In Praise of the Braise

Photos by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty

Braising is an important part of wintertime cooking, using low temperatures and a lot of time to warm the kitchen and transform inexpensive, tough cuts of meat into tender, spoonable stews. In the darkest days of winter, when dusk falls in mid-afternoon and I crave the warmth of a stick-to-your-ribs slow-cooked supper, I get to work early and braise something—almost always on the bone.

Here are three distinctly different braises with a few things in common: They’re all made with white wine for a resulting sauce that’s clean and bright and not too rich, more like a subtle blanquette de veau than a dark, claret-rich boeuf Bourguignon or stout-infused lamb stew; they all taste better when made in advance and make terrific leftovers; and each is enhanced right before serving with verdant flat-leaf Italian parsley, an anything-but-boring wintertime workhorse.

For a list of where to find local meat in Central Massachusetts, click here>>

This story appeared in the Winter 2022 issue.

FOOD WRITING + MEMOIR, WINTERSarah Blackburnwinter, winter 2022, Winter, Winter 2022, braising, meat, bone-in meat, local meat, nose-to-tail, winter recipes, cold weather cooking, stew, EW11Comment