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

[Jensen]

I got this book for Christmas too and so spent a couple of hours yesterday reading through this entire thread (again).

Boneless chuck roasts are on sale for 2.99/lb this week so I'm going to pick up a few of those and go from there!

[Della]

I got this book for Christmas too and so spent a couple of hours yesterday reading through this entire thread (again).

Boneless chuck roasts are on sale for 2.99/lb this week so I'm going to pick up a few of those and go from there!

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It's a great book! I'm trying to decide what to make this weekend myelf.

[Lori in PA]

I have chicken leg quarters in the fridge -- trouble is that I don't seem to have some of the more "specialized" spices/herbs needed for most of the recipes. I may do the chicken with artichokes and mushrooms.

[Jensen]

My first foray into the book will be Bistecos Ranchero (or however it's spelt).

I did buy the potatoes for it, even though most people here thought they were a "third wheel" in the dish. Not sure if I'll use them or not.

[Lori in PA]

I liked the potatoes in them, but I can see that they'd be just fine without them also.

I made the Chicken Do-Piaza (Indian spiced chicken smothered with onions) for dinner tonight. I used skinless, bone-in legs and thighs instead of just thighs. Unfortunately, I have a terrible cold and was unable to get much of the flavor. My kids liked it, but The Husband isn't a huge fan of Indian food, so he's non-commital.

[Della]

My first foray into the book will be Bistecos Ranchero (or however it's spelt).

I did buy the potatoes for it, even though most people here thought they were a "third wheel" in the dish. Not sure if I'll use them or not.

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I made that dish a few weeks ago and we loved it. I could leave or take the potatoes but Greg LOVED them and thought we should add even more next time. And he is usually just so-so on starch and all about the meat.

I would suggest making the dish with all the ingrediants the first time you make it and then you can adjust the next time if you like the dish...........let me know how you like it!

[Jensen]

I would suggest making the dish with all the ingrediants the first time you make it and then you can adjust the next time if you like the dish...........let me know how you like it!

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That's exactly what I've done (except I bought 3 peppers instead of 2). It's in the oven right now!

[Della]

I would suggest making the dish with all the ingrediants the first time you make it and then you can adjust the next time if you like the dish...........let me know how you like it!

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That's exactly what I've done (except I bought 3 peppers instead of 2). It's in the oven right now!

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Very cool! Now that I think of it I think I added an extra pepper and a couple of jalepenos when I did it

I have a couple pics but I accidentally (not thinking) put them on my mom's computer in another town and with her dial up - took too long to upload. I'm hoping I can explain to her how to put them on a disc and mail to me.(i have more than food pics )

Anyway - let us know how dinner turns out!

[reverendtmac]

Met my girlfriend's parents for the first time on Saturday night - and to make matters twice as stressful, she and I decided to cook dinner for them. Or we decided that I'd cook for them. Anyway. Thankfully, I had a couple of weeks to get an idea of what to make, and I finally decided on Molly's recipe for grillades.

Grabbed a beautiful 2.5lb top round steak from my butcher, took it to her place, and realized that I didn't have any mallets to beat the things down to a 1/4" from the close to 3/4" thickness I bought it at...so I wrapped a wine bottle in a plastic bag and beat the everloving hell out of it as best I could. I could only really compress it to about a 1/2" with my inferior tools (although I did give some thought to wrapping it in a box of saran wrap and running it over with my car). Because of that, it wasn't as tender as I'd have liked, even after increasing the simmering time. Next time I'm gonna get my guys at Dean's to slice the thing in half length-wise for me before I begin.

Even so, the dish was *wonderful*.

The roux was better than anything I've ever made for gumbo, despite my doubts after only bringing it to a light brown (I usually go for the hershey bar look). Rich, full, just beautiful. I might have to modify my gumbo recipe (well, more than usual, anyway). Nobody except me is a big fan of grits, so I opted for rice instead...nice green salad, good bread, a really nice bottle of Bordeaux. Started off with a nice baked brie with pecans, brown sugar and brandy, and took 'em to a local bistro for dessert and espresso.

Her parents now want to know when they can come down for dinner again

[Jensen]

 

I would suggest making the dish with all the ingrediants the first time you make it and then you can adjust the next time if you like the dish...........let me know how you like it!

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That's exactly what I've done (except I bought 3 peppers instead of 2). It's in the oven right now!

 

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Well, I came back to report on my first foray into the book and eGullet was undergoing its transformation!

So, the bisteces rancheros was really good. I kind of wish now that I hadn't put the extra pepper in; it added heat to the dish but I think I would have preferred just the flavour of the pepper. That being said, I find that peppers (even of the same variety) will vary on their heat index depending on when (or where) I buy them so I might just go ahead and use 3 again next time.

During eGullet's re-org, I also made the "World's Best Braised Cabbage" (the balsamic version). Although not "the world's best", it was pretty damn good. I used my regular balsamic vinegar from Bariani for it; next time, I might try it with what we lovingly call "the fig shit"...18-year old fig balsamic vinegar from Spenger's.

Tomorrow I'm going to try my own braise, using the reference section at the beginning of the book as a guide. I took a pork shoulder roast out of the freezer this morning. I'll make up a marinade tonight and marinate it overnight so that it will be ready for cooking tomorrow.

 

 

 

[Moderator's note: This topic continues here: Cooking with "All About Braising" by Molly Stevens (Part 2)]