My cooking style has the following characteristics:
1) I dont use recipes. I'm more interested in techniques and processes and putting my own touch on them rather than following step by step what someone else created.
2) I don't often use butter. Most everything I cook uses olive oil instead. (When it comes to eggs though, butter it is).It's healthier and I dont seem to have a problem with making things flavorful...
3) When i think of something that sounds good, I make it happen. And to me, that's really the secret of cooking. If you're afraid to try a certain technique or to just simply "go for it," then the scope of what you can accomplish will be limited.
4) I pair everything (usually) with wine. It's just more fun that way, not to mention I FUCKING LOVE WINE!
5) I know how to buy meat. You MUST learn this before going any further ;) You dont have to spend an arm and a leg on beef, pork, seafood, chicken, etc... to get a good cut. I usually go for what's on sale, that way I'm always buying different things.
6) i listen to music when I cook and I'll always tell you what I got bumpin'.
7) I don't own a microwave.
Ok, less talking, more cooking:
So my first entry will be about the braised lamb shoulder i made tonight. I'll preface this by saying that I've never really braised before and it's always been an enigmatic technique for me. I've always heard people talking about it, but ive never really tried. Maybe I always associated it with stews, but they're nothing alike.
I bought a lamb shoulder steak at Whole Foods Mart. It cost me less than 5 bucks. I had a 1/4 bottle of a Foxen cab Franc that I didnt finish from late last week and I wisely hung on to it for the braise.
I cut 5 small Yukon Gold potatoes in half(Just a fancy name, i picked em up at Farmers Market). Chopped up a quarter onion in largish pieces and browned them in some olive oil. I threw the potatoes in first, then the onions. I cooked the taters flat side down for about 2 minutes and then shook the pan up. (medium non-stick skillet) Finally, I moved the potatoes to the sides, and browned the 11 oz grass fed lamb shoulder for 90 secs each side. I had already coated it in salt, pepper and a dash of rosemary. I had also added 2 pinches of chopped up garlic and shallots around everything and let it brown a bit at the end. Sometimes I like to chop extra garlic and shallots and save it for the next night in a ziploc in the fridge, tonight, that was the case.
When done browning. I turned off the flame (it was at med-high). I then showered the pan with the Cab Franc and it was the perfect amount to cover the lamb up halfway. (I had read that this was the inherent difference between a stew and a braise; the stew, covers the lamb the whole way) Just before this step, i sprinkled some cayenne pepper and red chili flakes atop the potatoes and whatever garlic and shallots were left in my bag. I set the flame to low and covered the pan and set the timer for 35 minutes. Since Ive never braised, I wasn't sure how long this would take...
At the 25 minute mark, I checked the meat and it was coming along nicely, but a circular section of meat was being pushed up by fat and causing the lamb to not lay flat. I removed it and the cut flattened a bit. I recovered and came back in 10 minutes. This is how it looked:
Notice how its still really liquidy around the pan. I also felt the piece and it was still tough. The point of braising is to make a tougher cut tender, so I knew this wasn't done. (The liquid breaks down the collagen in the muscles of the meat into gelatin, hence, making it tender...this is what I was progressing towards). I also cheated and flipped the meat over for this period. The bottom looked very red and had clearly taken in alot of qualities of the wine. Not sure if you're supposed to flip a braised meat, in fact, I think you probably arent, but I came back and flipped it back in 7 mins.
At this point, I boiled another small pot of water to cook some broccoli in as a side dish. I wouldve thrown it in the braise, but I didn't want to mess with what I had going. I set the timer for another 10 mins and went back to my Laker game. In 10 (yeah...you caught me. I did flip back at 7 mins) I came back and it was still a lil tougher than I would've liked. I threw the broccoli in the boiling water and squeezed a half lemon over it. In 5 mins, I turned off the broc and stalled a lil bit cause I wanted my braise to keep going. All in all, I say that piece took 50-55 minutes. I knew it was done when I started serving it out and the liquid had turned into a gorgeous thick sauce. The onions, shallots and garlic were all fused with the wine reduction and the fat of the lamb. I cracked open a 2007 Foxen Toasted Rope Syrah and Boom:
Look how thick the sauce looks. That's how I knew that I did this right. The potatoes were really red and I used the rest of the sauce atop the lamb, potatoes and the broccoli. The meat was tender, just perfect really, not overdone or tough at all. The cayenne and red chili pepper spiced it up nicely too. The potatoes were solid and the extra sauce on the broccoli absorbed nicely into the lemony florets.
I was really pleased with the way my first crack at braising turned out and now I feel like I can repeat this process time and time again! Hope you enjoyed my first entry. Dont know if they'll always be in this much detail, but there'll always be pictures!
Happy Eatin'!
Spinelli
Musical Selection: Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
