For me, Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons in which to cook. While I will surly miss summers’s color, abundance, and wonderment, there is not much to cook in the summer. While it is true that there are few things that can rival the freshness and opportunity that summer provides, the farmers do most of the work. The challenge in summer is sourcing the freshest ingredients,pairing them well, and then staying out of the way! The flavors of summer are built in. While this provides a visual knockout, the chef is left to be content that he/she has a great farmers market, great contacts, and a great eye. The restraint is unbearable! Man, if only we could cook this stuff!
But for the French trained chef, the arrival of Fall reminds us of why we are chefs. It’s Braising Season. Bring out the Shanks! Veal Shanks, Lamb Shanks, Pork Shanks, Braised Rabbit, Duck Confit, Cassolet, Vegetable Ragout with Braising Liquid, Lentils with Braising Liquid, Mushrooms with Brasing Liquid, Winter Greens with Braising Liquid. But I di
Braising takes lots of patience and plenty of planning but it pays you back with huge flavors that cannot be achieved through shortcuts. Braising also comes with a considerable cost as well. While braising meats are almost always an “off cut” and thus, less expensive, they require endless amounts of wine, vegetables, oven space, and time. It should be said though, once braised and stored in their strained liquid, the shelf life is considerably longer.
It seems to me that there is a wholesomeness to this style of cooking. Everything about it just feels right. It keeps us warm and sustains us throughout the harshest months of the year. There is craftsmanship in the effort that it demands and a shared experience with those who came before us that cooked these same things, the same way, for hundreds of years. Although, they probably did not have convection ovens. In an time when it seems that we do not make anything ourselves anymore, in some small way, we are
keeping a honorable tradition alive.
Not to be left out, it is also open season on red wines! No more sweating the right pairing for the big cab, the jammy syrah, the wild zin, or the reckless malbec. Chef, which red would you recommend with the Osso Bucco? Why… All of them! Hello Northern Rhone! Oh how I have missed you….