meat

Braised: Cooking and Recipe Technique, Nutritional Properties, Role in Diet and How to Cook by R.Borgacci

What's this

What is braised?

The term "braised" usually means a recipe based on distinct beef for mixed cooking, stove and oven, slow, prolonged and moist.

Warning! Braised is not synonymous with stew or stew. Stewing is a similar but more elementary cooking, while stew is a specific recipe.

Meat is mainly braised, but there are also various fish recipes - better if semi-fat or fat, such as braised conger or braised salmon. Although marginally, brazing is also used for cooking vegetables.

In reality, brazing is a real cooking technique or system that is based on several fundamental steps, to say the least. The most characteristic aspect is the combined use of different heat sources thanks to the use of a special pan called brasiera.

The ingredients to be braised should not be cut into small pieces; on the contrary, it would be better to leave them whole. The characteristic of this methodology is in fact that of making the product cook with its own liquids - sometimes also composed of a marinade, which do not evaporate thanks to the use of the lid - continuously lacquering / wetting.

Meat and fish belong to the first fundamental group of foods - foods rich in high biological value proteins, vitamins and minerals specific to the subgroup in question. The most common beef braise is a generally fairly caloric preparation. The most used cuts of meat are not particularly fat but not even lean, but rich in collagen - which when properly cooked takes on a jelly-like consistency. Furthermore, a good braised meat must still be cooked on a conspicuous - but not excessive - bottom of fat.

The braised meat is therefore contraindicated in the diet for being overweight and, if meat, for certain metabolic pathologies; specific relevance to various difficult conditions may depend on the specific ingredient. All the brazed meats are not indicated in the diet dedicated to digestive impairment.

Kitchen

Description of the cooking technique or system called brazing

Brazing is a mixed technique that uses the combination of:

  1. Quick cooking in a pan on the stove, without lid, over high heat but for a short time - in which the initial browning takes place, the nuance, the addition of any other ingredients and the cooking liquid that must be enough until the end of the whole process
  2. Prolonged cooking in a static oven at about 150 ° C - not necessarily preheated - with lid.

Like cooking in casserole stewing, brazing uses the following means of propagation:

  • Air
  • water
  • Vapor
  • Fat.

Therefore, different types of heat transmission coexist within the mixed brazing system:

  • the metal of the braising pan, heated first by the flame then by the oven, exerts a direct control over the food
    • also the cooking liquid, mixed water-fat, heated by the metal of the brazier, exerts a direct conduction on the food - which could be defined as an indirect conduction of the pan
  • the water vapor released by the cooking liquid and trapped in the braising pan by the lid exerts a convection on the food

Note : if the braised meat were to be uncovered in the oven, similar to a traditional roast, greater evaporation would occur, with a lower liquid conduction capacity on the bottom of the brazier, but also less convection due to the dispersion in the oven; bringing it closer to the gratin coils, a contemporary radiation could occur.

recipe

Braised beef recipe

Directly from the kitchen of my-personaltrainer.it, our personal cooker Alice proposes the recipe for Beef Braise, more precisely the cheek, but in a "light and fast" version - if this can be defined. To view the video click below.

Braised Beef - Cheek

X Problems with video playback? Reload from YouTube Go to Video Page Go to Video Recipes Section Watch the video on youtube

Below, instead, we will briefly summarize a more classic version.

Ingredients of braised beef cheek

  • Beef cheek 500 g
  • Barolo 200 ml (1 glass) - alternatively, another still dry red wine
  • Homemade vegetable broth 200 ml - for more information see also: Home-Made Vegetable Nut
  • Carrots 150
  • Celery to costs 150 g
  • OPTIONAL medium medium shallot
  • Butter or extra virgin olive oil 20 g
  • Ground black pepper or whole QB
  • Sage 2 medium leaves
  • Rosemary 1 small branch
  • Garlic 1 clove.

Process of braised beef cheek

  1. Preheat the oven to 150 ° C; in the meantime, wash, peel and cut the vegetables, then close the aromas in gauze (if in beans, even pepper)
  2. Place the cooking fat in a pan of the right size
  3. Bring to medium heat, place the cheek and vegetables browning on all sides
  4. Blend with the Barolo and, after about 30 '- once the alcohol has evaporated - add the spices in the gauze, the homemade nut and close the brazier with the lid
  5. Put in the oven and let cook for about 2 hours, lacquering the cheek with the cooking bottom every 15 '; the meat can only be turned once, after about 45 '. WARNING! If the bottom tends to dry out too much, add a little hot water
  6. Remove from the oven, remove the gauze with the spices and filter the bottom to correct it. If too liquid, some bind it with little starch or flour or cornstarch, or with little roux. Others, instead, prefer not to filter it, leaving the vegetables and whipping it all. Serve in slices of about 100-150 g with 30 g of cooking sauce.

