In praise of the braise
3/7/2011AUSTIN, Texas -- To cooks who rush home from work and keep on rushing through dinner, cooking instructor Louis Ortiz has two words for you: Simmer down.
But to Ortiz, who gave the advice at a recent class on braising, the slow-cook method of simmering meat and vegetables in a covered pot over low heat for a long period of time, turning down the heat isn't just a cooking technique. It's a philosophy that transcends the kitchen.
"We just need to learn to slow down, and everything will turn out just fine," Ortiz says.
There is no technique that can save you more time or money than braising. Cooking with low heat and a lot of moisture helps turn inexpensive and often tough cuts like chicken thighs, oxtail, short ribs, lamb or beef shoulders and shanks into succulent meat that can be shredded with a fork.
Braising meats or vegetables might require a long time on the stove or in the oven, but active cooking time is usually less than 20 minutes, which means you can drink a glass of wine or watch a movie -- or, if your weeknights are as frazzled as mine, give the kid a bath or finish the laundry -- while dinner cooks.
Pot roasts are one of the most commonly braised dishes, but Ortiz says that many cooks just throw a raw cut of meat in a slow cooker and skip the most important step of braising: searing or browning the meat before adding liquid.
To properly brown the meat before braising, season it with salt and pepper and possibly a dusting a flour before searing all the sides with a little bit of hot oil.
(If you're using a slow cooker for braising meats, Ortiz says to brown the meat in a pan on the stove first and deglaze the pan with hot stock before adding all the ingredients to the slow cooker to finish cooking.)
Don't limit your braised dishes to just beef with a little broth or red wine. You can braise nearly any kind of meat, including fish, in a variety of liquids, from tomato juice to apple cider or coffee. Beer is just as flavorful as wine as a braising liquid, and coconut water or milk will give your Sunday pot roast a decidedly Asian twist.
Ming Tsai, host of "Simply Ming" and author of a new book, says that braising -- "the original one-pot, 'set-it-and-forget-it' technique" -- isn't just for meats.
"Veggies have as much flavor as meat," he said in an interview last week.
The braising recipes in Simply Ming One-Pot Meals (Kyle Books, $29.95) combine vegetables such as sweet potatoes, daikon, and celeriac with duck legs and short ribs, but he says you could braise them on their own.
Other hearty vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes, carrots, fennel, celery, turnips, parsnips, and endive can hold up in the pot, but you don't have to cook vegetables nearly as long as, say, a lamb shank to tenderize them and bring out their sweetness.
Tsai says that mushrooms are a chef's secret weapon when it comes to making a complex broth for not only braises but also soups and stews. "We make mushroom stock by pouring hot water over dried mushrooms like shiitakes and letting them soak," he says. The resulting liquid has a heartiness that is similar to beef stock but, when combined with soy sauce, can add earthiness that you can't get from meat.
Leftovers are one of the best things about braising meat, Tsai says. "They'll be just as delicious, if not better, the next day."
Tips for braising
● When buying meat, cooking instructor Louis Ortiz says, look for cuts that have lots of "lightning strikes" of fat. Not only do these lend a lot of flavor to the dish, but that fat is what keeps the meat tender as it cooks.
● Lightly coat the outside of meat with flour if you're looking for a slightly thicker sauce in the end.
● Don't cover the meat with liquid. Use enough stock, beer or wine to come up about halfway on the side of the meat. If you want more sauce to serve at the end, use a little more liquid in the beginning.
● Don't have a tight-fitting lid for your braising dish? Use foil instead, Ortiz says.
● If adding herbs at the beginning of the braise, use dried. Because fresh herbs can't withstand the heat, add them for a burst of flavor at the end. A squeeze of lemon or lime juice just before serving will also liven up the dish.
Oxtail and Shiitake Mushrooms with Quinoa
1 cup dried shiitakes
1½ cups rice flour or brown-rice flour
1 tablespoon paprika
6 large oxtail pieces (6 to 8 ounces each)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
2 onions, cut into 1-inch dice
2 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1 (12-ounce) can whole bamboo shoots, rinsed well, cut into 1-inch lengths
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup quinoa
Fill a medium bowl with warm water. Add the shiitakes and soak until soft, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Drain, and stem the caps. Quarter the large caps and halve the smaller ones. Set aside.
In a large shallow plate, combine the flour and paprika. Season the oxtail pieces with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour.
Heat a stockpot or other tall, wide pot over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and swirl to coat the bottom. When the oil is hot, add the oxtail pieces, in batches, if necessary. Cook the oxtail, turning once, until brown, about 8 minutes. Set the oxtail aside.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pot and swirl. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and saute until softened, about 3 minutes.
Add the wine, deglaze the pot and reduce the liquid by half, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved mushrooms and the bamboo, season with salt and pepper, and return the oxtail to the pot. Add the soy sauce and enough water to cover the ingredients. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over medium-high heat until the meat is falling off the bone, 2 to 3 hours. (Quick tip: Cook in a pressure cooker, over medium-high heat, for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make the quinoa. In a large saucepan, combine the quinoa and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the water is absorbed, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl, top with the oxtail mixture and serve.
Source: Simply Ming One-Pot Meals, by Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm
Spare Rib Braise
2 pounds spare ribs
Salt and pepper
Flour, for dusting
2½ tablespoons bacon fat OR butter
½ cup sliced leeks
3 tablespoons minced shallots
1½ tablespoons minced garlic
2½ cups broth
Preheat oven to 325°. Season all sides of the ribs with salt and pepper and then dust lightly with flour. Heat bacon fat in a deep cast-iron pot over medium heat. Sear meat on all sides until lightly browned, a few minutes on each side. Remove meat from pan and rest on a plate.
Saute leeks for about 5 minutes and then add shallots and garlic to pot and stir, cooking for a few more minutes. (While aromatics are sauteing, heat broth up but do not boil.) Sprinkle a little flour on top of the aromatics and stir.
Place meat on top of aromatics. Add hot broth to the pot and cover with a lid. Place pot in oven and cook at least two hours, or until meat is falling off the bone.
Source: Louis Ortiz
Lamb Shoulder Braise
2 pounds bone-in lamb shoulder or leg of lamb
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons bacon fat
½ cup chopped leeks
1½ tablespoons shallots, minced
1½ tablespoons garlic, minced
½ cup sweet yellow onion, roughly chopped
1½ teaspoons dried oregano OR rosemary
½ cup white wine
2½ cups chicken OR beef broth
1½ cups baby carrots
1 potato, cut into large cubes
Season lamb with salt and pepper. In a cast-iron Dutch oven or other deep, heavy-bottom pot, melt bacon fat over medium high heat and brown all sides of the lamb.
Remove meat from the pan and turn down heat to medium. Saute leeks and onion for about 5 minutes until just starting to soften. Then add shallots and garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper. Saute for another few minutes and then deglaze the pan with white wine and add meat back into the pot. (Heat broth while aromatics are sauteing.)
Add oregano, carrots, potatoes and broth and lower heat to a simmer. (Liquid shouldn't cover meat entirely. About a quarter of the meat should be above the liquid.) Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for at least an hour and a half, until meat is tender.
Source: Louis Ortiz