Potluck Poetry
Potluck Poetry is a fun new feature at Formula Easy Recipes. A jingle is a great aid to memory and these jingles can help make sure you never forget the fundamental principles of great - even gourmet - meals!
Meat Cooking Times
Beef is good at "One Four 'O'"
Chicken must be warmer, though,
So twenty-five more for that dish
And shoot for "One Four Five" for fish.
Total honestly about this temperature thing? At our house, my husband would have duck fits if I let the beef get as high as 140°F - we stop cooking beef at 130°F. Everyone makes free choices and whether you err on the side of tenderness or safety is your call.
Note: Remember lag times. "Lag" describes the way temperatures continue to rise after the heat is turned off. If I wanted to finish meat at 140 degrees internal temperature, I would pull it off the heat source a few degrees under that.
Brining
Brine what cackles and what gobbles
If you would deflect the squabbles
When your family wonders why
All the fowl you cook is dry.
On Over cooking Beef
Would you like to gnaw on straps?
A saddle or a boot perhaps?
Don't over cook it if you care
So serve your beef up pink and rare.
Begin at Room Temp
When you want to cook a roast
That's succulent, not dry as toast
And cooked beyond a hope or cure
Start it at room temperature.
Exception to Room Temp
Start your beef at room temp when
You want it perfect pink within
But if your beef is very thin
Then start it cold or frozen then.
Beef Cooking Tips
Cook tough meat wet, and tender, dry.
Well-marbled means a tender buy
But if flavor's what you're looking for
Then buy the cheapest in the store.
What Makes Beef Beautifully Browned?
Maillard reactions make beef brown
And yummy caramel tastes abound
No acids should be near the meat
However, you will need some "sweet."
*Tip 1: The meat should be slathered some butter or oil mixed with something that has sugar in it - i.e., perhaps BBQ sauce or even a little corn syrup. Anything acidic will prevent that beautiful caramelized color.
If you are enjoying recipes and tips as poems, visit these links:
For the most fun ever with cooking definitions check out Foodinitions because who wants to read a dictionary?
Visit this page for a creamy white sauce recipe for your entree Find out the poetic secret to avoid lumps in your sauces!
Oh, and still more sauce tips done as twitpoems, such as exotic Gremolata, Piquant or Macadamia.
Balsamic and Dijon Vinaigrettes
Basting
Recipe to baste a bird?
Here's the greatest one we heard:
Corn syrup, butter, consomme
Will brown it beautifully, they say.
Slow Cook Tough Cuts
Connective tissue tells you why
A cut is fibrous, tough, and dry
To melt the collagen, cook slow
And cook it up to 160.
Invest in an Instant Read Thermometer
Here's a good barometer
To cook a tasty meal
Get a good thermometer
To make the dish ideal.
Hope you enjoy this new feature, Potluck Poetry, that will begin many similar pages that make you smile while delivering cooking tips. Why not tell everyone who likes to laugh and likes to cook about Formula Easy Recipes?
Comments on Potluck Page
Finally, a healthy chocolate
