How do I cook meat so it's tender?

[CER]

I've been a veggie since I was 10 and have no idea how to cook meat properly. My mum told me to cook it on a low heat for a long time but everything I cook still seems to be like rubber. Poor ds takes one piece, chews it for about 5 minutes and then won't touch any more.

If anyone has any recipies that work for them I'd be really grateful. Ds has lots of allergies including tomatoes but I tend to use pureed red peppers instead so could still use most recipies with tomatoes in.

Thanks in advance.

Hi CER, marinating tenderises meat. It doesn't have to take long to make up the marinade, it's just a question of putting the meat in the marinade for a while (as long as you've got but even an hour will make a difference) before you want to cook it. Olive oil, lemon juice and garlic make a good easy marinade for chicken breasts or you could try honey, garlic, olive oil and soy sauce for red meat or fresh tuna. Both without the garlic, obviously, if you don't like it. Also, if you're roasting a chicken, cook it breast side down for the first half hour then turn it over and baste often.

If you are roasting meat or chicken, once it's done, take it out of the oven, cover it with tin foil and put it in a warm place to rest for about half an hour before you carve it. This really does make a difference to the tenderness of the meat, and it also works if you are grilling or frying, but obviously the resting time would be less for a smaller piece of meat or poultry.

If you use a slow cooker, meat is so tender it tends to fall apart. Obviously you don't get the roast flavour, but stews and casseroles etc work really well.

hi CER - are you just cooking meat for ds rather than the whole family? I'm in a similar position as dh is veggie, and although I eat meat I've never had much practice cooking it, and would certainly be daunted by the prospect of a roast!
How old is your ds? Meat is quite chewy and if he's fairly young it may just be that he is still finding it hard going.
I find I mostly cook mince (you can get most things minced - lamb, pork, beef) but even that needed pureeing in the early days. I just fry an onion, add the mince for a short while until the surface is browned, then add water/stock/veggies/herbs as I fancy and simmer for a while until done. Chicken I did similarly but using chunks of breast meat - it is a bit tricky to keep it moist but marinading would help.
Now ds is older (16m) I make chicken or meat balls - one thing I've found Annabel Karmel useful for! - she adds grated apple which helps makes them moist, and they are less tough and chewy than straight chunks of meat. Oh, and if you can bear the thought, liver is quite soft and makes a good rough puree. HTH

Delia...recommends...cooking...poultry...at...high...heat...first...to...crisp...it..up...and...then...at...a...much...lower...temp.

Steak...give ...it...a...good....bash...with...a...rolling..pin .or...some...such.

with...beef....and...lamb....a...long...slow...lowest...temp...you...can...bear...works...well....stews...for...little...un's....work...really...well...with...lots...of...sweet...root...veg...mixed..in...cooked...for...a...long...time...then...pureed.

apologies...for..the,,,the...dots...and...commas.

It...is...definitely.. a contentious...issue...but resting meat...is..a.... MUST,if it's a big lump!

I used to soak chicken breast in cow's milk overnight and then cook it up (roast,fry etc). Got the tip from Nigella Lawson who reckons it makes the meat very tender.

Also as Elliot says the Annabel Karmel recipe with the grated apple was a hit too !

CER: if you're vegetarian, why are you giving your DS meat?

For chicken and turkey breast, I coat them in flour and then cook them in olive oil on a medium heat. If you amke the meat thin enough it's cooked in a couple of minuets and still very tender

CER - might it be worth you picking up a children's recipe book with meat dishes in it. Something like Annabel Karmel's Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner has lots of appetising recipes in it (beware though, some take rather more preparation than others - worth freezing in quantity if you can to reduce effort!) - once you've cooked a few things direct from recipe you'll have a better idea of how long each meat takes to cook.

Thanks for all your replies. I definately feel inspired to go and do some cooking now!

