All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book on Most Useful Cooking Technique
Review: Braising is the quintessential French cooking technique, as typical of Western Europe as stir-frying is of the Far East. Molly Stevens has given us an excellent book `All About Braising' which adheres to the very basic cooking principle that if you pay close attention to all the little details of good ingredients, your cooking will invariably improve. So, the book is almost as much about identifying and buying the best ingredients for braising as it is about braising itself.

The name `braising', based on `brazier' and heating on hot coals mislead me for years when I knew more about French than I did about cooking and before I started reading about cooking in earnest. I imagined it was a type of grilling when it's only real connection to hot coals is the very old technique of placing coals on the top of Dutch Ovens cast with rimmed lids to accommodate the coals.

It is also easy to confuse braising with stewing. Braising is a very well-defined method characterized by browning a relatively large cut of protein or vegetable, followed by cooking over a low, all-around heat with liquid extending about 1/3 the way up the height of the primary ingredient. The braising container is tightly lidded so that vapor does not escape the cooking pot and designed to encourage condensation to drip back down on the braised food. Some braising vessels are also designed to leave little very little headroom between the primary ingredient and the lid. Stewing is a much less well defined technique which does not require a lid and is generally done with much more liquid and smaller pieces of food than a braise.

The list of classic `comfort food' braised dishes is long and familiar to Western foodies, headed up by coq au vin, sauerbraten, braised lamb shanks, and osso bucco. And, these are just the headliners. Ms. Stevens gives us chapters on braising vegetables, seafood, poultry, beef, veal, pork, and lamb. I was not surprised to find recipes for braising vegetables as sauerkraut and other cabbage dishes are well-known braise ingredients, but I was surprised to find braises for fish and some veal cuts. Fish is great for all the fast cooking methods such as sautés, grills, broiling, and poaching. Overcooking is the most common danger with fin fish and shellfish cookery. But, the virtue of braising is that it is the premier cooking method for infusing a protein with flavor from the braising liquid and it is typically done at a relatively low temperature. That means that the principles behind poaching fish apply also to braises, in that you can cook fish to about 160 degrees Fahrenheit and keep it there almost indefinitely without its drying out.

As braising is a very clearly characterized cooking method with a long tradition behind it, it is not surprising that their many different cookpots have evolved to accommodate the method. Almost all of us foodies have an adequate arsenal of Dutch ovens made of either naked cast iron or the traditional French enameled cast iron. I am so in love with my Le Cruset enameled ironware, all my cast iron and Calphalon heavy aluminum ware is gathering dust. Most of us also have large lidded skillets, although I never thought of them as braising pots until I read this book. My fondest recent kitchenware discovery is the Le Cruset bistro pan in enameled cast iron. My two sizes acquired about two years ago are my most commonly used pots next to my 8-quart Dutch oven. Other pots commonly used for braises are braiser pans, typically of lined copper, buffet casseroles, gratin dishes (lidded with parchment paper or foil), and a Doufeu, a Dutch oven lookalike with a well in the lid to accommodate ice to help condense the cooking liquid in the braise.

If I were teaching cooking, I believe braising is the first technique I would teach, as it is evident from this book that the technique is very easy and it makes the very best use of less expensive cuts of meat. It is not a fast method, but it should be the method of choice when you need to feed a large family and you can be in the house while the dish is cooking. This does not mean there are no techniques you need to master, and the author explains the how and the why of braising better than anyone I have read to date, including my culinary hero, Alton Brown. The only little detail I have found unmentioned is the paradox braising shares with poaching in that if you overcook protein, even while sitting in liquid, all the fat and collagen will cook out of the meat fibers leaving it dry in the midst of water, stock, and wine. But, once you know the basics, braising strikes me as one of the very easiest techniques with which to improvise. As a long cooking method, the margin for error with the cooking time is very large and the risks are very small. The most common error will probably be nothing more than a somewhat too dry protein.

In spite of the fact that braising is a very easy technique, the author's directions for the recipes in this book are detailed in the extreme. This is another reason this is an excellent text for beginning cooks. Nothing is left to the imagination. Not only are the instructions detailed and clear, they are labeled with the names of all the traditional braising steps, so if you have read the introductory material well, you will be reminded of why you are doing each step. The author clearly states that crock pot methods are basically braises, but the author does not discuss the method in detail, and it is good she does not, as the differences are sufficient to warrant your searching out a good slow cooker book for that subject.

An excellent book I highly recommend for your kitchen cookbook shelf.


Rating:
Summary: Community Comfort Food
Review: Coming together to eat from a communal pot a delicious meal with conversation, author Molly Stevens discovered was a significant part of her family and her life, thus this wonderful book.

On top of all this, the wonderful aromas generated over the hours of sumptuous, slow cooking provide additional blessings of braising meals. Her inspiration came from all over the globe, from informal to classic recipes.

Find, experiment and find wonderful culinary community experiences in this collection. I have already with the following: Pork Riblets in Vietnamese Caramel Sauce; Country-Style Pork Ribs Braised with Mango, Lime & Coconut; Osso Buco all Milanese; Short Ribs Braised in Porter Ale with Maple-Rosemary Glaze; Chicken Do-Piaza (Indian Spiced Chicken Smothered in Onions); Tuna Pot Roast with Tomato, Basil & Capers; Creamy Braised Brussels Sprouts; The Simplest Potato & Leeks Braise.

With each delectable recipe comes great, thorough instructions, as well as wine/drink recommendations. Additionaly, there is frequent sidebar discussion on technique, ingredient, e.g. "using banana leaves." An excellent source listing as well as fantastic "An Opinionated Pantry."

This is large (421 pg.) resource that is easy and fun to use and will bring great response from your diners.

Rating:
Summary: My current favorite cookbook
Review: I purchased this cookbook when it first came out and have made numerous recipes all of which were great. A few of my favorites so far....Pork roast w/ apricots, cardamom & ginger; Zin Pot Roast; Veal shanks with rosemary and honey and whole chicken braised with pears & Rosemanry. The instructions, ingredients, and style of the recipes rank high in my opinion. Molly Stevens has produced a cookbook that offers sophisticated yet uncomplicated one dish meals glamourous enough for the best of company.

Rating:
Summary: Great for everyone!
Review: This book works beautifully for me: on the weekends, when I have time, I can do one of the slow braises in quantity and enjoy it during the week; during the week, I can choose one of the quicker stove-top dishes and enjoy it right away. I love the book so much I have given it to many of my friends and, judging by their enthusiastic feedback so far, they would all give it 5 stars as well! Great book, great gift.



Rating:
Summary: Exceeded my expectations ...
Review: This was somewhat of an impulse buy for me as I was looking for a new book that I could get some Atkins-friendly recipes. Some of my favorite recipes are braises so I'm glad I was drawn to this book.

I have been very happy with the recipes I have tried so far: "Savoy Cabbage Gratin with Saint-Marcellin Cheese", "Soy Braised Chicken Thighs with Star Anise & Orange Peel", "Vietnamese Braised Scallops" and "Monkfish Braised with Cherry Tomatoes & Basil".

I was pleased with the section on what sorts of cookware can be used to braise. And I found the author's detailed instructions of cuts of meat to use ... with illustrations to be particularly helpful. The color photographs were appealing.

My only quibble would be in the actual quality of the book itself ... no dust jacket.