Techniques #4: Don’t Get Crazy, Just Get Braise-y (I’m Sorry)

It’s once again time to learn an important technique that will lend itself to help you create dozens of delicious dishes in your own kitchen. We’re building off of the previous lessons; those being seasoning, roasting and sautéing, and moving on to a technique that’s equally important at home as it is the restaurant kitchen: braising.

This is a technique that produces some of the most comforting and rich dishes you can imagine. Stews, short ribs and pot roasts all come out of this one, wonderful method.

Braising is a combination cooking method, using both dry and wet cooking, but that doesn’t mean it’s difficult. The basic premise is that your meat is browned on the stovetop, semi-submerged in aromatic liquid and then covered and put into a slow oven for several hours. This lets flavour develop and slowly breaks down the connective tissues of the tougher cuts of meat that are suited to braising. These connective tissues are usually comprised of collagen, which when slowly heated in a moist environment turns into gelatin. This gelatin in turn enriches and naturally thickens the liquid it’s being released into, creating a delicious sauce for your stew or braise.

This method has lots of hands-off time, perfect for freeing up your stovetop for other preparations or just giving you some time to put your feet up on a lazy Sunday as dinner slowly bubbles away in the oven. However, we must remember that as with roasting or any hands-off cooking method, it’s the careful attention given to the dish before and after the oven time that makes all the difference. While braising can free you up to do other things as it gently simmers itself into deliciousness, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be mindful of time and temperature.

Depending on the kind of body you want your sauce to have (and whether or not you’re gluten-free), a common first step to many braises is to coat your meat in seasoned flour before searing it. This is never a necessity, but definitely adds to the finished product. The flour coating the meat will cook off slowly as it braises, helping to thicken the sauce and giving it more body than the natural gelatin would alone.

Speaking of searing off your meat first, there are three important points to look at in this step. Point the first: season your meat properly. Don’t be stingy with the salt here, even though there will be a gentle reduction, it’s unlikely that you’ll over-season your whole stew just by correctly seasoning your meat. Second: Sear the meat right in the pot you’ll be cooking the whole dish in. Recommended vessels are Dutch ovens or high walled roasting pans. You don’t want to lose any of the browned goodness (the fond) from searing your meat. Braising is the king of the one-pot meal methods. And last: don’t crowd your meat when you sear it. Leave some space between each piece or steam will build up, hindering the browning process. Browning is essential for the flavours it imparts on your finished product.

Once each batch of your meat is nicely browned, use a slotted spoon or tongs to transfer it onto a waiting plate to cool. When all the meat has been browned, assess your pot. If more than a thin layer of fat has rendered from your meat of choice, carefully pour it off until just a thin coating on the bottom of your pot remains. This coating, along with any of the browned bits stuck to the bottom, will be the medium used to begin the cooking of your aromatics. These are the long-cooking vegetables and herbs used to give your braise more delicious flavour.

Aromatics usually consist of your basic mirepoix: onions, carrots and celery, but can include any hardy vegetable that will be able to withstand long cooking. Leeks, turnips, rutabaga and parsnips are all good examples. Potatoes are also of the category, although I like to add them a bit later in the cooking, right before the braise goes into the oven, to ensure they don’t melt away completely. More tender vegetables can be added later in the cooking, near the end when final seasoning takes place.

As the hardy vegetables sweat in the fond and rendered fat, it becomes time to build the sauce. Wine is used to deglaze the pan, if the liquids released by the vegetables were not sufficient. The meat is returned to the pot and stock is added to the level called for by the recipe. A stew will need to be almost completely covered by liquid, while other dishes, such as braised short ribs or a brisket will take less.

The pot is then covered by a lid and deposited in a pre-heated oven, no higher than 300°f, to slowly cook for several hours. Check your braise every once in a while, every half hour to hour, just to make sure that it’s cooking gently and nothing is burning or sticking to the bottom. Once the meat is tender enough to be pierced by a knife or skewer without resistance, the final adjustments can occur.

Taste to see what needs to happen. Does it need more salt? Pepper? A sprinkling of vinegar for brightness? Does the liquid need further thickening? If so, you may want to strain out your meat and vegetables, so you can reduce the liquid at a higher heat on the stovetop. Alternatively, you may want to thicken with beurre manie or a cornstarch slurry. The choice is yours, depending on what you like or what you wish the final product to be.

After it’s where you want it, you can serve it up immediately, but I always think that a stew or braise tastes best after it’s been left to cool in its own liquid and then reheated gently. The flavours have a chance to meld and the consistency becomes rich and velvety. It’s exactly what you crave when you need some comfort food and the weather is chilly.

Here’s my recipe for a simple beef stew I make at home. You can pretty much add or subtract whatever you want, as long as you follow the method. It stacks up to any can of Puritan Beef Stew I’ve ever tasted, and I hope you’ll try it when the nights turn cold.

Classic Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 1-2lbs. (500g-1kg) stewing beef, cut into ½” cubes
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (optional)
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3-4 small yellow onions, peeled and roughly diced
• 2-3 small carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2-3 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 1 leek, white and light green parts only, rinsed out and roughly chopped
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• ½ – 1lb. (250-500g) white or cremini mushrooms, quartered or sliced thickly
• 6-8 Yukon gold or russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” cubes
• 2 fresh bay leaves (dried is okay)
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 TBSP (15g) tomato paste
• 1-2 cups (250-500mL) red wine
• 6-8 cups (1.5-2L) chicken stock, either homemade or store-bought
• 1 cup (150g) frozen peas, thawed

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 250°f. Heat a film of canola oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. As it heats, season all the beef and coat lightly in flour, shaking off excess flour (the flour is optional). Sear the meat, in batches if necessary, transferring it to a plate when nicely browned. Set the meat aside and lower the heat under the pot to low, pouring off accumulated fat if necessary.
2. Add the onions to the pot with a good pinch of salt, letting them cook until soft and slightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Make sure to scrape up any browned bits left behind by the meat with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the carrots, celery, leeks and garlic, sweating until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms, potatoes, herbs and tomato paste. Stir to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Deglaze the pot with the wine, bring heat to medium and bring to a simmer. Reduce the wine for 8-10 minutes.
6. Add the meat back into the pot along with any juices that may have accumulated, and then cover almost completely with stock. Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid and place into preheated oven. Let the stew braise for 3-4 hours, checking every hour or so for doneness.
7. When cooked, remove the stew from the oven, and set back over low heat. Adjust seasonings and thicken sauce if needed. Stir in the peas 1-2 minutes before serving, just to warm through.
8. Serve with crusty bread and be sure to leave some stew for the next day.

I encourage you to get comfortable with braising, especially if you live somewhere with long, cold winters. The dishes you can make are comforting and nourishing to the body and soul. If you have the time to plan it out, make this dish a day before you plan to serve it, adding the peas right before serving while reheating the stew. You’ll never buy a can of stew again, I assure you.