The right way to prepare meat and poultry

Successfully cooking meat and poultry involves proper preparation. Here's how to make the most of your protein-filled meals.

Take the time to marinate meat overnight to ensure it will be tender and moist. And always wash poultry thoroughly to guarantee that your meal will be healthy as well as tasty. Once you have decided what to cook, calculate how much meat you need, taking into account that it will shrink during the cooking process.

• With red meat, generally figure on about 200 grams (seven ounces) per person, or 300 grams (10 ounces) for a roast with the bone in.
• Depending on the size, one roaster chicken or duck will feed three to four people. One goose is usually enough for six hearty eaters; a rule of thumb is about 350 grams (12 ounces) per person. With turkey, count on about 500 grams (one pound) per person, which allows for leftovers the next day.

Marinades serve a dual purpose: to tenderize the meat and add a mouthwatering flavour. Most marinades contain some form of acid, like lemon juice, vinegar or wine, which break down muscle fibres in the meat. Another excellent tenderizer comes from the enzymes in ingredients like onions, ginger and papaya. Marinades have yet another function: you can use them later as gravy.

• For a simple marinade, stir together 75 millilitres (five tablespoons) each of oil and vinegar, and a pinch each of pepper and sugar. Place your meat in a deep container or sturdy freezer bag, then drench it with marinade. Let sit in the refrigerator overnight, turning occasionally.
• Use salt sparingly in a marinade to avoid drawing the moisture out of the meat.
• Boost flavour by adding extra ingredients like honey, mustard, wine, lemon, onion, spices, herbs and fruits such as apples and oranges.
• Marinate veal and organ meats for a maximum of two hours, and other types of meat for three to four hours — even overnight. Game can steep in a marinade for one to three days.
•  Don't use metal containers or bowls for marinating as they react chemically with the acids in the marinade and may impart an unpleasant (and perhaps unhealthy) flavour to the meat.

Have a sharp knife and good poultry shears on hand for cutting up fowl.

• Lay the bird on its back, cut through the skin between the drumsticks or wings and breast with the knife, then use poultry shears to snip off the bones at the joint.
• Use your knife to carefully separate the breast meat on both sides of the breastbone.
• Marinate white meat in white wine and herbs; and dark meat in red wine.
• Give chicken a Mediterranean flavour by rubbing olive oil, lemon, garlic and herbs on and under the skin.
• Good stuffings for fowl use savoury ingredients such as sausage meat and chestnuts, as well as apples, pears and even dried fruits.
• Salt and pepper the abdominal cavity before you start stuffing.
• With large fowl like turkeys, also stuff the head end to make sure that dressing is well-distributed, then pull the skin across the opening to seal it in.

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