A New Technique

Its no secret, I like braised things. Especially when cooking at home. Braising affords a person with limited cooking skills a huge margin of error and the ability to turn a secondary cut of meat into something monumental. Brown meat (preferably something bone-in) and remove, add trinity or mire poix, seasonings, and a about a bottle of red wine, return meat, lower heat, cover and walk away for 1-5 hours. There thats your basic braise recipe.

Now recently, Justin Pitts enlightened me further about braising. I almost always remove the meat at the end of cooking and strain and reduce the pot juices to make a sauce. But a few weeks ago, Mr. Pitts told me to remove the meat and then add rice to the pot (measurements are for building). In the words of Archimedes, "Eureka!"

What results is a rice not unlike jambalaya rice. With bits and pieces of carrot and a wayward onion, the rice is hearty and savory, juicy and perfectly cooked. The result works very well with the braised meat. And I found if you reserve a cup or so of the broth, you can have your rice and eat your gravy, too.

Braising, try it on your friends!

Ok fine, take a more respected food writer's opinion of braising.