Braised Meat - Berkshire Pork Osso Bucco & Braised Pork Shank

Have you ever run across a recipe that requires you to braise the meat? Does it sound like a foreign word to you? Are you just beginning to find your place in the kitchen, and have no clue about the terms or techniques?

While braising sounds like a scary term, it is actually a very simple technique. Once you learn how to do it, it won’t be long before you’re a pro.

Check out these tips plus 2 recipes from Circle B Ranch in Seymour, Mo. 

First, you begin with the meat:

• Choose your meat. You can decide on beef, chicken, fish, lamb, or pork. Of course, I am going to focus on pork—my favorite! You don’t have to start with a high-dollar cut either; the liquid you use in braising will make the meat succulent and tender.
• Brown the meat. Using a little bit of oil in a skillet, sear the meat on all sides, and give it a bit of color. A golden hue is perfect. This will help seal in juices, and the crust will make your dish more visually appealing. Searing the meat also leaves you little bits in the pan which will play a part in a future step—“deglazing.” 

Berkshire Osso Bucco, Searing in Olive Oil

• Set the meat aside. It’s time to think about your veggies. If you are including tougher vegetables like carrots or celery or onion, you will now add them to the oil in the pan and “caramelize” them. Sauté them until they are softer and light brown in color, but be careful not to burn them.
• Deglaze the pan. Add just a little bit of liquid to the pan (wine, beer, chicken stock, vinegar, water, cider, or juice), and scrape up any caramelized bits from the skillet with a wooden spoon. But don’t get rid of them. Stir them into your liquid! These tasty bits are going to add immense flavor to the braise.
• Choose your liquid. Most braises are created from stock or wine, but little additions can enhance flavor and add a little flair. Your decision can be based on what you have on hand, or make a selection according to your cooking goals or tastes. For example, you can braise with water, but the result won’t be very flavorful. Some chefs prefer beer, specifically lighter lagers (an acquired taste), to complement pork. Cider, as well as apple or citrus based juices, can be used to sweeten poultry or pork. Don’t be afraid to be adventurous—some cooks have even tried milk or coconut milk!
  
  

Braised Circle B Ranch Pork Shank

In my Braised Circle B Ranch Pork Shank recipe, I added my Marina’s Italian Style Tomato Sauce to the braise. And it turned out to be absolutely delicious!

1. Add your meat back in. Put your meat in a coverable pan or Dutch oven, along with your veggies, and pour in your liquid until it sets about one-half the way up the side of your meat. Don’t completely cover the meat; the liquid will seep in and flavor it.
2. Add a little spice. It’s customary to use bay leaves, and salt and pepper is usually a given, but don’t limit yourself!
3. Cover and cook. The hardest part of your work is over. Slide the meat into the oven and cook on low heat, usually 325° but no more than 350°. The meat should cook for about 2-3 hours depending on the cut, but you will know when it is done because the meat will be tender and literally sliding off the bone, or easily cut with a knife.
4. Broth or Sauce. At this point, you can serve the meat as is or you can choose to create a sauce, which will enhance the dish. Take out the meat and the vegetables. Skim off the fat, and simmer the liquid until it thickens enough to coat a spoon. Then add your meat and veggies back in to heat them back through.
5. Give it a little zing. If you want to add texture or give the dish your own personal touch, you can top it off with a handful of chopped herbs, grated citrus zest, or crème fraiche.
When I make Berkshire Pork Osso Bucco, I top it off with a classic Italian gremolata—parsley, garlic, and lemon zest.

And that’s it. Braising, once you understand the process, is as simple as breathing. I hope you give braising a try, experiment, and have as much fun with it as I do!

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"Last night I made the Osso Bucco and I was amazed how delicious it turned out.

These are the ingredients.  I used Veal Shanks. "  ~Shelly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. 4-6 meaty slices of pork shank, cut 1.5 inches thick
2. 2 tablespoons olive oil
3. 1/3 cup carrots diced
4. 1/3 cup onions diced
5. 1/3 cup celery diced
6. 4 cloves garlic, minced
7. 1 cup dry white wine
8. 1 cup chicken stock
9. Ground black pepper to taste
10. Salt to taste

  

Gremolata

1. 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leafed parsley, chopped
2. 2 cloves garlic, minced
3. 2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated

 

Veal Shanks Browning

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven. Add the shanks and brown on both sides.
2. Remove the shanks from the dutch oven. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the carrots, onions, celery and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables have softened-5 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the wine, chicken stock, salt and black pepper. Add the shanks back to the stock and bring to a boil.
4. With the lid back on the pot put the Dutch oven into the oven and cook the shanks for one to two hours, or until fork-tender.
5. Sear the Berkshire Osso Bucco in Olive Oil.
6. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and prepare the Gremolata.

