Cooking with "All About Braising" by Molly Stevens (Part 1)

[Daniel]

I bought short ribs yesterday and am going to leave it salted for a couple of days.. I see that Jayjah thinks the porter braise is too sweet has anyone tried the other short rib recipe?

[snowangel]

I bought short ribs yesterday and am going to leave it salted for a couple of days.. I see that Jayjah thinks the porter braise is too sweet has anyone tried the other short rib recipe?

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Actually, both of them area great. I made (but think I forgot to report on) the porter braise but upped the horseradish quite a bit. My family actually preferred these to the other recipe.

[Marlene]

Short Ribs in Red Wine - Minus Porcini

Due to a mushroom allergy, I omitted the porcini from this recipe.

I used flanken style short ribs, because I've got an excessive amount of them. In the end I used my Tupperware container for marinading because they fit perfectly.

Sauteed the onions garlic and carrots (I didn't have any celery so I did without)

Added the bottle of red wine (In this case a Pelee Island Cabernet) and a spice satchet of bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice and cloves.

Simmered for a bit and then poured it over the ribs to marinade:

I let it marinade for 24 hours, then discarded the carrots etc from the marinade, strained the wine and reserved the spice satchet.

After browning the ribs and sauteing some onions and garlic, I added the tomatoes, (in this case, ground plum tomatoes)

Simmered that for a few minutes then added the wine and reduced the whole thing by half

Into the oven, (yes, I covered it after I took the picture ) with fresh rosemary and the reserched spice satchet.

I started the oven at 260, and I ended up way down at 235. I braised it for 3 1/2 hours.

This spice satchet disintegrated during the braise, and it was difficult to get out of the sauce, the tomatoes and bones that fell off the ribs, made it harder to strain properly.

The sauce for this was divine. The ribs? Well they tasted sort of like braised pot roast Maybe the porcine impart some magical taste to this that I will never get to experience, but having made both short rib recipes now from the book, I can say I like the Porter Ale braise much better.

I also like the english style ribs better than the flanket cut. Unfortunately I have two or three packs of flanken style in my freezer still.

[Daniel]

Made the porter short ribs with the glaze.. Very easy, really flavorfull.. I salted them two days in advance.. I cooked it yesterday and then finished the glaze tonight. So great how it works around your schedule..

This is the ribs after broiling..

Here it is plated..I added roasted red bliss potatos..

Very good.. However, i dont know if i would make it again.. It wasnt outstanding..

Edited October 13, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[snowangel]

Made the porter short ribs with the glaze.. Very good.. However, i dont know if i would make it again.. It wasnt outstanding..

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IMHO, what I have enjoyed most about this book tend to be the more "off beat" recipes -- the beef rendang; the pork with mango, lime and coconut; to name a couple. That and the guidlines on buying meat. I also really like the fact that the beginning of every section has each recipe listed for that section, along with page numbers.

[arriba!]

I made Molly's cabbage rolls last night with wonderful sauerkraut from Morse's in Waldoboro Maine---DIVINE! I did most of the prep in the morning--still quite a job to get it all together but SO worth it! Plenty leftover for tonight and I am sure I will find it improved overnight. Another winner from this wonderful book!

[gourmande]

My next BWM recipe: Oxtail Braised in Red Wine. The pieces have been marinating 24 hours now, so they'll be ready to braise tomorrow. This time I'll attempt to photo-document à la Marlene

Just a question, are oxtails expensive everywhere? The last time I bought oxtail was last Spring and I think the price was $2.49 per lb, pretty reasonable. However, this past Sunday I bought some (different butcher mind you) and one tail, about 3lbs worth, cost me slightly over $15. When I asked what the price per lb was (it wasn't posted) I was told $4.99. I find that rather steep.

What does oxtail cost where you are?

[Daniel]

About 5.59 in Manhattan..

[snowangel]

Not long ago, at my grocery, they had oxtails mismarked as "soup bones." I told the butcher that I was sure they were oxtails, and he agreed, but said that the packaging in which they received them was mismarked. THey were $.99/lb. Usually $3.99 or $4.99/lb.

Interesting side note. The butcher at my supermarket knows I usually shop on Tuesdays. He often pulls me aside to clue me into really good deals. So, just why does he do this? The first time I went in for some pork shoulders to smoke, he asked what I was going to do with them. I not only told him, but took in some leftovers after I'd smoked the butts. They love me!

