LIFESTYLE
The
Art of Braising
Whether you’ re a trained chef or a home cook that enjoys preparing a gastronomic delight, this age-old cooking technique will prove that low and slow is the way to go. Braising refers to tucking a few ingredients into a heavy pot with a bit of liquid, covering it tightly and letting everything simmer peacefully, until tender and intensely flavored.
Braising goes back to the earlier days of cooking, when the braising pot would be buried in the embers of an open hearth or slid into the community bread oven after the days baking and left to simmer slowly for hours. The miracle of braising lies in the fact that the process demands so little of the cook and gives up a complex and wonderful meal. I know that many of you love to grill, roast or bake, but for me, give me a braised meal on a cool fall or cold winters days or give me nothing at all!
The American Heritage Dictionary, says that braising is: To cook( meat or vegetables) by browning in fat, then simmering in a small quantity of liquid in a covered vessel. Hopefully by now, you can recall partaking in a few classic braised dishes such as, osso bucco, short ribs, coq au vin or lamb shanks.
By Rod Michael
The best way to understand braising is to picture the exchange between the moisture in the food you’ re braising and the liquid in the pot. Whenever you cook fresh ingredients such as meat, poultry, seafood or vegetables they release moisture. In sautéing and grilling this produces the sizzle you hear. In braising these juices are trapped in the sealed pot so that they comingle with the braising liquid. The enriched liquid bathes the food. It’ s a delicious cycling of flavor, a give and take between the braising liquid and the other ingredients inside the closed pot that is unequaled in any other form of cooking. By simmering meat gently, you are making sure that the meat cooks slowly and is constantly bathed in flavorful juices. The meat emerges well done, tender and succulent throughout, enveloped by a velvety sauce. The process causes the collagen to melt away, turning it into a gelatin, a soft protein that contributes to a rich, silky textured sauce.
We have two methods of braising, Long Braising being the more traditional approach for a tougher cut of meat, simmering away from anywhere to 1.5 hours to perhaps up to five. The Short method takes less than an hour and is reserved for more tender foods, like cut up chicken, chicken thighs, seafood and vegetables. All braising starts stove top for the browning process and for longer braising the oven is employed
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