is important to the final texture to start with fully thawed meat whenever possible). Please, pretty please, promise me you won’t be thawing your meat in the microwave? That is the number #1 sabotage to your meat texture as it will begin to cook the meat and cause that rubbery texture that no one is looking for. The best method I’ve found for thawing meat is in a sink of cold water. The meat should be thawed in a couple of hours easily. If you’re really in a pinch, thawing in a sink of warm (NOT hot, same issue as the microwave) water will speed things along, though some might take issue with the food safety of such practices… (I’ve done it and lived?). Thawing in the fridge has never worked for me, it’s always rock hard the next day. And I’m sorry but I’m just not going to plan 3 days ahead for meat… sue me! As soon as your meat is thawed in the sink, you can put it in a bowl and stick it in the fridge if you aren’t ready to use it right away.

Method Matters. Tray baked meat has rarely turned out well for me. There are a few exceptions, but more often than not the meat comes out chewy, soggy, rubbery… just unpleasant. On the other hand, I really can’t think of a time that pan seared meat hasn’t come out absolutely delicious. It’s all about the sear. Pan searing caramelizes the surface of the meat giving incredible flavour and locking in all those juices in the meat. It’s also a whole lot quicker than baking, a win all around!

Pat your meat dry with paper towels before seasoning. This is especially important if you are working with previously frozen meat due to the water loss that comes with thawing. Patting the meat dry will make sure that your seasoning can really sink in and adhere and allows you to get a nice even browning in the pan. Wet meat will not sear evenly and you’ll get those unpleasant slimy masses forming around the meat from the extra juices cooking. No thanks! The exception here is if you are working with marinaded meat. In that case I would just shake off as much marinade as possible and proceed. You could bring the remaining marinade to a boil for at least 5 minutes and serve as a sauce with your meat if desired.

Season the meat generously with salt and pepper (and any other seasonings you like). Some of the seasonings are going to come off before you cook and also in the pan, so you want to season with a bit more than you think you need. In my experience, simple is best. Do not underestimate the deliciousness of a generous seasoning of fresh ground pepper and kosher salt with a drizzle of olive oil. With a good sear, this is one of my favourite ways to cook meat (especially salmon and steak). For our chicken today, I’ve also added a sprinkle of dried oregano, paprika, and garlic powder. Use whatever seasoning you like!

Pre-heat your pan and do not add the meat until its nice and hot. I like to set my pan on medium heat for a few minutes. You will know it’s hot enough when you flick some water in the pan and it sizzles. Have I forgotten a hot pan on the stove before? Yes, yes I have. In this case, I just turn the burner off and remove the pan for a couple minutes to let it cool, then put it back on the burner and pick up where I left off. Having a nice hot pan will ensure your meat doesn’t stick. Plus, it gets a nice, deep, even browning (browning = flavour!).

Do not crowd the pan. You want to add the meat in a single layer without the pieces touching. If you add too much meat at once, it will not brown properly because the water loss will make your pan too wet and there won’t be enough surface area of each piece in contact with the pan to brown. Work in batches if you need to! One thing I love about my 12-inch cast iron pan is it is large enough that I rarely need to do more than one batch; these are the kinds of things that bring me joy inside 😉

Do not rush flipping the meat! You only want to flip the meat once, so do not flip it until it’s fully browned on the bottom. There is no stirring here, folks! You will know it’s ready when you start to see the sides of the meat turning colour (it should be about 2/3 of the way cooked when you flip), and the meat lifts easily from the pan. If you go to flip the meat and it sticks to the pan, wait a few minutes and it should lift easily once it’s ready! If you feel that your pan was too hot and the meat is burning/cooking too quickly, just add a splash of water to the pan and it will slow down the cooking and lower the pan temperature while the water evaporates; this should allow the time you need for it to brown evenly and begin to cook through. Back to our chicken, see how the edges are white and starting to cook through? It lifted easily from the pan so I knew it was time to flip. This took about 6 minutes.

Do not overcook. Remember our meat was 2/3 of the way cooked on the first side. That means we only have a third of the way to go. Once I flip the meat, I like to press down on it with my spatula to ensure even browning. In the steakhouse I used to serve at back in the day, they used to do the same thing but with a metal press. Then, after a minute or so I will turn the heat down to low and cover with foil or a lid to cover until cooked through. For our chicken, this took an additional 3 minutes. You will know its cooked through when the meat is firm to the press of the spatula and the juices run clear. For thicker cuts of meat, like pork tenderloin or filet mignon, you may want to finish cooking in the oven after searing both sides. Look for recipes that begin with pan searing and finish with an oven bake for thicker cuts of meat. Another win for the cast iron pan is it travels right from stovetop to oven without issue so you don’t need to dirty another pan. Boom!

Rest the meat. I’m sure you’ve heard this before and I’m here to tell you it really is important! Resting the meat allows time for the juices to redistribute evenly in the meat. If you slice into that meat too early, all those yummy juices will spill out onto the plate and leave you with dry meat – what a tragedy after carefully preparing a nice cut of meat! Individual portions like this only need about 5 minutes to rest, so it’s pretty easy to just tent the plate with foil or a lid while you dish up the rest of the meal. The finish line is in sight, take courage my friends!

Garnish. You knew this was coming, right? Oh the power of a good garnish, it completely elevates the meal and gives it that nice fresh pop of flavour we all love. For meat, I like to finish with a squeeze of lemon (or lime if more fitting), and a scattering of green herbs (if I have some on hand) just before serving. Parsley, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, or Chives are all great options. A pat of butter (even herb infused butter) is also a nice garnish you can put on the meat while resting for nice, rich flavour. For our chicken I’ve squeezed some fresh lemon and scattered some fresh cilantro on top.

Wow, this became quite the dissertation on meat! If you’ve made it this far, you can consider yourself a meat cooking expert. I hope these tips bring you success in the kitchen! Let me know in the comments – which one of these tips was most helpful to you? Do you have any more tips to share with us? What topic should I cover next? And of course, report back with the results of your efforts, home chefs! I’ll include a condensed version of this chicken recipe we worked through below. Talk to you soon!

Products Used in this Post:

This post includes affiliate links, meaning I made a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you decide to click through the links and purchase anything. These are my honest opinions and I would never recommend anything to you I didn’t absolutely love and use on a regular basis. Hope you find these lists helpful!

Lodge 12-inch cast iron pan: You’re going to see this a lot. Once again, it is my favourite pan and I use it every day, several times a day. I love the large size and versatility of stovetop to oven use.

Tempered Glass Lid for Lodge 12-inch pan : I actually don’t have the Lodge brand lid, because my mother-in-law (Karen for the win again, haha!) bought me another cast iron braising pan that came with a lid that magically fits my Lodge pan also. However, having this lid now, I could not imagine going without so I am going to recommend you get your hands on one also if you invest in the pan.