How to Braise Beef, Lamb or Pork

What is braising?

Lamb braised in red wine and Provencal herbs.

Braising is a cooking technique in which the main ingredient is seared, or browned in fat, and then simmered in liquid on low heat in a covered pot. The best equipment to use would be a crock pot, pressure cooker or Dutch oven. LeCrueset makes a range of enameled pots and pans that are good for either the stove or the oven. They work well too.

Whether you choose to use the oven or the top of the stove, you will be pleased with the results. Braising is often used as a way to cook less expensive, tough cuts of meat. The end result is tender and flavorful. Other than great taste and economy, there are other reasons to cook this way.

After searing the meat, the remainder of the cooking time (until sauce/gravy preparation) does not require much attention. Once the heat is reduced, you can go about cooking other things, do some chores or take a break. This is also a plus when entertaining: you have more time for your guests.

Yet another plus of cooking with this method is that the meat tastes great and you also get delicious broth, sauce or gravy. It’s one pot cooking at it’s finest. There isn’t much to cleaning up and anything leftover can be reheated or frozen and reheated for later.

This method of cooking is great for tough cuts of meat but also works well with chicken, fish and/or vegetables. You can braise in a crock pot, pressure cooker, large saute pan or the most often used cooking vessel for braises, a Dutch oven.

Some popular dishes you may have heard of that use a braising technique are osso bucco, pot roast, braised veal & lamb shanks and braised cabbage. You can braise just about any meat, fish or vegetable you want and be as creative as you like with seasoning, but there are some ingredients that are better for braising and some you want to cook using other techniques like grilling or roasting.

9 Simple Steps to Great Braised Meat

1. Season the main ingredient with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a few tablespoons of oil and/or butter in a heavy pan or Dutch oven.
3. Saute meat or vegetables in the pan on medium-high heat until the meat browns.
4. Deglace the pan by pouring broth, beef stock, wine or juice and scrape any pieces of meat that are stuck to the pan and stir.
5. Add cooking liquid (water, stock, wine, juice or some combination) to the half-way point of the main ingredient.
6. Cover and place the meat on the middle of a rack in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Cook until completely tender. This can range from 1 hour to 6 hours, depending on what you are cooking.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and strain the meat and vegetables out of the liquid.
9. Remove the excess fat floating in the liquid, and then reduce the sauce to desired thickness by cooking it down over low heat until it thickens. Or, make gravy by adding a mix of equal parts fat and flour (a roux).

How to Fix a Frozen Pizza

We've all seen them, heavily discounted in the freezer section of our favorite grocer: simple pizzas, just sauce, cheese and sad little crust. Well, they can be fixed, and are a great, inexpensive alternative to making your own dough.

After finding my delightful little disc of potential, I set about deciding how to top it. I got a sudden and urgent craving for my favorite pasta dish, spaghetti alla carbonara, and with that the plans were set. I decided alfredo would be the perfect sauce, complimented with crispy pancetta and grilled chicken strips.

Crisp three to four ounces of chopped pancetta in a dry pan until crisp. Drain over a papertowel.

The pizza is assembled with grilled chicken strips, slices of fresh mozzarella, the alfredo sauce on top, and the pancetta sprinkled about for good measure. Since these frozen pizzas generally have a bit of sauce on them to begin with, I chose to put the alfredo on top to keep the moisture in.

Cooking time will generally be a bit longer than recommended on the pizza packaging, but I've found that ten minutes at 350 degrees is a good start, then continue cooking just till the cheese is melted and the crust has browned. With the chicken and the alfredo, you can make them yourself or use store-bought, whichever fits your lifestyle better.

How to Blanch Vegetables

I know I know, such an easy technique, but it's amazing how many people out there don't know the right way to blanch vegetables. Blanching is an easy technique that many cooks use to keep vegetables crisp and tender. By boiling vegetables briefly, chilling them in ice water, then reheating them slowly, blanching preserves texture, color and flavor in vegetables like asparagus, green beans, and broccoli.


First, bring a large post of salted water to a strong boil. Drop the vegetables in small batches so the water doesn't lose its boil. Blanch the veggies briefly, two to three minutes (time it!), then immediately remove them from the pot and dunk them into a bowl of ice water. When they are completely cooled, drain them on papertowels.


Now that the veggies are crisp, bright and perfectly cooked, you can reheat them anyway you wish - the simplest way to showcase fresh vegetables is to saute them briefly in a little butter until they are warmed through. Remember, the idea is to reheat them, not recook them.


There you have it, the super simple way to crisply cooked vegetables. No more soggy asparagus, woo hoo!