Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ella está a punto de freír la carne.

Estar a punto de is a fixed phrase that translates to "to be about to" or "to be on the verge of" doing something. It is always followed by an infinitive verb, which is why we use the unconjugated verb freír right after it.

Why not use the present progressive here and say está friendo?

The present progressive (está friendo) means she is actively frying the meat right in this exact moment. Because she hasn't started yet but is going to start very soon, we use está a punto de instead.

Why does the infinitive freír have an accent mark?

The accent mark over the í breaks the vowel blend (known as a diphthong), telling you to pronounce the e and the i as two separate syllables. Without it, those vowels would naturally blend into one.

Can carne refer to any type of meat?

Literally, yes, it means "meat" in general. However, in most of Latin America, if you say la carne without specifying the animal, people will naturally assume you are talking about beef.