Falling off the bone.

  It seems relevant to talk birds, even though the big bird-day of the year is about three weeks away. Turkey has a lower fat content than chicken and this is the main reason they can be especially dry but dry meat isn't the only issue facing you. Read on and I'll give you some things to think about that will help you at all times, not just at Christmas.

  If you eat flesh, having meat melt in your mouth is one of the great joys. The cause of this is quite simple so let me explain. Most of the meat you eat is muscle but there are other components in there. For example, there's the connective tissue that joins the muscles to the bones and the tissue that separates the muscles so they glide past each other.

  Conveniently, these melt, so cook the meat for long enough and they dissolve away. If you want an illustration of this, order a steak. If you've gone for a fillet steak that is cut from one muscle and has no other tissue so is very tender and a joy to eat, hence its silly price. Other steaks will generally have a bit of other tissue so expect a bit of chewing.

  As your steak gets cheaper, more tissue gets involved and generally gets more chewy until you end up with stuff that can only really be used in stews or minced as burgers or bolognese. Stewing is basically boiling and as it happens slowly at a low temperature, the chewy stuff has plenty of time to melt away. 

  This is great because this gets mixed with the other juices and adds to the richness of the stew. Lamb is great for this. I'll rarely order a lamb steak or roast as I spend so much time either dissecting it or chewing. Lamb stew, on the other hand, is divine and  very melty. Treat yourself with a trip to your butchers for some lamb neck fillet. Gently fry the meat until browned then chuck some veg in the pan along with a bottle of wine. Leave it for two or three hours on the lowest heat while you go out for a ride on your motorbike then serve up with a selection of veg and consider yourself lucky to be a meat eater.

Tomorrow, meat.

Kirk out

RevoltingFood.com