Tip Tuesday

Each Tuesday, I will feature a tip or two on cooking. This week, we have two basic tips that are very important about searing meat.  If you master searing meat properly, your steaks, pork chops and chicken breast will have a deeper flavor and a delightful crunchiness.

•  When heating oil in a pan to sear meat or fry anything, make sure to check to see if the oil is hot enough before adding anything to the pan. Check one of two ways:
• Place the top of a wooden cooking tool into the oil; if you see bubbles, you're good to go.
• Drip a very small drop of water into the oil. Again, if you see bubbles, you're good to go! Just make sure not to add more then a drop, or else oil will splash all over
• Before adding meat to a pan, dry both sides with a paper towel. For the longest time, I couldn't understand why my meat was not getting a good sear. It was because I wouldn't dry the meat!

 If you're oil isn't hot, and your meat isn't dry, then you'll be missing out on that yummy caramelized crust. Remember that a seared piece of meat will require further cooking because it will still be raw in the middle.