Rabbit this evening, dipped in egg, then dredged in a mixture of chopped hazelnut and five spices and curry, then braised and cooked in butter. With that, clementine sections sautéed on butter and finally, my own dish, cherry tomatoes sautéed with garlic and chopped basil , washed down with a Sancerre blanc for Susie and a Beaume de venise for me, all to the exquisite lute playing of Paul O'Dette. Not a bad Paris evening.
Terminological Nitpicker here.
ReplyDeleteIf you dipped and "breaded" then I bet you sautéed it first and then maybe braised. No?
To "braise" comes from the French "braise" for ember. So the technique actually involves a searing first to seal in juices (although when dredging with flour or the wonderful sounding hazelnuts one would be careful about too high a heat). The rest of the cooking then, to break down tough tissue, is done slowly in some form of liquid (pot roasting, as it were). Bet it was delicious.
ReplyDeleteOne can braise without browning.
ReplyDeleteThough it is often useful to brown first. But not to seal in the juices (because you can't; if you want to seal in juices 27 layers of plastic wrap might do it). Nor do you want to. Browning is for flavor. See Maillard reaction.
This just in from your old town, Amherst. A group of parents requested a meeting with the Jones Library Board of Trustees to voice their concern that the prominent placement of the Tintin comic series at the entrance to the children's room, including Tintin Goes to the Congo,was subjecting children of color to dehumanizing images of themselves. These parents were given a pro forma hearing, and their concerns were then dismissed as misguided, perhaps extreme, and certainly an affront to individual liberty and free inquiry. As a trustee of the library who found the treatment of these parents disturbing, I must say your wonderful essay "Beyond Tolerance" has been given new life.
ReplyDeleteMy trusty IPhone tells me you were a write in candidate and teach at HCC. Well done. A very tight town, excessively pleased with itself.
DeleteProf. Wolff
ReplyDeleteAn interesting interview about parties, mandolins and Bach:
Listen to Bach with your 'party ears' on
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3924901.htm
Thanks Professor. Happy travels!
ReplyDelete