Frequent errors and useful tips

Cooking good braised meat is not for everyone. There are many delicate passages that can be wrong; on the one hand it plays the experience, on the other the accuracy - which can differentiate a total disaster from a simply braised one to perfect.

We proceed with order:

  • As we have said, the ingredients to braise are mainly meat, fish and certain vegetables. In choosing the raw material, the most frequent mistake is to prefer medium-small sized pieces. The brazing is born instead to make tender, succulent and tasty large pieces without having to portion them before
  • Whoever manages to get a good braised beef is often thrown headlong into game preparation. It is however a delicate step, since the two types of meat must be pre-processed in different ways. While barnyard or farm animals - with few other exceptions - can be marinated by re-using the liquid in cooking, black meat is absolutely not. The marinating of game has often first of all the purpose of removing unwanted aromatic components from the meat; by reusing the marinade we would totally nullify the pre-processing necessary to remove the scent of "wild" - typical, for example, of large male boars
  • Before starting brazing, the ingredients must be carefully prepared. Rooting, binding and larding, but above all drying, play a decisive role. Having to start browning, it is not advisable to throw the meat or fish still wet, or even wet. This prevents superficial maillardization and thwarts the process - see the Maillard process
  • During the browning in the brazier directly on the stove, remember to perform only a quick passage on all sides of the food, after which fade, then add the marinade and / or other liquids by lowering the flame - such as broth, tomato sauce etc. . As soon as the liquid bottom begins to simmer evenly, cover and put in the oven; leaving it too much on the stove, especially at too high flame, there is the risk of hardening the meat by increasing - due to the contraction of the collagen fibers - excessively the basal liquid; the meat will then be boiled
  • The braised meats should not be turned over - especially fish - with the sole exception of the browning phase; the risk would be to crumble them. To uniform the cooking it is instead necessary to lacquer / wet them several times during the heat treatment in the oven
  • It is essential to avoid dirtying the edges of the braising pan too much; let's not forget that as far as cooking is moderately delicate, peaks of 150 ° C are reached. Dirty edges tend to burn, releasing unwanted organoleptic and taste components.

Are you a vegetarian but do not want to give up eating a nice braise? Try Alice's video recipe: Vegetable Braised for Easter. To view the video click below.

Vegetable Braised for Easter

X Problems with video playback? Reload from YouTube Go to Video Page Go to Video Recipes Section Watch the video on youtube

Nutritional Properties

Nutritional properties of braised beef

WARNING! The following nutritional translation will be focused on a medium cut, more precisely a posterior cut rich in collagen called sub-bundle. The recipe can be superimposed on the one described above, blending the cooking medium but without thickening it with starchy flour.

The braised beef is a recipe that belongs to the group of main courses or dishes, and retains most of the nutritional properties of the main ingredient: the sub-dish. However, it must be specified that the caloric intake is compromised by the presence of the cooking liquid and vegetables, which account for about 50% of the total volume.

Source of proteins with high biological value, vitamins - especially water-soluble B-group - and minerals - especially iron, phosphorus, zinc - specific to meat, this product is part of the first fundamental group of foods.

Braised beef is a medium-high energy recipe. Calories come mainly from lipids, followed by proteins and finally traces of carbohydrates. Fatty acids tend to be unsaturated and peptides with a high biological value - that is, they contain all the essential amino acids in the right proportions and quantities compared to the human protein model; the carbohydrates are mainly simple due to the presence of fructose in the vegetables (possibly of lactose in the butter).

Braised beef contains a non-significant fraction of fiber and a significant amount of cholesterol. Purines and the amino acid phenylalanine are abundant. Lactose appears in unlikely quantities; replacing the butter with extra virgin olive oil this would be absent. If wheat flour is not used to thicken the bottom, gluten is also absent. Histamine is absent or irrelevant.

