Why Choose Venison

The meat of any game animal can be called venison however when most people say venison they are talking about deer meat. If  you are trying to think of something nice to make for the holidays then you should consider cooking a haunch of venison or  making a venison casserole. You can find a lot of recipes to help you online. The first step on cooking this dish is to find  a recipe you understand. This is not very difficult to do thanks to the internet. You can get hundreds and thousands of such  recipes on the internet. You can even download a video as this will allow you to see what the dish should look like every  step of the way.

Once you have found a recipe you like you can start assembling the ingredients. The most important ingredient will be the  venison itself. If you are making a venison casserole then check if there are any particular parts of the deer that you need  for the casserole and what size the pieces need to be chopped into. If you are making a haunch of venison then make sure you  find a good butcher to give you the cut so that you get a nice juicy and succulent haunch.

Make sure you have all the ingredients necessary to season the meat. Basil, rosemary and thyme are good options for making a  venison casserole or a haunch of venison. Once you have all the ingredients you can start cooking. Make sure you make and try  the dish once before the big day so that you can make sure you have everything you need and that the dish will actually be  tasty. You should also think about how you are going to serve the meat. Presentation is important and you should make sure  you present your food properly so that people will be tempted to eat it.

Venison is similar to beef in taste. The meat is however leaner and has a finer texture. More and more people are switching  to venison from beef because it has less fat and cholesterol. This meat is healthier for you than beef. You can find out more  about venison on the internet. You can get sausages and jerky made from venison as well. For this holiday season make a  change switch to venison from beef. You will be happier and healthier with this tastier meat.

How To Properly Cook Lamb

If you are cooking lamb shanks, lamb steaks or a rack of lamb then you  need to be careful about how you cook the meat so  that it does not get dry and is not left undercooked. Lamb has a lot of natural flavor and how you cook it will influence how  it will eventually taste on the plate. Lamb meat is very tender and you should cook it well so that you can get the full  flavor of the delicious meat.

There are different parts of the lamb that you can cook. The tenderest meat is found on the rack. This is why on special  occasion a lot of people choose to cook a rack of lamb. Lamb steaks and lamb shanks are also very delicious. You should first  decide what meat you want to cook. If you have a good recipe for a rack of lamb then you can cook that, if you have more  experience with lamb steaks then you should stick to them. You can go to the butcher and tell him what meat you want. The  butcher will cut and clean the lamb for you.

You should cook lamb in dry heat. This way you will not have to add external juices to make the meat soft. The natural juices  of the meat will keep the lamb moist. You can use an oven to cook your rack of lamb. If cooked properly then the meat will be  moist and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Make sure that you visit a butcher who will give you quality meat and will not  try to fleece you. Once you have your meat you are ready to start cooking.

The natural flavor of lamb is quite exquisite. When you are seasoning the meat you should choose the herbs and spices with  care. You want to bring out the flavor of them eat and not drown it out with the taste of the herbs. Rosemary, thyme and  basil are good choices for seasoning. You should mix the herbs together and then rub the mixture into the meat. This way the  meat will drink the flavor and will be very tasty. The salting of the meat should be the last step. You should add the salt  just before cooking the meat. Salt tends to pull out moisture from the meat. This is why you should add it in the end so that  the meat does not get too dry.

Going Back To Childhood Sweets

Remember those sweets and candies we used to have as kids. The delight of sneaking a sweet in the middle of the day or  especially when you were not allowed any is altogether different. Those memories of waiting and waiting for a sweet, to be on  good behaviour for that sweet, sticky treat, to wait for that favorite relative who would spoil you silly with a packet of  sweets at every visit. Fond memories that now will no longer take place again.

Especially as candy now is very different from  the times we used to have. Now the candy looks very tiny and not as large sized as in our time. Also with the amount of junk  food infiltrating our lives, sweets seem to be disappearing. Not all though, there are a few shops that have retained making  sweets. The trend is novelty and many of the sweet shops are going back to stocking on the old sweets that we would have in  our childhood.

One of the first things to clear up though are the terms. In America confectionary is called candy and in the united kingdom  sweets. They both are the same just called different names. Although there are different types of confectionary which have  different names. The shops that are specializing in sweets and candies also have websites and one can go through the webpage  and categories to select and order online which makes it even more convenient due to the hustle bustle of daily life.

