In Praise of the Braise

I love to cook. I'm really good at it. This time of year particularly suits my cooking and eating style. Hearty foods on chilly nights. Dinner cooked in one pot with some hot crunchy bread. One of my favorite methods of cooking is braising. It's really quite simple and fool proof if you follow some basic techniques. A good braise includes meat or poultry, some savory vegetables, a good meat or vegetable stock that includes an acidic element like wine or tomatoes and a variety of spices. You need a good heavy pot ( I love cast iron because it heats evenly, is virtually indestructible and you can use it on a stove top or in the oven) . Braising is a style of cooking that evolved as a method of cooking tough cuts of meat by people that couldn't afford better cuts. Many classical or high cuisine dishes are direct descendants of these peasant dishes. Coq au Vin is one. The dish pictured here is one I made that has some Moroccan influences. Here you go.

The meat. One cut up (organic) chicken. I always buy whole chickens and cut them up myself. I remove the wings, thighs, legs and breasts from the body and have a nice carcass to make stock with.

The vegetables. 1 large onion thinly sliced, two good size carrots diced small, 2 or 3 celery sticks diced small. 3 or 4 garlic cloves crushed and 2 cans of garbanzo beans.

The stock. 1 quart chicken stock. (Your own home made is best, but it is easy to find good organic chicken broth these days) and 1 16 oz can of whole tomatoes.

The spices. Olive oil, 1 t salt, 1 t pepper, 1/4 t cinnamon, 1/4 t cumin, 1/4 t cloves, 1/4 t nutmeg 1/2 cup golden raisins and 1/4 cup honey.

Put it together. Dredge chicken in some flour. Heat pot, add olive oil, heat oil till smoking, reduce heat to medium, add chicken and brown on all sides. Remove chicken. Add carrot, onion, celery and garlic into pot and brown. Add chicken back to pot. Add stock, tomatoes, garbanzo beans and spices except for raisins and honey. Lower heat to med low, cover and let cook for 1 hour. Add honey and cook for another 1/2 hour. Add raisins and cook for final 1/2 hour. Adjust salt to taste. Serve with rice, hot crunchy bread or flour tortillas. Enjoy.