How to choose good meat

On the market

• The first thing you should pay attention to is the color of the meat. It should be deep red. The color may vary: fresh beef is just red, lamb is a little darker, pork is pink, veal is deep pink.
  Take a closer look at the color of fat and bones. Some unscrupulous sellers refresh stale meat by soaking it in a solution of potassium permanganate. In this case, the fat will be pinkish, and the bones will be yellow. Very yellow fat is a sign of an old animal. This meat will be tough and will take much longer to cook. Good young beef has white fat and crumbles, and fresh pork has white-pink elastic layers of fat.
• Do not be afraid to taste the meat with your finger: it should spring back when pressed.
• Another important nuance is the smell. If you even feel a subtle unpleasant scent, go to another seller. But there is a subtlety here: for example, the meat of non-castrated pigs can look and smell just perfect when raw, and when frying will give a terrible stench. Ask the butcher to cut a small piece and light it with a lighter. If it smells like barbecue, you can take it.

In the shop

• In the store, the situation is different: in most cases, meat is now sold in vacuum packaging. The main thing is that it is not swollen.
  The piece of meat must be solid and of the correct thickness. For example, for ribeye, it is 2.5-3 centimeters.
• After unpacking, the meat must be allowed to breathe for 15-20 minutes, and it is better to wrap it in parchment and leave it overnight: in the morning you will see a significant color difference.
• But it is better not to buy ready-made meat in marinades – not the freshest pieces are most often used there.

Cooking

• The steaks are best grilled on an open grill, but a grill pan will work at home.
• Take the meat out of the refrigerator one hour before cooking and let it sit at room temperature.
• For Medium roasting, first crust on both sides and then roast the meat for another 2-3 minutes on each side. You can turn it over every minute – so the juices are better distributed inside.
  If cooking in a skillet, add fresh thyme, rosemary, and garlic during frying, and at the very end add a lump of butter (3 x 3 cm).
• Transfer the meat to a baking sheet with a wire rack and let it rest for 4-5 minutes. It is now that the meat can be salted.
• Serve the steak with a light green salad or mint avocado, seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil.