Braising Food

This slow cooking, and mostly hands-off, technique keeps food nutritious and full of taste and aromas. It is a wet and dry cooking process where food is first seared or sauted at high temps, then slowly cooked at low temps in a bit of flavorful liquids. Many writers on food claim it makes the food “taste more like itself”.

Meat:

Braising can tenderize meat so that you can “cut it with a butter knife.” Meats that work well with this technique includes chuck roasts, chicken thighs, or short ribs. Braising provides an even cooking heat, as it never gets above boiling point (212F at sea level); the low-and-slow cooking melts collagen into gelatin. In fact, although this is a wet cooking method, it does not add moisture to meats, it actually draws moisture out of meat that then flavors the braising liquid. Often, a recipe will call for searing the meat first so that flavor is created in the crust, then braise, resulting in a liquid that will create a great gravy, or will taste good itself.

• Pot roasts: large cuts of meat, seared, and placed only partially (not more than 1/3) in the liquid. You can skip searing if you braise the meat in very little liquid for over 3-1/2 hours, as it can develop many the flavor compounds of searing all on its own. Focus instead on minimal liquid but very aromatic and tasty veggies.
• Stews: smaller cuts of meat, seared, and partially submerged in liquid and veggies.
• Spare ribs: I would use boneless spare ribs just to reduce the amount of fat in the dish (bone-in spare ribs have LOTS OF FAT). The sauce created by these cuts will be thinner than the pot roast. I would also not skip searing.
• Chicken thighs: Dry, season, and sear the bone-in with-skin chicken thighs in a little bit (1-2t) of olive oil. Slit the skin so it renders its fat into the skillet. After a good browning remove the skin (I cut it up for the dog). Then what works well is to add the now skinless meat to a flavorful broth for a long braising. (Want a 210F internal temp.)

Veggies:

Braising can create wonderful stews that softens veggies and melds flavors. Since this technique requires a tight lid, it also generates steam internally so that food is cooked by boiling and steaming at the same time. Veggies will, in fact, cook fast using this slow-cooking method. The broth created from this will be flavorful and often I will use this to cook any grains or seeds I cook at the same time.

• Tagine: Braised veggies require little broth, great aromatics, then dense to lighter sliced layered veggies topped with spice blends.
• Ratatouille: French braised veggie dish of eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Olive oil and white wine are used as the braising sauce. Then slow cook until all the juices melt from the veggies to make, what I call a “veggie-mash”
• Blaukraut: German braised red cabbage with apples and onions. Liquid is cider and broth.

Equipment

Braising is what a slow cooker or tagine does although you do not need these pots to braise, any big heavy bottomed pot with lid or Dutch Oven is fine. Other tools I use are a wooden spatula to scrape up fond, and if cooking meat, I use tongs to turn the meat as it sears and a thermometer to make sure the meat is done. (Usually you can tell for when you poke it, it tends to fall apart — yummy.)

Techniques

Stovetop Veggies

• Braising needs a pot and lid (I use a ceramic big pot)
• Start with a bit of oil and aromatics (shallots, leeks, garlic, etc.) to create a savory base
• Then build a flavorful braising liquid using broth or water with citrus zest or vinegar, and add a bay leaf. The liquid usually covers ~1/3 of the food, unless the food itself has high water content (like tomatoes)
• Remember no liquid is lost in this process so do not over do it with liquid
• Add veggies according to density (time it will take to cook) so everything cooks evenly yet maintains a bit of crisp and a vibrant color.
• You must keep it at a slow simmer and give it plenty of time to cook
• Serve with a handful of freshly chopped herbs on top of some grain or cereal to help soak up the juices

Slow Cooking Meat

• Pull out the slow cooker and lid, and set to high
• Carefully dry and season the meat
• Heat a skillet, heat oil, and sear the meat (with chicken just sear the skin side)
• Take meat out of the skillet and place on a plate
• Add liquid to deglaze the skillet (but do not add too much)
• Add seasonings, acid, and aromatics (onions, celery, carrots, garlic, etc) to the liquid and cook until the veggies are caramel colored
• Then dump this mixture into the slow cooker
• Then put the meat in the slow cooker but do not fully submerge it, place on top of any of the veggies with just a bit up to 1/3 of it in the liquid
• Add larger chopped veggies to the slow cooker if part of the dish
• Lid the slow cooker and slow simmer it for a length of time  (1-5 hours)
• Once cooked, remove the meat and larger veggies and reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon (I do not add thickeners)
• Let the meat rest but tent it to keep warm
• Serve with a handful of freshly chopped herbs

Searing Meat and Oven Cooking

• Pull out an oven proof pot and lid and preheat oven to 300F. Temps higher can make the meat stringy and not very good.
• Dry and season the meat.
• Heat the oven-proof pot on the stove top, heat oil, and sear the meat on all sides.
• Once seared take meat out of the pot and add your liquid to deglaze (but do not add too much, say 1/4C).
• Add seasonings and pre-chopped aromatics (onions, celery, carrots, garlic, etc) to the liquid and cook until the veggies are caramel colored.
• Then put the meat back in the pot but do not submerge it fully in liquid, nestle the meat on top of the veggies with just a bit of it in the liquid.
• Lid the pot and bring back to a simmer, then place in the oven.
• Braise 1-3 hours depending upon the recipe, the internal temp of the meat will be in the 210F range.
• Add the rest of the veggies to the pot, and place back in the oven to cook another 45min until the veggies are done.
• Once cooked remove from the oven, plate and tent the food. Then reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. (I do not add thickeners but you could do a Roux or add thickeners. I prefer reduction for there is less flavor lost.)
• Serve with a handful of freshly chopped herbs

Braising Liquid

The key is to not use more liquid than you need as you do not want to boil your meats or veggies. You do, however, want the liquid to create a sauce for the food.

Although you can use plain water, I tend to use broth for the liquid and if cooking meat, will use broth of the same type (beef broth for pot roast). For veggies only I tend to use veggie or chicken broth. I will also use wine, which provides both flavor and acidity, usually white wine for chicken. Beer with a bit of cider vinegar is a good addition to a pork braise. For a sweet sour braise I will use broth and vinegar with a bit of sweetness like honey or sugar.

Recipes

Sample of braised dishes:  pot roast, Swiss steak, chicken cacciatore,  goulash,  Carbonade Flamande, coq au vin, sauerbraten, blaukraut, beef bourguignon, beef brisket, and tajines (veggie and chicken).

Comments

In some braising recipes, when I actually want a gravy, I find that “fond” is critical to the braising liquid, as it adds savory depth to its flavor.

PopSugar defines Fond is French for “base” and commonly refers to the browned bits and caramelized drippings of meat and vegetables that are stuck to the bottom of a pan after sautéing or roasting. It’s often retained as a source of flavor and deglazed with liquid and aromatics like onions and garlic.