cooking

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Jake, as you've requested.



Roasted Salmon with Potato Salad

The original method actually requires you to roast your salmon in an oven.

Heh. And here I thought the microwave was a glorified way to heat a cup of water.

We have a microwave, I use it to heat water and to heat up canned (jared actually) foods and leftovers. I have never actually cooked anything in it.

The purpose of Marinating is usually two fold, one is to season (flavor) the meat, the other is to tenderize the meat. Any marinade that has an acid in it (vinegar, lemon juice, tomato juice, many various fruit juices, etc) is for the purpose of tenderizing - which is a tasty way of saying 'breaking down the cellular matter'.

'Soaking' a bit of meat at room temperature in a herb and spice (no acids added) coating or bath allows the meat to age. Aging meat is basically allowing the meat to rot a tad. Again its to allow the cells to break down a bit, making the meat a bit more tender.

Time is the only real ingredient that tenderizes, there is no way to speed up the process of marinading.

The difference in taste will be subtle for most people. However for others there is a distinct taste difference between a bit of fresh meat covered in herbs and spices and one that has been allowed to sit for several hours to a day stewing in its own juices.