Meat is one of the first foods in the human diet, and recent anthropological studies report that people have been eating meat for more than seven ten thousand years.
At the dawn of civilization, people did not care about what to cook from meat - the very fact of its presence was important.
Gradually, as archaeological excavations testify, mankind realized that boiled meat, in Scythian style, in a funnel dug right in the ground, filled with water and hot stones, or a fried carcass of a primitive animal on stones thrown by the elements directly from the mouth of the volcano, tastes better and these distant forefathers, the discoverers, modern cooking owes the appearance of hot meat dishes.
Only the last two or three thousand years, having begun the development of spices and spices, with the birth of cooking as a profession and science in all corners of the world, people began to pay great attention not only to the taste of meat dishes, their useful properties, but also to refined ways of serving.
Indeed, often a feast is a kind of festive surroundings for a family celebration or a friendly party, or other significant events, during which there is still an ancient custom to share the best food as a sign of special respect for guests.
For such cases, the article contains the most exquisite recipes of meat dishes.
Delicious dishes and meat - basic technological principles
The most common group of dishes in world cooking are dishes with meat. This assortment of dishes does not lend itself even to rough estimates.
Like any food, meat requires pre-treatment before cooking. The meat is selected according to the requirements of the recipe: in appearance, fat content, the ratio of pulp and bone, and also taking into account the heterogeneous structure of the protein fibers of the meat carcass.
It is washed, cleaned from films, tendons. For poultry or game meat, pre-treatment begins with gumming, gutting. If necessary, the flesh is separated from the bones, cut or chopped (chopped). The preliminary stage also includes pickling, beating, breading.
All meat dishes have similar methods of heat and mechanical processing, and the differences at these stages of preparation consists only in the duration of cooking, poaching, stewing, frying or baking, which also depends on the type of meat and the required consistency of the finished dish.
Duration of heat treatment it is directly connected not only with the type of meat (pork, beef, lamb, poultry, game and so on), but also with its preliminary preparation - cutting: small pieces are cooked much faster than a whole, large piece of meat; minced meat requires an even shorter cooking time.
When pickling the protein structure changes, which will certainly affect the further preparation and taste of the prepared meat dish. Therefore, this process relates to chemical treatment. Partially, the structure of meat protein changes under the influence of spices and herbs.
During the preparation of meat, one must also remember the properties of salt, not only that it gives the taste to dishes, but also about its ability to absorb moisture. Therefore, before you salt the meat before or during the cooking process, it is important to remember that salt will dry the dish. Add salt at the very final stage of cooking or directly when serving the dish, if you want to maintain its juiciness. When stewing, it is better to add salt to the sauce or broth, which, as a rule, is added to the meat after preliminary frying.
Meat is considered to be the main component of all dishes, but its taste most often depends on the ingredients accompanying it, sauces and side dishes. And it is precisely the variety of products used in world culinary as a complement to meat that is a source of inexhaustible creative imagination not only for professionals, but also for home cooks.
Meat is part of appetizers, salads, first and second courses. Such widespread use of meat and meat products in cooking speaks only about the importance of this product in the human diet, as the main source of protein and energy. Health and a beautiful figure depend on the correctness of its combination with vegetables, fruits and cereals. Do not exclude meat from the diet - it is better to approach the issues of its preparation and consumption.
What to cook from meat? The answer to this question can be so voluminous that it will take thousands of pages of a prescription guide, depending on the season, personal preferences, national traditions of one or another cuisine of the world, recommendations of nutritionists. Let us dwell on several dishes that will decorate any holiday table and satisfy the most refined tastes.
Recipe 1. Hot meat dishes: beef in the oven
Ingredients:
Beef tenderloin 1.5 kg
Carrot 300 g
Honey
Garlic
Smoked bacon (or loin) 400 g
Mixture of peppers
Juniper (berries)
Mustard
Red wine (or wine vinegar) 100 ml
Cooking:
Wash the tenderloin, clean from the film, dry with a napkin. Pieces of peeled garlic, cut into large pieces or just cut in half. Peeling and washing the carrots, cut into cubes; also cut smoked bacon or loin. Stuff the meat with the prepared ingredients, making deep cuts with a knife inside the tenderloin. Distribute the filling evenly inside the piece, alternating it so that the meat in the section has an attractive appearance and a uniform taste. Grate the stuffed meat with spices on top, put in a sealed bag along with juniper berries and pour the wine. Tie tightly and place in the refrigerator overnight. Before baking in the oven, remove the meat, dry it again and rub it with a mixture of honey and mustard. Lay in a mold and cover with foil. Bake for 70-80 minutes at a temperature of 170º 10 and another 10 minutes at 200º без, but without foil, to form a crust. After turning off the oven, take out the meat for about 20 minutes. Serving, cut into plates and place on a dish with vegetables.
Recipe 2. Hot meat dishes: rack of lamb "Mesalliance" on a "pillow" of ratatouille
There are dishes "under a fur coat", and there are "on a pillow". An unusual combination of culinary delights and simple, as is commonly believed, peasant food. If you are lucky to find lamb with ribs, then the question of what to cook from meat is resolved: be sure to cook this dish.