Zebra, I give ds meat because he is very underweight. Fell from 91st centile at birth to 2nd centile. Don't get him weighed that much now but last time I did he was around the 9th centile. I can't fatten him up with dairy products because he's allergic to those. Even if he didn't have these problems I'd still give him meat though because I think being veggie is a personal decision and not something you should do because your parents want you to.

Elliot, ds is 18 months now and I'm cooking the meat for dh as well. Unfortunately as well as all his allergies and intolerances (including apple) he is damn fussy and won't touch mince or anything else that's "bitty" if you know what I mean. He wants something solid but obviously not too chewy. I'm glad that you and webmum say that you cook chicken in that way too as everytime I've tried that it's either been tender, but undercooked or too chewy. Last time dh made the suggestion that maybe you can't cook chicken that way but now I know it's just my cooking!

I love the idea of marinating, sounds nice and easy so will definately give this a try.

Thanks for all your help. I'm sure that ds and dh will be thanking you too when I put the next meat dish infront of them.

GeorginaA, have just been back to check my Annabel Karmel's Superfoods book. I abandoned it a while ago because all the recipies seemed to contain things that ds can't eat. Now I'm learning to be a bit more creative I'm sure I can work round that, so thanks for reminding me of that.

CER, I think it's beyond the call of duty cooking stuff that you can't eat - maybe dh should do some experimenting for you!!
But on the other hand it does mean you can make sensible quantities. What about slow cooked casseroles (I believe keeping the meat on the bone can help stop it drying out so much), or banging bits of meat with a mallet?
I still think meatballs with sauce might be worth a try even without apple.

btw I agree with your reasons for giving him meat - dh also never had a problem with it. In fact a lot of my friends are veggie and I think all of them let their kids eat meat, though they don't all cook it at home.

One trick is to buy a mallet and use it to tenderise the meat. For example, I do this one quite a bit - beat skinless boneless chicken breast between two plastic sheets (use a freezer bag) until uniform (thin) thickness. Cut into small strips/fillets, coat with flour, then beaten egg and then breadcrumbs and fry until golden on both sides - chicken fingers! Serve with fattening mayo on the side. Breadcrumbs absorb fat so also good for upping calorie count.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will definately be investing in a mallet, and those chicken fingers sound yummy even to a vegetarian.

I have felt like suggesting that dh cooks the meat when he is being critical of my efforts but that would mean that we probably wouldn't eat until about 10pm! Cooking meat properly has also become a bit of a personal challenge. I WILL become a decent cook!

Madie, I read your comment really quickly and thought you soaked your chicken in breast milk

Cer - I am definately no Delia or Nigella, but here goes. By the way, this is from having three years of a very fussy eater, who turns her nose up if anything required any degree of chewing:

Pork spare rib casseroled is very tender.

If you do a roast leg of lamb, chop leftovers up into small pieces and casserole slowly in gravy in the oven (with or without extra veggies)- it is really tender.

Turkey escalopes fried for about 4 minutes are easy to eat (very thin, so not much chewing required).

Stewing steak cooked slowly in a pan of stock or water for about 2hrs is also very tender - make into a stew or casserole with veggies and gravy.

Good luck, Oh, and I can vouch for Annabel Karmel's chicken balls, with or without the apple. Is your ds allergic to other fruit? Try other fruit purees mixed up with the chicken instead of grated apple.

Furball

Can't say as I've tried soaking it in breast milk!

Wonder if it would work though ......

lamb shanks are my current fave... Slow cooked in stock (with rosemary, garlic, onions redwine etc added depending on audience), for five hours at 150 degrees in a po with a lid - so tender it falls off the bone, and comes in it's own gravy! yummy!

old-fashioned pressure-cooker: saves time, saves mess, one-pot-meal, the meat goes utterly loverly tender and the pan doesn't boil over or boil dry and burn because i'm in the middle of nappies/feeding/fingerpainting/having a nervous breakdown.

I second that for pressure cookers, although I do find them a bit scary as I've seen one explode and miss my father's head by inches... We still ate the stew though, it was all still contained in the pot very hygienically.