Entries from The Amateur Gourmet tagged with 'braising'
Coq au Vin
Dear New York Weather: it's almost June, and yesterday I was wearing a sweatshirt and I had the heat on. And it's almost June! I understand you have your peculiarities, that you're grappling with a diminishing ozone and toxic emissions, but I bought some cute new short sleeve shirts from UniQlo in SoHo (what a deal!) and I want to wear them, ok? But in the meantime, I forgive you because if it weren't for your unseasonable chill, would I have tried my hand at Coq au Vin, a traditional cold weather dish? The answer, I think, is no. And what a loss that would've been because this dish, this French classic of chicken braised in red wine, may be one of the best dishes I've ever cooked. We devoured it....
Braised Lamb Neck Provençal
First of all, let's give credit where credit is due: look at the "c" I put in the word "Provencal" in this post's title. That "c" has the appropriate squiggle in it; I copied it from the Wikipedia page for Provencal. What does that squiggle denote? I have no idea, but the squiggle is there and who do you have to thank? Me, that's who. Second of all: lamb's neck. Are you grossed out? You really shouldn't be. I first ate lamb's neck at the offal dinner Chris Cosentino cooked at the Astor Center last year (watch video here). Unlike the raw venison liver I consumed, or, for that matter, beef heart tartare, the lamb's neck was the least forbidding of the dishes served; on the plate, it looks no different from a braised lamb shank (except for the shape) and it tastes twice as good. Why? It's a fattier cut of meat....
Braised Pork Chops and Cabbage (A Poem)
An easy dinner, one two three Try it out: listen to me; Buy some pork chops, one for each Dry them off like your kid at the beach; Heat some oil and some butter Season the pork chops til you hear a sputter.......
Molly Stevens' Braised Monkfish with Cherry Tomatoes & Basil
"Now is the winter of our Molly Stevens," I wanted to say at the start of this winter. I wanted to say that because Molly Stevens' book, All About Braising, is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. I love this book because the recipes are flawless and, not only that, the results always exceed my expectations. Craig will never think of parsnips the same way again after Molly's Chicken Breasts Braised with Hard Cider and Parsnips--Molly can transform anything with the flick of her magical wrist. So this winter I wanted to Molly out; I wanted to braise the whole winter through, browning, deglazing, and simmering until our kitchen itself was a braise. Only it never really got that cold and, truth be told, I was often so tired from Food Network meetings and tapings that a long braise didn't really appeal to me when I came home. (Hence the popularity, I suppose, of 30 minute meals, etc etc.) But recently at the Chelsea Market, where Food Network is located, I met a monkfish. There's a fish store there and sitting on a counter, extravagantly arrayed, were fillets of monkfish--a truly ugly fish--and suddenly my mind leapt over the rooftops back to my bookshelf in Brooklyn where Molly's book rested. "Molly has a recipe for monkfish!" I recalled. "Monkfish braised with cherry tomatoes and basil." I bought 1 1/2 pounds of monkfish fillets and brought them home and sure enough Molly's recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds of monkfish fillets. The recipe was a cinch to put together--the whole thing was prepped and cooked in approximately one hour--and the results, as expected, were tremendous. As I placed the plate before Craig, I felt like I was serving restaurant quality food. And, essentially, I was. "The fish is so moist and tender," said Craig, digging in. "And the sauce is so flavorful." Monkfish is called the poor man's lobster, but we didn't feel like poor men eating this. We felt like kings. Let Molly work her magic in your kitchen after a hard day's work. Here's how you make it......
