Call them a braise, a stew, a casserole or even the fancy-sounding daube – slow-cooked meat dishes make winter better in myriad ways. We could spend time telling you that braises – and all their alter egos – are affordable, easy, nourishing, flexible and delicious … but you’ve probably already got the pot out.
To ensure you’re on the fast track to slow-cooked heaven, we’ve extracted the essential tips from two experts, author Lucy Tweed, who has written a new braising bible called Tender , and Victor Liong , chef and owner of two-hatted Lee Ho Fook restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney, who is currently cosily ensconced in his braising era. Drum casserolllllllle, please!
Lee Ho Fook’s Victor Liong. Choose your cut
With braises, we are generally speaking of beef, lamb and pork, though chicken can work, too, and venison and goat are rampant species we should consider in our kitchens.
“Braises are best with secondary cuts, those hard-working muscles with connective tissue, tendons and fat running through them,” says Liong. “The idea with braising is to cook the meat long enough so it breaks down.”
The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox.
Sign up
Karen Martini’s veal ossobuco with ’nduja, rosemary, white wine and butter beans. William Meppem
Tweed leans to bone-in cuts. “Think of those muscles that do lots of work, add a bone, and you’ve got it made,” she says. “If it’s a cheaper cut of meat, that can be a great indication it’s a braising cut, though that’s changing a bit because everyone’s really getting into those fattier cuts people used to veer away from.”
The best cuts for braising include veal or beef shin (also called ossobuco , pictured above), lamb shanks, lamb and pork shoulder, beef or pork rib, lamb neck, beef chuck and brisket. When in doubt, ask your butcher.
Because chicken is smaller, it’s less of a braising beauty, but you can definitely use bone-in thighs, drumsticks and Marylands for lovely chicken casseroles.
Choose a heavy-based pot you can transfer from stovetop to oven, such as this Le Creuset classic. Pick your pot
You want something with a lid that you can transfer from stovetop to oven. Beyond that, look for something heavy that conducts heat and holds it. “You can braise in anything,” says Tweed. “But a heavy-based enamel pot is a fantastic investment.”
Classic brands include Le Creuset and Chasseur, but Kmart’s Anko brand is about one-tenth of the price and cooks just as well. Locally produced Solidteknics pots are not cheap, but they are instant heirlooms and do an amazing job with braises.
You can braise solely on the stove, but most recipes suggest searing over heat, then slow-cooking in the oven.
“When the heat is coming from every direction, it coaxes it along a bit better,” says Liong.
Knives down
If you get casserole beef from the supermarket, it will usually be cut into 3cm cubes. That’s fine, but you can also keep your meat in larger pieces . “Then you get to carve it up like a steak,” says Liong. “You can put it on the table and celebrate the secondary cut as a centrepiece.” It’s also easier to brown larger pieces of meat before you start stewing.
RecipeTin Eats' super tender lamb shanks in red wine sauce. Nagi Maehashi Sear-iously?
Browning your meat before building a stew will add flavour. “Lovely caramelised meat gives you that layer of umami,” says Tweed. But getting meat to a nice dark brown takes a long time, partly because you can’t achieve it in a crowded pan, and it’s best done over a medium-high heat rather than cranking it right up.
If you don’t have the time or patience to stand over the stove, Tweed has shortcuts. “You can do a few pieces, or just do one side,” she says. “Let go of that pressure because it’s all going to relax anyway. Even if you’re just browning one or two pieces, you’ll get flavour in there. And if you don’t have the time, you can get away without it.”
Lucy Tweed seasons her stew. Dion Georgopoulos Season at every step
“Season when you brown the meat, season when you cook the vegetables, season once you add all the liquids,” says Liong. Adding salt doesn’t make your stew salty. “It just needs to taste like it’s got something in it. Then you cover it and cook it slowly.”
Ta ke stock
You can stew with water. Stock and wine are lovely. “But there’ll be enough flavour in whatever you’re cooking for it to come alive after a long time braising,” says Tweed.
Lucy Tweed likes to stay hands-on during a long cook. Dion Georgopoulos Stay involved
On the one hand, the genius of braising is that you can let it do its thing. “But the beauty of stewing is that you can also be involved throughout the process,” says Tweed. “It’s not like a cake where you put it in the oven and can’t touch it again. With a stew, you can correct, adjust, add oomph.
“If you didn’t sear the meat, or not for long enough, you can add that umami layer later, whether it be a tomato, a whack of soy sauce, even Vegemite. The same goes for adding ac…
Read the full article at The Sydney Morning Herald →
Australia