Ingredients:
Rib lamb meat 800 g
For marinade:
Leek 250 g
Red Fortified Wine 300 ml
Lemon juice 50 ml
Ground black pepper 20 g
Cardamom 10 g
Clove 5 g
Sugar 150 g
Garlic 70 g
For ratatouille:
150 g eggplant and zucchini
Potato 250 g
Tomatoes (firm, fleshy) 350 g
Salt
Cilantro
Parsley
Cooking Oil
Rack sauce:
Sour cream
Lemon juice
Salt
Garlic
Mixture of peppers
Chopped dill
Cooking:
Prepare the meat by removing the film. Make transverse cuts between the ribs so that the piece can be rolled into a ring, or cut into portions in the form of natural cutlets on the bone.
Add lemon juice, sugar, cloves, ground pepper and cardamom to the wine. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Put chopped onions and garlic, 2-3 bay leaves and meat in a plastic bag. Tie tightly and shake the bag properly so that all the meat is covered with marinade. It is advisable that the bag contains as little air as possible. Soak the lamb in the marinade for 3-4 hours.
Cut peeled potatoes into long and thin cubes, eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes - rings. Fry vegetables separately in a cast iron skillet. Salt after frying.
Fry the meat separately, adding pickled onions to the pan.
Grease the form, lay the vegetables nicely, and on top - the meat, rolled up in a ring. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and cilantro. Bake in the oven at 200ºϹ for ten minutes. Serve in shape. Serve the prepared sauce in the gravy boat separately.
This dish can be prepared on the barbecue grill.
Recipe 3. What to cook from meat: veal roll with cheese and Salami
Ingredients:
Veal (tenderloin) 1.8 kg
Salami 400 g
Hard cheese, yellow 250 g
Brined cheese, soft (fat content - at least 25%) 300 g
Parsley 120 g
Orange juice (and zest) 300 ml
Dill 80 g
Salt and ground pepper mixture
Sesame 50 g
Mustard with honey
Garnish:
New potatoes 900 g
Garlic 30 g
Chopped greens 50 g
Cream, oily
Cooking:
Cut the prepared meat to make a rectangle. Lay it on the board and beat it off. Grate with spices, pour over citrus juice and cover with a film so that the juice and spices soak it well. Meanwhile, cut into thin slices the sausage and cheese that is peeled from the film. Wash and dry the greens, tear off the leaves from the stems. First, put slices of hard cheese on the meat layer, then sausage, parsley leaves, soft creamy or brine cheese (unsalted) and dill. Roll the meat into a roll, bandaged with a thick thread, pinch the edges with wooden skewers or toothpicks so that when baking the roll, it retains its shape. Send to the oven, preheated to 200ºϹ for an hour and a half. Remove and, after greasing with a mixture of honey, mustard and sesame seeds, return to the oven again for ten minutes.
Washed and peeled young potatoes, no larger than a chicken egg, put in a separate form, sprinkle with chopped herbs and chopped garlic with salt and spices, pour cream and cover it all with foil. Bake until the potatoes are soft, and then remove the foil and brown.
Recipe 4. What to cook from meat: beef tongue with chestnuts and rambutan
Ingredients:
Beef tongue, boiled 1.2 kg
Cream 30% 150 ml
Ghee 50 g
Cognac 100 ml
Lemon Juice 75 ml
Olive oil 40 ml
Grated horseradish 20 g
Mustard 40 g
Parsley, chopped
Salt
Ground spices
Rambutan 5 pcs.
Chestnuts 300 g
Cooking:
Peel the boiled tongue from the shell and cut it into plates, across the fibers. Sauté by combining melted butter with olive. Pour cognac into the pan and wait until the fire goes out. Combine horseradish, mustard, lemon juice with salt, spices and chopped herbs, pour warm cream. Season the tongue with the prepared mixture and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Transfer slices to a dish.
Boil the water by adding salt and citric acid, boil the chestnuts in it, and then stew them in the sauce left after cooking the tongue.
Peel the rambutan on one side by making a transverse incision. Put with chestnuts on a tongue dish. Garnish with greens.
Recipe 5. Quail deep-fried with berries and wine sauce
Ingredients:
3 quail carcasses
Refined oil (for deep fat) 0.5 L
Tarragon
Salt
Thyme
Oregano
Mixture of peppers
Instant coffee 2 g
For marinade:
Sugar
Wine, red dessert 200 ml
A mixture of wild berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
For garnish:
Potato 400 g
Wheat flour (premium) 60 g
Eggs, chicken 2 pcs.
Butter, 50 g
Cream, drinking 100 ml
Cooking:
Divide the prepared quail carcasses along, in half. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and rub the bird with it. Hold the meat for half an hour in a sealed container in the refrigerator, and then deep-fry until crispy golden brown.
Prepare the sauce from wine, sugar and frozen or fresh berries. Pour sugar into the wine, add the berries and boil the wine-berry mixture until thickened.
Boil potatoes and mash with butter, warmed cream, beaten eggs, and flour. On the work surface, sprinkled with flour, form 3 potato cakes, roll them in flour and fry. Put the cakes on the dish. Put one quail on top of one carcass and fill with the prepared sauce. Paint with fresh chicory or mint leaves.
Delicious Meat Dishes - Tips and Tricks
If you have to marinate the meat for the festive dish, do it in the evening, on the eve of the feast: it will be better saturated with marinade and will be much more aromatic, and there will be more time that is always a little before the guests arrive.
Repeated freezing of meat is not allowed.
In order to correctly calculate the required yield of a serving, one must take into account that boiled meat is reduced in volume by 30-40%, and fried meat - up to 60%.
When working with meat, do not forget about special hygiene. After each touch of raw meat, it will not be amiss to wash your hands.