These  shops have different categories of sweets like American sweets that we would have as kids like laffy taffy, baby ruth bar,  butterfingers, hershey’s kisses, fluff - marshmallow paste, airheads etcetera. They have old fashioned sweets known as retro  sweets; like crunchy candy, dip dap, fish n chips, flying saucers, jazzles milk chocolate, jazzles white, jelly sprogs, juocy  fruit chewing gum, large pear drops among others.

Another speciality of the U.K. are the boiled sweets also known as hard  sweets like lollipops, jawbreakers, gobstoppers, lemon drops, peppermint drops, candy canes, disks, rock candy, having  flavours like kopiko. Other sweets like fudge, taffy, caramel, liquorice, jelly candies. All the retro sweets are packed just  like in the old times. They are displayed in the old screw on fat glass jars filled to the brim with our favorite candy. One  can buy them loose and get the sweets packed up in wrapping and brown paper bags just like in the old days.

Game For A Gamey Meat

Venison is the name for any type of meat that is hunted. Its roots lie in the latin word venor which means to hunt or to  pursue. Initially venison was used for any hunted animal belonging to the family of deer, wild pigs or boars , hares,  particular types of goats and ibex like elk, red deer, moose, roe deer, reindeer, fallow deer, caribou, brown hare, blue  hare, artic hare, pronghorn. Today the term is exclusively used for species of deer including antelope.

This meat is eaten in  various forms; such as steaks, sausages, roasts, jerky, tournedos, minced meat etcetera. Its flavour is similar to beef but  is much richer and the taste described is gamey meaning not bland. Since this meat comes from wild animals, the flavour of  the meat is largely dependent on what the game lived on and the quality of life it had. This meat has picked up in recent  years as it considered as much healthier than beef for its low content in fat, calories and cholesterol. It is high in  moisture but is still quite tough just like beef.

A haunch of venison is usually available in Europe during the hunting  season. Many Jews have this meat once its prepared the kosher way. Due to the rise in demand for this meat, deer farms have  been cultivated and it has become a delicacy just like Ostrich meat. This meat at one time was considered as the rural  people’s meat especially in places like the mid south of U.S, Mississippi Valley, the Midwest. The meat is available in the  supermarkets of the U.S. as jerky. When preparing it as hamburgers, additional fat or oil needs to be added as the meat is  very lean to get a texture like the hamburger.

Kosher version of this meat is not available in the U.K. As mentioned venison  is available widely in Europe during the months of October to December. One needs a license for deer hunting and can hunt  only in areas deemed suitable for game hunting. Heavy fines are thrust upon violators and there is poaching of meat happening  due to the rise in demand. Most of the venison in the world that is available in super markets comes form New Zealand. Due to  the difficulty on encounters in buying the meat, today orders can be placed online and delivered to your house.

Different Ways Lamb Is Eaten

A domesticated sheep when served in food is called as lamb or mutton. Lamb refers to young sheep that are not more than a  year; Mutton refers to adult sheep, though in some parts of Asia goat meat is also referred to as mutton irrespective of the  age of the goat. The younger the animal, the more tender is the meat, the older the animal the more tough is the meat,  although some recipes have ingredients that tenderize the meat when cooking.

Tough meat is usually eaten in most of Europe  and North America. Tenderized meat is eaten in parts of Asia. Some parts of Europe like Spain, Greece and Turkey eat tender  lamb or kid meat which is a typical flavour enjoyed there. Different parts of the lamb are eaten differently; it is not just the recipes pertaining to every region or area. The most  common types of lamb pieces available are: lamb shanks, rack of lamb and lamb steaks.

Lamb shank refers to that piece of lamb that is the leg bone under the knee. It is also referred to as the shin; it resembles  the drumstick in appearance sometimes. Rack of lamb refers to the spine of the lamb cut with the sixteen ribs also known as chops. It is sold in a pair of eight and  called as single, the double means all sixteen of it. When sold single the lamb is cut in the middle of the spine. Three  inches of bone from beyond the meat is exposed and sold. This part of the lamb is used for roasts and is a big favorite of  many people.

Lamb steak is the piece of meat cut near the shoulder also called chops. This meat can be cooked in various ways such as  grilling, pan broiling, sautéing, frying, breading, baking. In parts of Asia the meat is chopped up either with bone or without and cooked with spices. Some are cooked with rice and  served like the Mutton biryani. Another specialty found in Asia is Kheema which is grounded mutton, which has been chopped up  and thus tenderized. This meat is prepared with a lot of spices and usually eaten with pav – a type of bread.