[snowangel]

I've been busy braising. Last night, it was the pork with mango, lime and coconut (you can see a photo of just how unattractive this dish can look here). Although it may look unattractive, it is a wonderful dish. It prompted our guest to go out this morning and buy the book! I served it with Chinese Broccoli (ala Hot Sour Salty Sweet) with fish sauce and that fermented bean paste. Dessert was supposed to be apple crisp, but I didn't have any oatmeal. So, I carmelized some wedges of Haralson apples, to to on top of apples, and topped that with some granola.

Tonight, I did the Red Pine Chicken. Absolutely outstanding. I think 35 minutes is too long; I pulled it off at about 25 minutes. I would make a couple of changes. I would remove the breasts, thicken the sauce some with a bit of cornstarch, and I would probably not sear the spinach, rather, I would pour the hot sauce over the spinach and top with the chicken so there is a combo of crunchy/cooked spinach.

But, I will do this dish again. Best use for boneless, skinless chicken breasts I've come across.

Edited to add: This dish might even be better with Chinese brocooli than spinach. The crunch of those broccoli stems would be a wonderful textural contrast.

[gourmande]

Oxtails Braised in Red Wine

Though in my case it was a single oxtail, which still yielded a fair amount of meat for two. This turned out a fabulously rich and savoury dish that I would definitely try again, though perhaps using meatier short ribs in lieu of oxtail. Here is my attempt at photodocumenting the process. You'll have to excuse some of the seriously out of focus images. It's what happens when the left hand is doing the cooking and the right hand is trying to capture the Kodak moment

Day one: The marinade

The bouquet garni: cloves, allspice, peppercorns, bay leaves and rosemary.

The meat, wine, bouquet garni and salt are "in the bag", and ready to go in the fridge for a 48 hour marinade.

Day two: The braise

1- The ingredients

The drained and dried off oxtail pieces ready to be browned...

... then out from under the broiler

The aromatics: pancetta, onion, carrot, celery, garlic and tomato paste

The soaked and drained porcini (the liquid reserved and strained for use later)

The liquids: reserved marinade, stock, brandy (reserved porcini soaking liquid not in picture)

2 - The process

Cooking the aromatics...

...until I got a nice fond in the pan

The liquids were added and reduced in layers as recommended...

... before the meat was tucked in.

The crumpled parchment is placed over the meat before covering and putting into a 300F oven, which I turned down to 275 later to maintain a gentle simmer. (I do not extend the parchment over the sides of the pan as she suggests)

After three hours, the meat is tender and were ready to finish this off.

The meat and veg are removed, set aside separately (just the meat is picture here) covered with foil and kept warm...

...while the sauce is finished with the addition of a bit more stock.

3 - The plate

A nest of garlic mashed Yukon Golds holds a bed of the braised veg, the pieces of meat perched atop and the sauce poured over the meat. Ok, ok, my plating skills need work but trust me, it was a knockout taste wise.

edited to correct marinating time

Edited October 23, 2005 by gourmande (log)

[Marlene]

Your plating skills are better than mine! That looks awesome. I'll be adding that one to my list to try.

In the meantime, I've got Molly's pot roast in the oven braising. It will be tomorrow night's dinner.

I also found a great recipe to try for short ribs, altough they are not Molly's. It's in Bon Appetit this month. It's a little expensive as it involves a full bottle of port and a full bottle of wine, but it sounds good.

the one thing I can't figure out is that it calls for the dish to be put in the oven uncovered. I can't say I've ever heard of a braise being done uncovered. Any thoughts?

[gourmande]

How much meat is called for in your recipe, and is there other liquid involved as well, like stock? It does sound like an aweful lot of port though.

My favourite short rib recipe is Balthazar's, which calls for 4 cups of wine, 1/2 cup of port and 6 cups of stock (plus extra if needed) for 5-7 lbs of short ribs. The resulting sauce is truly amazing.

As regards braising meats uncovered, I've never done it, but I would imagine that you'd get a lot of evaporation that way and would probably have to turn the meat quite often to prevent the exposed areas from drying out...

[Marlene]

the recipe calls for 8 3-4 inch ribs (or about 3 1?2) lbs. ther is also 2 cups of chicken broth called for. I'm just thinking that this is all sounding like a lot of liquid to me. now it does say to boil the wine port and broth for 10 minutes, so I guess it will reduce some in that period of time but not a lot I wouldn't think.