 

Gremolata

1. Check the shanks that they are fully cooked.
2. Take the shanks out of the pot.
3. Reduce the liquid in the Dutch Oven by half and add the gremolata, a classic Northern Italian seasoning.
4. Return shanks to the pot.

I served it with Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  So Yummy!

Visit Marina's website at 

https://www.circlebranchpork.com/

The Best Ways to Cook Boneless Top Sirloin Steak

This week USDA Prime Top Sirloin is on Sale for $6.99 lb. in a Family Pack.

While prime beef may be the juiciest and most flavorful cut of beef, sirloin is among the leanest and healthiest. To make the most of this lean, healthy cut, enhance your sirloin with additional flavor boosters, and cook it carefully.

Preparation

Choose steaks that are at least one inch thick. Thinner steaks will dry out when you cook them, and you'll have difficulty reaching the perfect rare or medium rare stage for the best flavor. Let your steak sit at room temperature for at least one hour prior to cooking -- the muscle fibers in cold steaks contract and shrink when hitting a hot pan, causing the meat to toughen. Finally, dry the steak with a paper towel to ensure that you will be grilling and not steaming it.

Salting

Opinions vary about whether to salt meats before or after cooking.  According to Oliver Schwaner-Albright of Food and Wine Magazine, the tiebreaker is food scientist Harold McGee from the New York Times, who believes that salting before cooking actually helps the muscle cells of the meat hold moisture in.

Marinating

Allowing your sirloin to marinate for a few hours or a whole day adds flavor and tenderness to the meat. The acidic elements in a marinade begin breaking down the meat's muscle fibers prior to cooking. The best marinade is a matter of personal preference. Use your favorite wine vinaigrette straight from the bottle or choose a marinade that includes balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Place the marinating steak in a zip-lock plastic bag for complete coverage and easy clean-up.

Pan Frying

For an unusual but effective method of cooking sirloin, coat the bottom of your pan with oil and turn the heat to medium high. Cut the sirloin into serving size portions. Place the steaks in the pan and begin turning them after only 15 seconds and every 15 seconds thereafter until they reach the desired stage of doneness. The length of cooking time depends on the thickness of the steak. After the first two or three minutes of constant turning, your steak will develop a flavorful brown crust on the outside but will remain tender and pink on the inside.

Grilling

Grilling on an outdoor barbecue adds the smoky flavor to sirloin that some steak connoisseurs swear by. You'll get the attractive grill marks by using your grill-pan indoors, but will miss the distinctive grilled flavor. Chef and famed barbecue king, Bobbie Flay, brushes his sirloins with olive oil and seasons them with salt and pepper before grilling the steaks for four minutes on each side. He lets the steak rest for two minutes before cutting, a best practice for any cooking method.

This information is written by Susan Lundman and the website Livestrong.com.

Country Style Pork Ribs and Polenta

This recipe from the Food Network

3 pounds bone-in country-style pork ribs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 carrot, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups chicken stock

Creamy Polenta, recipe follows

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Pat the ribs dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the ribs on all sides, working in batches if needed. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven and reduce the heat to medium.   

Add the carrots, celery, onions and some salt and pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, to remove the raw flavor, about 3 minutes.   Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and then add the red pepper flakes and bay leaves.            

 

Add the ribs back to the pan and add enough stock to reach halfway up the sides of the ribs. Bring the pan to a simmer, cover and place in the oven. Braise until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. During the last half hour, uncover to allow the liquid to reduce and the pork to brown.            

 

Serve the ribs with Creamy Polenta, spooning the sauce on top, and garnishing with parsley.         

Creamy Polenta

Spray the insert of a slow cooker with cooking spray (for easier clean up) and preheat on high.

 

In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of the half-and-half, the milk, 1 tablespoon of the butter and the polenta. Season with salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly to keep the mixture lump-free. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours, stirring once or twice per hour. 

 

Once you are ready to serve, open the slow cooker and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the remaining 1/3 cup half-and-half and the Parmesan. Salt and pepper conservatively since the polenta will be served with a robustly salted dish.

Recipes courtesy Melissa d'Arabian