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Maybe its cold outside and you are ready to make some comfort food. Or perhaps its summertime and you want to make carnitas for the cookout over the weekend but you don’t know how to get the pork to that soft texture that just melts in your mouth. Your chef apron is just itching to get a stain or two on it, but that may not happen here. This technique is so simple, you could do it with your eyes closed. So, what is this magic technique that will be so mouth wateringly scrumptious that your friends and family will keep coming back for more? It’s something you’ve seen done before, but it might have been called another name. The technique is called braising.
You might have seen your parents or grandparents using this technique and they probably called it slow cooking. Braising is the process of cooking meat, chicken, or pork in a covered pot for a long period of time. It was originally used to break down tough cuts of meat but the method has had a resurgence recently. As Gen Xers reach their forties and settle down with families (ie mouths to feed) they find themselves reaching back into grandma’s cooking book out of nostalgia. This, combined with the relative chicness cooking is experiencing these days in the form of reality TV shows and girls night out excursions, has brought a renewed interest in preparing food. Dishes with fancy names like Coq Au Vin and Osso Bucco, which are nothing more than braised chicken and veal respectively are now dishes that people want to learn how to make… their mothers are secretly pleased, I’m sure.
Braising makes life easier for working people who don’t have the time to make dinner every night during the week. Using this method, one could cook on the weekend and have food for most of the week. All they would need to do is make a large roast with carrots and potatoes in the same pot. Once they drop it all in, they can do the countless other things that need to be done and not worry about their meal. Hours later, the whole thing is finished. Not only is dinner ready for that night, it can be taken to work for lunch or had for dinner several times during the week.
There are a couple of things that matter when you decide to braise: how you will season it and what liquid you want to use. You can use wine, juice, broth, or even water to assist in the cooking. The liquid permeates the fibers and making the meat tender and seasoned. You can season your meat with basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper for an Italian flair, or just make a rub of sea salt and ground pepper. Whichever seasonings you choose, rub it into the meat for full coverage of flavor.
After you sear the roast on all sides to give the meat a little color, drop it in your slow cooker with the liquid of choice and the vegetables you’ve selected and let it cook (usually about 3 ½ hours). That’s really it. Try it for yourself – you’ll see how simple this process really is. If you want to make it look like you did a lot of work, leave the cutting board you used for the vegetables you dropped in out, spill a little oil on the counter, wipe your hands on your still pristine chef’s apron and muss your hair a bit. It’ll be believable especially when they taste what you’ve created.