Winter Menu: Chase Away The Chill One Bite At A Time
As much as I love quick meals, once winter settles in, I relish dishes that result from slow cooking.
The low temperature, longer cooking time on the stovetop, in the oven, or slow cooker, yields deeply flavored dishes while filling my kitchen with savory aromas.
Slow cooking also tenderizes less expensive cuts of meat like chuck roast, pork shoulder, and short ribs, as well as dense cuts like lamb shanks.
The key to slow-cooking success is braising – a technique that combines searing and liquid. This easy technique produces meats that are fall-off-the-bone tender bathed in a rich sauce.
Searing the meat in oil browns it and provides the foundation for a savory sauce. Brown bits from the meat stick to the bottom of the pot and yield flavor that is absorbed by chopped carrots, celery, and onion that are added once the meat is browned.
Next, a braising liquid goes in the pot which can be water, broth, or wine. Just be sure the wine is one you would drink. Nothing destroys a sauce quicker than cheap wine. One that retails for $12 to $15 is ideal.
After stirring brown bits into the liquid, return the meat and fresh herbs to the pot, cover, bring it to a simmer, and cook slowly until the meat becomes fork-tender and the liquid transforms into a savory elixir.
One of my favorite slow cooked meals is braised lamb shanks. Because shanks are a tougher cut than the roast, they benefit from slow cooking in red wine, flavored with fresh rosemary.
Season the lamb with salt and pepper before searing, but because braising concentrates flavors, wait until the final half hour of cooking before adding more salt.
So, bring on the cold weather because braising your next meal will chase away the chill one bite at a time.
Christy Rost is a cookbook author, host of Celebrating Home cooking videos, and longtime Park Cities and Preston Hollow resident. Her ‘At Home with Christy Rost’ cooking series for Eat This TV Network airs on AmazonFire, AppleTV+, Roku, Samsung TV, and YouTube. Visit christyrost.com for details and recipes.
