Maine Classics

THE TAO OF BRAISING (and other great ways to cook meat)

IN SUMMER, YOU WANT TO BE OUTSIDE GRILLING, BUT WE HAVE long winters here, so we have many months for two great cold weather ways to cook meat—braising and roasting.

Braising is also known as pot cooking, a method that combines both moist and dry heat. Food is usually seared first to caramelize the surface and then the meat is placed in a pot or pan in the oven with liquid and covered to ensure tenderness and intense flavor. Lamb shanks, veal shanks, and chuck roasts are great for slow, one-pot cooking, and it’s one of the easiest techniques around. Just sear; then put the meat in a pot with herbs, wine, and some vegetables and turn the heat to low. A few hours later, dinner is ready and you’ve had time in between to catch up with the kids or take a long hot bath.

We do have some tips for great braising results. Marinating is always a good idea. It infuses the meat with flavor, and the acids in a marinade tenderize the meat. Searing is important too. You’ll get a nice caramelized crust on the outside and the juices are sealed inside.

There are many ways to braise. Some like to use a countertop slow cooker, which you can just turn on and leave with minimal supervision. A heavy Dutch oven is good for stove-top braising and for oven cooking as well.

Your cooking liquid is a factor too. Water is fine but add flavor with stock, wine, or even a rich, dark juice. Using flavorful liquids while braising gives you a tasty gravy or sauce at the end when you take the pot out of the oven, remove the meat and vegetables and strain the rest. What’s left is that intense flavor from long, slow cooking and meat that is as tender as can be from this ancient cooking method.

Roasting, a cooking method using dry heat, is another great way to prepare meats in the winter or on a rainy day because it warms up the kitchen. Cooking in the oven with high temperatures browns and caramelizes the surface of meats and fowl, adding great flavor. Most recipes will tell you to have the heat on high for the first part of cooking and then reduce the heat to ensure a moist meal. There are few things as delicious as a simple roasted chicken. We’ll roast one in the afternoon and have enough for dinner and then lunch the next day in salads and in a sandwich with a little mayo and fresh herbs. They’re the easiest thing in the world to roast, throw one in the oven with lemon and garlic, do the laundry, watch the news, and there’s your dinner. Just place a little water in the bottom of the pan to give it some moisture and you’re done.

Roasts like lamb and pork benefit from marinating ahead of time. A little olive oil, wine, and herbs give the meat flavor and break down the tendons for more tender meat. Using a heavy pan helps, too, because it allows the meat to cook evenly. Very fatty meats like prime rib should be placed on a roasting rack, but in general, it’s fine to have the meat right in the pan. At the end, let the meat rest after removing it from the oven. It will cook for a few minutes more and keep in the juices if you wait about seven minutes before carving.

Using a small amount of fat or oil in a sauté pan is another great way to cook pork, chicken breasts, and much more. We like to sauté meats briefly all around on the top of the stove and then finish up in the oven. The quick heat cooking gets a good crust on the meat and the oven cooking ensures a moist and fully cooked inside. It’s as easy as it gets.

Because of the long winters, we enjoy grilling so much more when the snow melts and warm weather finally arrives. At Arrows, one of the first things guests see after they’ve toured the garden is our big wood-burning grill. We add woods from our apple orchard and oak from the forest to give meats and fish extra flavors, and we’re sure to marinate as well not only to impart more flavor but to keep food from sticking.

While some like the convenience of a gas grill, we prefer the smoke and flavor from a wood grill. With both, heat is important so be sure to have a thermometer to keep track of the temperature.

The direct cooking method is a bit like broiling where the foods are right over the source of the heat. If you’re grilling something that doesn’t need much time, such as vegetables, steaks, and small chicken pieces, just turn them once halfway through cooking and you’re done.

If cooking food that takes much longer like a roast, ribs, or a whole pork loin, use indirect cooking so the entire roast is cooked evenly. If using a charcoal grill, just arrange the coals on one side of the grill or on either side, leaving the middle bare. The food goes over the bare space. Place a drip pan under the meat to catch fats and juices. For a gas grill, heat all of the burners and then turn off the middle burner under the food. For a two-burner grill, just light one side.

There are so many foods you can cook on a grill—fish, clams, lobster, vegetables, corn on the cob. If we could bake a cake on a grill we’d try it!