[snowangel]

Marlene, that sounds like a lot of liquid, and I don't think that much will cook off in the initial 10 minute boil.

The uncovered thing has me puzzled, too. Do they recommend cooking in the oven or stove top? What temp?

[Marlene]

wow. It says 350 for 2 hours and 15 minutes. I think if I do this, I'll reduce the liquid until I think it looks right then proceed

[gourmande]

I agree, there is no way that amount of liquid will reduce much in 10 minutes. Then again, maybe that's why they suggest cooking uncovered.

If it were me, I'd cut back on the amount of liquid and go for a covered braise.

edited for clarity

Edited October 23, 2005 by gourmande (log)

[snowangel]

wow.  It says 350 for 2 hours and 15 minutes.    I think if I do this, I'll reduce the liquid until I think it looks right then proceed

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That sounds like way too high an oven temp. But then again, I'm amazed at the number of braising recipes that are contrary to what us experts have discovered!

I'd cut back on the amount of liquid, braise covered, and in a much lower oven.

[Marlene]

I'm sort of amazed at this recipe. It also calls for 3/12 cups of onions and 2 1/2 cups of carrots. That's kind of a lot. I'm going to try this on Thursday, but it will be the first recipe I've totally revamped!

[snowangel]

I, following the guidelines that Molly has provided, did a slightly different take on a beef pot roast, sort of inspired by a Mark Bittman Minimalist column I vaguely remembered.

Browned chuck roast. Removed and added the duo (onions and celery). Added some smashed garlic. Deglazed with wine, added some chix stock, a cinnamon stick, a dollop of sweet paprika. Set it in a low oven last night. By the time it was done, all I had the energy for was to sit the LC out in the outdoor fridge (my deck; it was very chilly).

Defatted today, added some halved onions and whole garlic cloves and prunes. I should add that I don't like carrots in a braised dish. No quibbles, please, I just don't.

Re-brasied.

Served over roasted garlic smashed potatoes alongside roasted carrots.

Yum. Double yum. Even the kids noted it. I don't often think to add fruit with beef, but it can be good. It was not photogenic, nor did I think to grab the camera.

[jayhay]

Your oxtails look delicious gourmande, beautiful plating!

It'll be interesting to see what Epicurious members have to say about the Bon Appetit short rib recipe. Wonder if anyone will make it as printed?

[Bill Miller]

Your oxtails look delicious gourmande, beautiful plating!

It'll be interesting to see what Epicurious members have to say about the Bon Appetit short rib recipe.  Wonder if anyone will make it as printed?

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I did the one from the Jan 02 issue just as written. I served it as business lunch at my house (small town) for some businessmen and customers. It was a great presentation and delicious--it tastes as good as it looks! Try it!!! Four stars. Regards, Bill

[gourmande]

Your oxtails look delicious gourmande...

Thanks Jayhay, they were indeed delicious, and even better reheated a few days later. For the second use I removed the meat from the bone and heated it in the sauce with the remaining veg. And believe it or not, we still had some leftover; just enough for lunch the next day!

...It'll be interesting to see what Epicurious members have to say about the Bon Appetit short rib recipe.  Wonder if anyone will make it as printed?

IMO, the only way to judge it honestly is to make it as it is written. However, I don't have a copy of it so for now, I think I'll stick with my Balthazar recipe

[Marlene]

I did the Bon Appetit short rib recipe tonight, although I altered the quantities drastically and used Molly's method of low, slow and covered. My adapted recipe here

First, these are the beautiful short ribs my biker butcher guy from Whole Foods did for me. He didn't put the bandsaw all the way through. I suppose he would have had I asked, but I really wanted an excuse to use my new cleaver.

These of course had to be tied, but oh my they were lovely ribs.

I didn't document the whole process because I mean really, it's mostly the same, brown, saute, add liquids reduce a bit, cover and braise.

At the end, I strained and defatted the liquids then added some grainy mustard and then a paste of flour and butter.

Then I put the ribs back in the sauce, turned to coat them, covered them and put them back in the oven until I was done the mashed potatoes.

These were truly amazing. The combination of honey, wine, port and mustard makes for a very rich but deeply flavourful sauce. This is a definate winner .

[gourmande]

Today I made the Caribbean Pork Shoulder (page 354) ... meh... nothing to write home about so I definitely will not be doing that one again.