Beef braise contains many water-soluble B-group vitamins, such as thiamine (B1), riboflavin (vit B2), niacin (PP), pyridoxine (B6) and cobalamin (B12); none in such quantities as to be considered abundant. It is also rich in vitamin A, understood as retinol and equivalents for example carotenoids (RAE). Certain minerals such as iron - highly bioavailable - and phosphorus are admirable; the quantity of zinc is fair.

NutritiousQuantity'
water77.91 g
Protein10.84 g
Lipids7.84 g
Saturated fatty acids2.61 g
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids3.99 g
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids0.43 g
Cholesterol29.0 mg
TOT Carbohydrates1.80 g
Starch / Glycogen- g
Soluble Sugar- g
Food fiber0.7 g
Soluble- g
Insoluble- g
Power123.2 kcal
Sodium59.6 mg
Potassium253.5 mg
Iron1.0 mg
Football22.12 mg
Phosphorus111.5 mg
Magnesium- mg
Zinc2.0 mg
Copper- mg
Selenium- mcg
Thiamine or vitamin B10.06 mg
Riboflavin or vitamin B20.10 mg
Niacin or vitamin PP3.27 mg
Vitamin B60.38 mg
folate3.35 mcg
Vitamin B12- mcg
Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid5.69 mg
Vitamin A or RAE156.36 RAE
Vitamin D0.0 IU
Vitamin K- mcg
Vitamin E or Alpha Tocopherol0.77 mg

Diet

Braised beef in the diet

Braised beef is a food that lends itself to most diets for healthy people, but not frequently and in large portions. It has a rather tender consistency, which indicates a perfect gelatinization of the connective tissue. On the other hand, due to the abundance of protein and very prolonged cooking - which compromises the physical structure worsening digestion - important quantities of braised beef are to be avoided - especially in the evening meal - in case of complications or diseases such as : dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hiatal hernia, gastritis and gastric ulcer.

Bringing a medium-high amount of calories, mainly provided by lipids, beef braising is not recommended in the weight loss diet against overweight and especially obesity - which instead should be low-calorie and normolipidic.

Rich in high biological value proteins, it is very useful in the diet of those who find themselves in conditions of increased need for all essential amino acids; for example: pregnancy and lactation, growth, extremely intense and / or prolonged sports, old age - due to an eating disorder and a tendency to geriatric malabsorption - pathological malabsorption, recovery from specific or generalized malnutrition, debasement etc.

For the average content of cholesterol and saturated fats, it should be consumed with regard to the diet against hypercholesterolemia - a condition that takes advantage instead of the increase of unsaturated fatty acids of the omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9 group. It is a neutral food for the diets aimed at subjects suffering from hyperglycemia or type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension, provided that these conditions are not associated with severe overweight - in which, as we have said, the recipe is not adequate.

Beef braise is one of the products to avoid, or to be consumed with extreme moderation, in the case of hyperuricemia - especially with a tendency to gouty attacks - and calculosis or renal lithiasis with uric acid crystals. It should be completely removed from the phenylketonuria diet. It is contraindicated for severe lactose intolerance in the presence of butter. If it is free of wheat flour, it is not harmful to the celiac; it should also be harmless for histamine intolerance.

The braised beef is an appreciable source of bio-available iron and participates in the coverage of metabolic needs, higher in fertile, pregnant women, marathon runners and vegetarians - especially in vegans who, obviously, would never eat this food. Note : iron deficiency can lead to iron deficiency anemia. The braised beef contributes to satisfying the phosphorus requirement, a very abundant mineral in the body - in particular in the bones in the form of hydroxyapatite, in the phospholipids of the cell membranes and in the nervous tissue etc. The zinc content - essential for hormone production and antioxidant enzymes - is appreciable but not particularly high.

Beef braise is rich in B vitamins, all coenzymatic factors of great importance in cellular processes. It can therefore be considered an excellent support for the functioning of the various body tissues. Retinol (vit A properly so called) is instead necessary for maintaining visual, reproductive function and cellular differentiation; the retinol equivalent instead - for example the carotenoids, vitamin precursors of the previous one - have an antioxidant effect.

It is not allowed in the vegetarian and vegan diet. The suitability of the Muslim and Jewish religions can be compromised by the type of slaughter and the association of meat with other ingredients.

After cooking higher than normal, it is also allowed in the diet during pregnancy. The average portion of braised beef is about 100-150 g (125-185 kcal).