MEAT SHEARS RECIPES

Steps:

• Bake (at 350 degrees) the chicken/turkey thighs and liver leaving ~50% of the thigh meat raw. (The time needed varies depending on how thick the thighs are but is usually ~15 minutes, give or take.) The liver will be cooked more than the meat which is fine.
• Remove from the oven and put in cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Remove some of the raw meat from the bone for chunking (for the version in the picture, I used a grinder, if you use meat shears or a knife to "chunk" the meat - cutting it into small pieces about the size of a dime, it will look like the second picture). The bigger, the better. Keep in mind that raw meat is more tenacious (and better for teeth) than cooked meat. Make sure that you include the skin and all the fat!
• If using eggs, make sure you cook the whites (the yolks can be cooked or left raw). Break the egg into small pieces so that it incorporates into the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix together the meat/liver/skin, egg whites, and fat drippings in one large bowl. Placed mixture in the refrigerator while the supplements are mixed up.
• Combine the water, egg yolks (if you only cooked the white versus the whole egg), vitamin E, vitamin B-complex, taurine, salt, bone meal, and fish oil with a whisk. Note that it is helpful to put the fish oil capsules in warm water in advance of mixing up the supplement slurry. It takes about 15 minutes for them to dissolve and I use my hand to make sure that all of the oil is squeezed out of each capsule. Some people poke the fish oil capsules with a pin. It is ok to leave the capsules in the water. Most cats readily eat them but if your cat is not fond of fish, then you may want to remove them.
• Pour the supplement slurry into the meat/skin/liver/egg mixture. Mix very well.
• Portion into containers and freeze. Leave at least 3/4" of head space to allow for expansion.
• Ideally, the food should only be in the refrigerator (in a completely thawed state) for 48 - 72 hours so keep that in mind when choosing your container size. The average cat eats about 3.5-6 ounces per day.

Steps:

• Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350° to 450°F).
• In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, swirling the saucepan occasionally. When the butter is melted, skim off the foam and discard. Stir in the remaining butter ingredients and heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Pour off ¼ cup of the butter to use for grilling the lobster. Cover the saucepan to keep the remaining butter warm for serving.
• Using kitchen shears, cut along the center of the top (rounded) side of one of the lobster shells, cutting from the wider end to the tail. Turn the lobster tail over and make the same cut, again starting at the wider end and cutting toward the tail. Using a knife, cut through the meat and the tail to divide the tail lengthwise into two pieces. Repeat with the remaining lobster tails.
• Brush the meat side of the lobster with some of the butter reserved for grilling. Grill the lobster tails, meat side down, over direct medium heat, with the lid closed, for 2 to 3 minutes, depending on their size. Brush the tops of the shells with a little more of the butter, turn them over, and grill just until the meat is white and firm but not dry, 5 to 8 minutes more. Remove from the grill and serve the lobster warm with the reserved butter. Tip: Be sure to allow the lobster tails, which are sold frozen, to thaw gently. Don’t attempt to rush the process in a microwave oven, or the delicate meat will turn tough.