The weather has remained warm, but it's beginning to turn. Days are shorter, the sunlight comes in at a low angle, and the Packers crushed the Panthers on Monday night. Fall is just around the corner.
And I'm in the mood to braise something.
In the broad spectrum of meat cookery, there are dry-heat methods and moist-heat methods. Grilling is a great example of a dry-heat method, perfect for naturally tender cuts like steak, chicken, pork tenderloin, or burgers (which are mechanically tenderized by grinding). Marinate or season to taste, toss the meat onto a hot grill, and leave it there just long enough to cook through to medium rare. Brush on some barbeque sauce, and serve with grilled vegis, maybe some salsa, and cold beer. It's quick, it's simple. What's not to like? The more tender a cut of meat is, the less you want to mess with it.
But if you take a tough, sinewy cut of meat like beef chuck (shoulder) and throw it onto a grill, you'll end up with... a tough, sinewy cut of meat. If the product isn't tender to begin with, grilling is no help.
Take that same piece of chuck, however, and cook it long and slowly with just an inch or two of liquid in the pot -- enough to cover the meat about a third of the way, say -- and something amazing happens. The sinewy connective tissues in the meat gradually dissolve into the cooking liquid, yielding a silky, flavorful sauce. The meat tenderizes until you can cut it with a fork, melding its own flavors with the cooking liquid. From a leathery cow's shoulder, fork-tender perfection results. Throw in some potatoes, turnips, and carrots and you've got dinner.
To braise means to cook something in a small amount of liquid. American cooks know it as pot roast. The meat is browned in a hot pan, then liquid is added, the pot is covered, and the meat is cooked at low heat until fork tender. Vegetables and seasonings are added according to the recipe, but the most important factors are the cooking liquid used -- typically water, stock, or wine -- and time.
If grilling is about speed, fire, and ambiance, then braising is culinary alchemy. With a little bit of patience, unattractive, inexpensive cuts of meat such as lamb shanks (lower leg), ox tail, or beef tripe (that's "cow stomach" to you and me) can be transformed into delicacies with a depth and richness of flavor that filet mignon will never match. It doesn't take a lot of skill, but it does take time. Fortunately, for most of that time you don't have to do anything. Just let it simmer while you go on with your day. And if you own a crock pot, you don't even have to be home.
Braising is also perfect for fall and winter, when life moves indoors. You smell your dinner cooking all day long, as the food warms your house both literally and figuratively.
Convinced yet? Stay tuned for a sample recipe.