My Meat / Onions are never soft! :(

[maillme]

Hi there, I need some strong advice - cause im messing up somewhere.

Whenever i cook chilli for example, my meat is always "chewy" no matter how slow i cook it ....... Whenever i try and caremalise / sweat (how are you supposed to do each?) some onions - they always seem to come out crispy........

Last night i done my first steak pie - and guess what, the onions were perfect, i had some sausage that was perfect - but my meat was tough - the flavour was spot on though.

I dont tend to cover the pots when im cooking, is this where i go wrong?

many thanks for any help, neil

[Jugglering]

I have no idea on the meat front, but for the onions, it sounds like you have the heat too high.

Here's how to caramelise onions http://homecooking.about.com/cs/atozfoodindex/ ht/carmelizeonions.htm

Caramel just refers to the colour achieved after a long slow cooking, whereas sweating them is done for a much shorter period of time, just until they turn translucent)

[slipnot]

Try and let the meat get to room temp before cooking. If it's chilled (i.e. straight from fridge) and you put it into a pan to brown, it will stew. That's why a lot of people have trouble frying/grilling steaks. Secret is to let meat get up to room temp before cooking. Also, try using butcher meat - I find supermarket steaks etc are a waste of money. I know butcher costs more, but well worth it. If cost is a problem, just use less meat and more veg.

[maillme]

ahhh - the fridge temp could be part of my prob!

I agree with the supermarket theory thouh, i try and get mine from my local farm that delivers my veg :)

many thanks,

Neil

[slipnot]

Good luck Neil and well done for using local produce.

[May1982]

Hey
I found some meta "how-to" videos that can help you:
http://www.sutree.com/Learn.aspx?q=meat
They have some great videos on how to cook the meat, and lots of recipes
Good luck