Advice From My Butcher - 5 unforgettable BBQ marinades
- How to Make a Perfect Roast Every Time
- Filet mignon: different recipes for different cuts
- Guide to Cooking Beef
- Tips on How to BBQ Like a Pro
- 5 Ways To Reinvent the Burger
- Prepare and Cook Sausages
- Skewers Bar: Pile Up on Flavour
- 6 Pork Cuts You’re Sure to Love
- Spices to Flavour Meat
- Soul Food at Home
TopCooking Meat on the Grill
Barbecuing gives culinary standards a whole new flavour and allows you to discover new meats and new cuts. The meat and fish departments at your local Metro supermarket offer a great selection of tantalizing possibilities. Beef is still a palate pleaser, but sometimes tired taste buds need to be revived and nothing does the trick like variety-chicken, pork, lamb, game, fish, seafood. Don't feel like cooking? Don't have the time? Take advantage of ready-to-cook cuts, already marinated. Use the following tips, choose the right meats and discover a whole world of new taste sensations this summer
Recipes :
- Chilled Avocado-Zucchini Soup
- Spicy Couscous
- Wine-marinated Tuna brochettes
- Maple-Glazed Citrus Fruit Brochettes
Discovering Meat Anew
Beef
When it comes to barbecues, beef rules! Use various spices to expand beef's range of possibilities and give it an exotic flair. Make use of allspice, hot pepper sauce, garam massala (an Indian spice blend) or one of the traditional Chinese spice blends in your marinades.
Pork and lamb
Pork and lamb are perfect for barbecuing, as the taste of smoke enhances their natural flavour. All cuts can be grilled. However don't cook them too long, except for ground pork and lamb which have to be served well-done. Pork and lamb burgers make an interesting change from regular hamburgers.
Fowl
Chicken, turkey, quail, breast of pheasant and guinea hen, duck and ostrich all deserve a place of honour on the barbecue. Most poultry is quite tender and doesn't need additional tenderizing in a marinade. However, using a rub before cooking will enhance its flavour. Be sure to remove fat from poultry and drain it well to prevent drippings and flaming.
Sausages
For fuller flavour, parboil old-fashioned European sausages for about 5 minutes before grilling them. Cook them in beer for an extra flavour boost. Cooked sausages such as wieners and smoked sausages can go directly to the grill.
Fish and Seafood: Simple and Delicate
The fish department at your local Metro overflows with sundry exceptional and nutritious treasures of the sea. For brochettes, choose firm-fleshed fish without bones such as swordfish that won't break apart during cooking. Fatty or semi-fatty fish like salmon and trout are best for barbecuing directly on the grill because they are firm-fleshed and easier to handle. An easy and practical barbecuing technique for delicate fish like sole is to wrap it.
Molluscs can be wrapped in foil (with melted butter, parsley and white wine) or cooked directly on the grill. Oysters must be shucked before being barbecued. Lobster and scampi take little time to cook. Take care not to overcook them or they become dry, tough and rubbery. Never barbecue store-bought cooked lobster or scampi. Buy fresh or frozen uncooked crab. Thaw the latter in the refrigerator. Barbecue shrimp unshelled to keep them from becoming dry. Thread jumbo shrimp onto skewers (6 to a skewer) for easy handling. Shrimp can also be wrapped in foil and cooked over high heat for 5 to 6 minutes.
New Meats and Fancy Meats
Rabbit legs, game sausages, and various cuts of bison, caribou and red deer such as strip loins, tournedos and medallions would be a hit with your guests. There are many aficionados of barbecued veal sweetbreads, kidney or liver.
Simple Fundamental Tips
- Before starting, make sure that you have enough fuel.
- Preheat the barbecue 15-20 minutes before cooking. Food doesn't stick to a grill that's good and hot.
- Oil the grill before cooking.
- Cooking on the barbecue is very quick, so make sure that the various dishes and sauces are prepared and ready.
- Stay close to the barbecue when cooking and keep a timer in your pocket so that you don't forget food on the barbecue while you chat with friends.
- If meat is of uneven thickness, keep the thinner part further from the heat.
- Remember to turn food and move it around on the grill during cooking.
Marinades and Rubs: Flavour-Enhancers or Tenderizers?
- Rubs are designed to enhance the natural flavour of meat and fish, not to tenderize them.
- Marinades always include an acidic ingredient (lemon juice, wine, vinegar) and are designed to tenderize tougher cuts of meat.
- Whether you use a rub or a marinade, keep food in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- If you want to baste food with the marinade or rub during cooking, set some aside for this purpose. Do not use any in which food has been standing
Choosing Your Cuts
- Tender cuts do not need to be tenderized in a marinade but are ready for barbecuing plain or with herbs and spices or a rub for added flavour.
- Less expensive, tougher cuts, tenderized in marinade, are just as delicious if properly prepared.
- Some cuts have to be parboiled in water or court bouillon before being barbecued.
Cooking and Handling Meat
- For tender, juicy meat, never salt before or during cooking.
- Cook thin slices of meat over medium heat to avoid charring.
- Always barbecue large pieces of meat using indirect heat. Do not place meat directly over the fire. With a gas barbecue, light only one burner, place meat over the unlit burner and close the lid. With a charcoal barbecue, push hot coals to the sides, place food in the centre of the grill away from the fire and close the lid.
- Check doneness of meats. Always use a meat thermometer for large pieces of meat.
- Do not prick meat or it will lose its natural juices and flavour. Handle the meat with tongs
Be Careful with Ground Meat!
- As with all foods, proper handling and cooking are essential to prevent any risk of food poisoning.
- To avoid food poisoning, ground meat must be thoroughly cooked until the juices run clear and the meat shows no pink.
- Never eat raw ground meat
Cooking and Handling Fish and Seafood
- For easier fish barbecues, get a hinged grilling basket for fish.
- Cook fish with the skin on as it helps keep the flesh tender and flavourful.
- Be careful not to marinate fish longer than 30 minutes or the acid in the marinade will begin to cook the fish.
- Handle fish gently and as little as possible during and after cooking and it will keep its shape better.
- For flavourful fish, avoid overcooking. A longer cooking time will not make fish more tender, but will instead dry it out, leaving it tough and tasteless. Cooking time should be based on the thickness of the fish, not its weight. Fatty fish like salmon should be cooked at high heat about 10 minutes per inch of thickness or 5 to 6 minutes per centimetre. Lean fish like sole should be cooked at high heat about 6 minutes per inch of thickness 3 to 4 minutes per centimetre
Try one of these delicious recipes
STAY CONNECTED
Download the My Metro app.
Grocery list, flyer, coupons and points all at your fingertips!
Follow us
for more inspiration, recipes and exclusive offers.
