Help in the Kitchen

Need to know the best way to keep your turkeyshake or mush together to combine. Then let sit in the
moist? Want to know about marinades and rubs?fridge for the required amount of time.
Here are a few great cooking tips taken from the4. Never re-use marinades. If you wish to make a
Good Cooking Central website that you may benefitsauce or gravy from the marinade the meat has been
from:in, boil the marinade for at least two minutes.
• TURKEY TIP:5. Brush the extra marinade onto the meat before
For a moist and succulent Thanksgiving turkey, whengrilling for extra flavour. Use it like a barbeque sauce,
oven-roasting place the turkey upside down in yourbut be sure to let it cook through
roasting pan. All the juices will run into the turkey• CLEANING MUSSELS:
breasts making them very moist and tender. AboutMost mussels that have been purchased from a
half-way through the cooking time, turn the turkeysupermarket have been purged of sand, but if you
back over to brown the top.have dug the mussels yourself here is how to clean
Purchase one pound of turkey per person to bethem: The best way is to soak them in a bucket of
served. This allows for the holiday meal plus a little leftsea water. (Do not use fresh water as this will kill the
over for next day turkey left-overs.mussels.) If you do not have access to sea water, use
• STEAK IN THE OVEN:1 cup of salt per 3 quarts of water, with a handful of
To get more of that B-B-Q taste when you need tocornmeal added to the water. The cornmeal will clean
use your oven broiler to cook steaks, pre-heat thethe mussels stomach, purging them of sand. Let the
oven until it is really hot. This sears the outside of themussels soak in the refrigerator overnight or for at
meat and keeps the juices in. Use tongs or a spatulaleast several hours, changing the water at least once.
to turn the steaks instead of a fork to prevent juicesClean the shells with a stiff kitchen brush under cool
from leaking out.running water and remove the beard before using. If
• USE RUBS OR MARINADES TO GRILLEDyou are cooking mussels and the shells do not open,
FOODS TO ADD FLAVOUR.discard immediately and DO NOT USE.
1. Rubs are dry spice blends and usually include both• PREPARING SHRIMP:
salt and sugar. They are rubbed directly on and intoIf you are using frozen shrimp, refresh the shrimp by
the meat before cooking. They add a mild flavour, butsoaking them in salted water (1-2 TBSP. of salt to 1
if you add the rub a day or so in advance the flavourquart of water). Keep shrimp in ice water to keep
of the spices will penetrate more into the meat.them fresh while preparing them. Pat the shrimp with a
2. Marinades are liquid and can be made from apaper towel to dry before cooking. Leaving the shell on
variety of ingredients, but most importantly includewhile boiling or steaming shrimp helps to preserve the
something acidic (like lemon or lime juice, vinegar,juices and natural flavours. You can either remove or
yoghurt or fruit like papayas, pineapple or kiwis). Thisleave the digestive tract on the shrimp as a matter of
adds enzymes to the meat which tenderize it. Usepersonal preference. There is seldom a flavour
caution in the amount of time you marinade meat todifference unless the vein is large and contains a high
avoid the meat becoming "mushy". A general rule is,volume or grit and digested material.
for seafood as little as 15 minutes, 4-6 hours for thinIf you would like to read more kitchen tips, and get
cuts of meat and up to 12 hours for larger cuts.great recipes too, visit the Good Cooking Central
3. Use a re-sealable plastic bag to marinate meats.website.
Add the marinade and meat into the bag, seal, and