Look after sweetheart and get up to prepare meat (9)
I believe the answer is:
tenderise
'prepare meat' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'look after sweetheart and get up' is the wordplay.
'look after' becomes 'tend' (tending is a kind of looking after).
'sweetheart' becomes 'e' (the middle letter or heart of 'sweet').
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'get up' becomes 'rise' (synonyms).
'tend'+'e'+'rise'='TENDERISE'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tenderise that I've seen before include "pound" , "soften flesh" .)