Introduction
We can consider the brazing a combinations of different cooking methods, which is used primarily for meat and which require a long preparation time. The first step is the roasting food, and then continue with a stewing, adding wine, vinegar, oil and other liquids. The cooking should be done through the use of a pot strictly covered, to ensure that the steam remains in the cooking process and the pot for this type of preparation takes the name of the braising pan, in Italian (Brasiera). The braising pan has the characteristic of having precisely a suitable lid with locking box, in addition to the particular form that can be either rectangular or oval.
You can proceed with this preparation using both in the oven than directly on the heat of your kitchen. The main feature of this method is the slowness of the cooking, which takes place by means of the exchange elements. Once the meat, in large pieces, was subjected to searing, is covered for a half by water and wine, with the subsequent addition of vegetables, such as tomatoes, flavorings, spices and mushrooms.
The same procedure can use it with lower quality cuts of meat, without necessarily having to add all the ingredients that we have listed above, but only by covering the meat with ¼ of wine, but in this case, will not talk anymore of brazing, but of stew.
Brazing, the meat cooks in a very slow way, and the fat leaking from meat, joined to a previous larding, is mixed with the wine, creating in this way a food with a tender texture. When cooked, the liquid remaining in the pot and it can be used in different ways, for example to accompany the meat, or thickened, shake, flavored and filtered.
For brazing of red meat, you should buy cuts of second or third category, much rich of connective tissue, that once during cooking will soften, becoming in this way very juicy. Ideal cuts for braising are beef cheek, the legs, or a part of the shoulder, both very rich in connective tissue.
Brazing and health
If we talk about the brazing from the point of view of the thermal stress, you should know that this method of cooking does not present any problem if the meat is not browned beforehand, or it is performed without the excessive production of searing or without the fat exceeds the point of smoke. For what regards the amount of fat present in the braised meat, we can say that this does not exceed by much the other types of cooking, because in this process you can monitor all phases and eventually choose whether or not to add fat. Precisely for this reason, the searing that provides for the addition of oil or lard, can be easily eliminated.
The liquid that forms during cooking, should not necessarily be of a high caloric value, and it is sufficient that we only have a certain acidity, which is conferred by the addition of wine, especially for the meat preparations.
The meat to be employed, that is the semi-fatty, have a caloric content equal to 200 kilo-calories per 100 grams of product. These meats are already in possession of sufficient amounts of fat and for that just add to searing a minimum quantity of butter or extra virgin olive oil.
How to braise meat
Now we will list all the steps to be carried out to obtain a braised beef with an excellent result both from the aesthetic point of view that the palate.
– The first thing to do is to picket the meat and tie it up
– Prepare a marinade containing wine, vinegar and spices at your liking
– After the time of the marinade, drain the meat and let it dry, then add salt and black pepper massaging it thoroughly.
– Start by searing in the pan with added lard if you prefer
– Add vegetables at your liking and go with searing
– If the meat is not white, during the searing add some tomato paste
– Pour red wine for red meat or white wine for white meat and bring to a boil
– Wet the bottom of the pan with the vegetable stock, or with warm water covering three quarters of the meat
– Now remove the meat from the pan and finish cooking in the oven at low temperature, covering well the pan and stirring
– Remove the meat from the sauce that has formed in cooking
– Prepare the sauce by passing the gravy to the mill, after you remove all the fat and see if your meat has the right flavor, possibly join it with starch or let it reduce to low heat.
– Make portions of your meat and serve it on the table with plenty of salsa
