Luxury Bites: Tips for Preparing Gourmet Meat
A delicious cut of high-end meat is a gift—learn how to treat it with the care it deserves. Serve up perfection at your next fancy dinner with these tips.
Tips for Preparing Gourmet Meat!
For your next special occasion, bring some upscale flair to the table with a superbly cooked cut of gourmet meat. Before you slice into it, though, learn how to handle it with a little TLC.
A few tips for preparing gourmet meat will have your dinner guests praising your kitchen savvy for days after.
Cook It Promptly
Don’t let your gourmet meat sit in the freezer for a week or two before you cook it! High-end cuts of meat taste best when you cook them as fresh as possible. Then, thaw your piece of meat to room temperature, but don’t let that room-temp meat sit for more than half an hour.
Prepare Mise en Place
A French term that loosely translates to “everything in its place,” mise en place refers to the arrangement of all your cooking materials in front of you. You don’t want to scramble for seasonings while your gourmet meat sizzles away!
Have everything you need ready before you start cooking. You’ll save time and ensure that you can follow the steps in your recipe promptly and in the correct order.
Use a Meat Thermometer
You may be used to gauging how “done” a piece of meat is by the color on the outside—and it probably works most of the time! But if you’re working with high-end cuts, you want to know for sure that you’ve cooked it all the way through.
Ensure that you don’t waste any meat by using a thermometer to check the temperature on the inside before you serve it up.
Let It Rest
Cutting into your delicious dish right out of the oven is a surefire path to dry, flavorless meat. Keep all those yummy juices inside the meat by letting it rest undisturbed for 10 or 15 minutes before you cut into it. (That means no poking, pressing, or prodding, either!)
Cut Smart
To ensure that each bite of your luxury meat is tender and juicy, cut it against the grain. Those muscle fibers running along the meat can get chewy, so break them up into individual bites. That way, each piece will get a little bit of muscle and a little bit of fat.
Next time you bring a cut of gourmet meat into your kitchen, treat it with the TLC it deserves, and you’ll serve up a smash hit at your next fancy dinner. Why not plan that dinner now? Everyone deserves a little decadence in life. Get comfortable with these tips for cooking gourmet meat, and you’ll add more important skills to your cooking repertoire.
Other delicious recipes to try:
- Beef Tataki with Ponzu
- Steak and Guinness Pie
- Easy to Make Roast Beef
- Roast Beef Sandwiches with Pickled Red Onions
Stacey is a Southern girl with a taste for travel, thriving on the discovery of the world through food. After spending many years traveling and living overseas, she’s now back home in her beloved deep south enjoying life with her three little ones and loving the adventure. She’s a food stylist and food photographer, as well as, the creative behind Little Figgy Food, where she loves to inspire others to try new flavors and foodie techniques.
