Chicken is a versatile protein. I learned that as a kid as I watched and helped my mother prepare meals for the family. I often wondered why we ate chicken multiple times a week. They were affordable and could be used in thousands of recipes for variety. Kind of like the blank canvas of proteins, chicken is the starting point for many different flavors and cooking methods.

Where a steer or a hog can provide many meals, chickens are small, and a family can devour one in a single meal. When considering the life of a farm animal, that of a chicken seems inconsequential. And it is. Chickens are usually slaughtered at twelve weeks or less. The older hens must be braised or stewed because the meat is tougher if the chicken is allowed to age. (Labensky, 2019)

This rapid turnaround of chickens from hatching to the dinner table changed my perspective on the use of poultry. I do not need to worry about depleting the chicken population by serving a lot of chicken. There will be more chickens. The entire flock is replenished in just a few weeks.

I have long felt that chicken was boring, and I’d almost always choose beef or pork over poultry. From the learning modules and the labs in the kitchen, I have realized that chicken does not have to be boring. With all the cooking methods suitable to poultry, my repertoire of possible recipes has expanded.

I found the fabrication of chicken very satisfying, and learning from both the textbook images and from the labs all the different ways of structuring the pieces has been valuable. I am happy to add the airline breast to my skillset along with the boneless leg quarter.

I have also become less worried about leaving the skin on when cooking chicken. Learning about how the skin protects the moisture of the meat and carries the flavors changes the way I think about chicken skin.

From fabricating the bird, to how to flavor the meat, to which cooking method to use, a whole new world of poultry is waiting to be explored.

References

Labensky, S. R., Hause, A. M., & Martel, P. A. (2019) On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals. Pearson. 414-47.

A side of beef is broken down into eight primal cuts, each coming from a different area of the animal. These primal cuts are fabricated into sub-primal cuts, or the portions used in recipes, such as the rib eye steak that comes from the primal beef rib.

The decision of how to cook a piece of meat depends on which area of the animal it comes from. For example, steaks from the short loin of a steer are inherently tender and can be cooked quickly with high heat. The bottom round, while flavorful, is from the hind leg of the animal so the muscle fibers require low heat for a long cooking time to make them tender.

The determining factor in tenderness is how much the animal uses the muscle groups. Steers are walking around most of the time, so the meat from the legs, the round and the brisket and shank, get a lot of exercise and require cooking methods that will tenderize.

In addition to cooking methods, the tenderness of the meat can also be encouraged by reducing the presence of elastin, a connective tissue that does not break down with cooking. Elastin can be trimmed away before cooking, or the meat can be pounded, cubed or jaquarded. The meat can also be thinly sliced across the grain of the muscle tissue. This will cut through connective tissue and reduce chewing effort.

The principles of butchery carry across the four types of meat, beef, veal, lamb, and pork. All these animals are divided into primal portions and sub-primal. All cooking methods must consider where on the animal the meat came from.

The main takeaway from the textbook reading and the lab is that there is benefit in breaking down a primal cut oneself. By following the natural formation of muscle groups and working with the structure of the meat, the primal cut can be divided and trimmed as it suits one’s purpose. The demonstration of creating steaks, roasts, stew meat, as well as portions for grinding and rendering into tallow was valuable to see how little of the animal gets discarded and how money can be saved by doing it oneself.

References

Labensky, S. R., Hause, A. M., & Martel, P. A. (2019) On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals. Pearson. 326-70.

Veal is a mild flavored meat that comes from a young male calf under nine months old. It is characterized by tender, delicate flesh ranging from pink from animals eight to sixteens weeks to a deeper red if the animals are allowed to age from five to nine months. The deeper red color sets in as the calves transition to solid food. (Labensky. 2019)

Veal primal cuts contain both sides of the body as one piece instead of being divided bilaterally. The foresaddle refers to primal cuts from the forward section and contains the shoulder, foreshank and breast, and the rib. As with other meats, the cuts coming from the more active muscle groups can be tougher and require suitable cooking methods such as braising or stewing. Cut of meat from the rib are tender and are good for grilling, roasting, or braising.

The hindsaddle is the loin and the leg. The loin is very tender meat and is good for dry-heat cooking, and the leg is versatile containing both the scallop portions as well as the hindshank used in Osso Buco.

Because muscle activity results in tougher meats, there is a long-standing tradition to restrict the movement of calves and feed them a milk-based diet in order to keep their meat softer and more tender. The alternative is to allow more space to move, or allow them to graze, but then the meat will be a deeper red and won’t be as soft.

As a protein, veal has a lower fat content than beef and its mild flavor pairs well with a variety of sauces, both classic and modern. (Labensky. 2019)

References

Labensky, S. R., Hause, A. M., & Martel, P. A. (2019) On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals. Pearson. 350-60.

I chopped the arms off a rabbit. Then I cut off its legs and separated its torso into chunks Who would do this?Maybe a hungry person? A very desperate, hungry person, because there wasn’t a great deal of meat on the poor thing, not like a steer that can provide a thousand meals. So, only a person for whom a few delicious morsels would make the difference between starvation and survival would butcher a rabbit. Except for me. In the name of education and expanding horizons, I fabricated, braised, and ate what once was a cute little rabbit.

It wasn’t difficult at all to remove the forelegs, There’s not even a true joint there. Almost as though they were intended to come away with a just a quick swipe of a boning knife under the shoulder blade. (Labensky. 2019) Removing the hindlegs were about the same as with a chicken, and the loin didn’t resist much when separated into portions. 

Rabbits are very lean and benefit from moist-heat cooking methods such as stewing or braising, though they can also be roasted, pan-fried, or made into casseroles or pates. Their meat is mild-flavored with a texture similar to chicken. (Labensky. 2019) 

Comparable to chickens, rabbits have a feed conversion ratio from 2.3 to 3.8 depending on their diets. Meaning, they yield a high amount of meat for the amount of feed they require. (Cheeke & Patton, 1981)

Rabbits also have a rapid growth rate similar to chickens and can achieve market weight as soon as eight weeks, though ten to twelve weeks is more common. They reproduce quickly with a gestation of between twenty-eight and thirty-two days with litters sizes between five and eight kits. A single buck and two does can produce as much as one hundred and twenty-five pounds of meat per year. (Bennet, n.d.)

Since rabbits are an efficient and prolific meat source to breed, and versatile to cook, it is no wonder they have been part of the human diet for thousands of years. It’s almost as if their purpose on the planet is to be food. So, it’s only natural and expected that I would cut one up, braise it in a flavorful sauce, and eat it. I only wonder why it has taken so long.

References

Labensky, S. R., Hause, A. M., & Martel, P. A. (2019) On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals. Pearson. 468-73.

Cheeke, P. R., & Patton, N. M. (1981). The rabbit as a meat-producing animal. Proceedings of the Reciprocal Meat Conference, 34, 131-133. 

https://meatscience.org/docs/default-source/publications-resources/rmc/1981/the-rabbit-as-a-meat-producing-animal.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Bennet, B. (n.d.). Rabbits for gardeners. National Gardening Association.

https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/252/Rabbits-for-Gardeners