Braise

In Braise, superstar chef Daniel Boulud, with renowned food writer Melissa Clark, presents the definitive cookbook on the time-honored, sublimely flavorful cooking technique, bringing one-pot meals to a whole new level. Braising uses a "moist heat" method, where food and a small amount of liquid are placed in a closed container and cooked over a long period of time. A successful braise mingles the flavors of the food and the liquid, and results in rich, aromatic flavors. With inspiring recipes for all kinds of braises—from meat to fish to vegetables—from destinations around the globe, including Thailand, Italy, Mexico, Turkey, Lebanon, France, Russia, and China, Boulud brings the world of braising home with welcome simplicity and intense flavor. Whether he's whipping up the familiar (Pot Roast) for a family dinner or preparing the exotic (Cardamom-Spiced Coconut Lamb) for entertaining, Boulud's expert guidance and easy-to-follow recipes written in Clark's clear and inviting style offer dishes full of variety and unparalleled flavor, sure to delight even the most discriminating palates.

Winner of the James Beard Foundation Book Award From the perfect pot roast to the fragrant complexity of braised endive, there's no food more satisfying than a well-braised dish. The art of braising comes down to us from the earliest days of cooking, when ingredients were enclosed in a heavy pot and buried in the hot embers of a dying fire until tender and bathed in a deliciously concentrated sauce. Today, braising remains as popular and as uncomplicated as ever. Molly Stevens's All About Braising is a comprehensive guide to this versatile way of cooking, written to instruct a cook at any level. Everything you need to know is here, including: • a thorough explanation of the principles of good braising with helpful advice on the best cuts of meat, the right choice of fish and vegetables, and the right pots • 125 reliable, easy-to-follow recipes for meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetables, ranging from quick-braised weeknight dishes to slow-cooked weekend braises • planning tips to highlight the fact that braised foods taste just as good, if not even better, as leftovers • a variety of enlightened wine suggestions for any size pocketbook with each recipe.

The second in a series of highly accessible and instructive single-subject books covering basic to advanced techniques that will make you a better cook. According to James Beard-award winning cookbook author Michael Ruhlman, "Braising is what cooking is truly about -- transformation. You start with a tough, often inexpensive, cut of meat, and through your care and knowledge as a cook, you turn it into something tender and succulent and exquisite. That is true cooking, cooking that engages both mind and soul." Among the recipes featured in this second book in Ruhlmans's new "how-to" series are Moroccan Lamb Tagine, Classic Yankee Pot Roast, Mexican Pork and Posole Stew with Dried Chilis, Braised Fennel, and a Corned Beef and Cabbage Braise. As with the other books in this line, practical information about essential tools and staple pantry items will be outlined, along with straightforward and clearly presented advice and dozens of colorphotographs showcasing both finished dishes and step-by-step cooking techniques.

With one simple, mostly hands-off technique, you'll unlock deep flavors in meat, poultry, seafood, and even vegetables in this authoritative guide of 200 foolproof, unique recipes. Braises are far from just stews! The treasured technique of cooking food slowly and gently in liquid is a pillar of cuisines around the world, and How to Braise Everything is a modern master class. You'll learn that a pot roast cooks much in the same way as a warm-spiced Moroccan lamb tagine, savory Spanish stewed chickpeas, or even a pot full of hearty bacon-enhanced collard greens. The elemental method is simple: Combine your main ingredient with a flavorful liquid, cook (usually) at a low temperature, and you're left with superbly tender meat or vegetables and a flavorful sauce or broth, both parts benefitting from an exchange of flavors. But this simplicity doesn't mean there's not a right and a wrong way to braise. When should you sear your meat before its bath? Should you presoak your beans? What's better for braising: the oven or the stove? You'll discover tricks to coax out as much flavor as possible from braised subjects in streamlined recipes. We cover comforting favorites like Old-Fashioned Pot Roast and classics like Chicken Cacciatore while also bringing the technique up to date, exploring international dishes with vibrant flavors like Mexican Chicken with Pumpkin Seed Sauce and Hake in Saffron Broth with Chorizo and Potatoes. Verdant vegetable sides like Braised Spring Vegetables with Tarragon and hearty bean dishes like Curried Lentils with Golden Raisins complete the meal.

"Knowing how to cook healthfully--without sacrificing flavor--is an important step towards improving heart health, weight, and overall well-being. For the first time, American Heart Association offers a primer on 12 easy-to-master heart-healthy cooking techniques (baking, broiling, braising, poaching, grilling, roasting, microwaving, blending, slow cooking, and stewing, to name a few). Once you know these techniques, you'll be able to customize the 175 recipes in this book for an endless supply of delicious meals. Learn the basics and then start experimenting!"--

A Chinese woman embarks on a dream-like journey through Beijing, Tibet, and mysterious worlds beyond in this novel of “startlingly original imagination” (Guardian, UK). One autumn morning, Jia Jia walks into the bathroom of her lavish Beijing apartment to find her husband dead in their half-full bathtub. Like something out of a dream, Jia Jia discovers a pencil sketch of a strange watery figure next to the tub. The mysterious drawing launches Jia Jia on an odyssey across contemporary Beijing, from its high-rise apartments to its hidden bars, as her path crosses some of the people who call the city home, including a jaded bartender who may be able to offer her the kind of love she had long thought impossible. Unencumbered by a marriage that had constrained her, Jia Jia travels into her past in search of unspoken secrets. Her journey takes her to the high plains of Tibet, and even to a shadowy, watery otherworld. An atmospheric evocation of middle-class urban China, An Yu’s Braised Pork explores the intimate strangeness of grief, the indelible mysteries of unseen worlds, and a young woman’s empowering journey of self-discovery.

With a bounty of regional Italian dishes, the authors of La Tavola Italiana serve up “inspiration for the mind as well as for the kitchen” (Booklist). Italian cooking draws its inspiration from the roll call of seasonal ingredients that pass through its kitchens, and in this splendid volume Diane Darrow and Tom Maresca share the simple secrets of making the most of the best fresh, top-of-the-season foods from farm and woodland, lake and sea. The Seasons of the Italian Kitchen presents two hundred recipes according to the four seasons and the traditional courses of the Italian meal: antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno, dolce. All are wed (as they always are in Italy) to the wines that best match them, and the recipes have been tested and adapted to seasonal ingredients readily available in the United States. Richly stocked with delightful anecdotes and culinary lore gathered from the authors’ long love affair with Italy, they invite both amateur and expert to experience the Italian genius for making the most of the moment. “If you can read or even browse through this book without running straight to the kitchen, you’ve got more willpower than we do.” —The Wine Investors “Italian cookbooks abound, and some of these dishes will be familiar, but the authors’ text is well written and informed, and there are some unusual regional specialties here, too.” —Library Journal

Presents detailed cooking instructions for braising a variety of meat and vegetable dishes, with advice on shopping for food and choosing ingredients.