High Braise Indeed!

Last week I was braising everything in sight. I love the depth and richness of the flavors braising creates, but I find I have to do it in the winter because the oven creates too much heat in the summer. I used a basic chuck roast, browned it, then threw in about 5 cloves of chopped garlic, some tomato paste, red wine, beef stock base, let's see.. herbes de Provence, like that. Then I put it in the oven at 325 for several hours. I threw the mushrooms in for the last hour. Oh, the house smelled so wonderful!

The beef had to share the oven with the vegetables, another favorite recipe of mine. Red potatoes, carrots,artichoke hearts, zucchini, maui sweet onions, and of course, garlic...what have you. Toss them in olive oil with some salt and pepper, and throw them in a foil lined pan. They went in the oven about the same time the mushrooms went in the braise. Forty five minutes later..oh man, was my mouth happy!

I've not tried to braise a chicken, and that's probably what I should have done with last night's bird. It was a fairly large bird. I always feel sorry for them in their raw state. They look so...vulnerable.

   Anyway, we have a rotisserie/roaster, so after trussing the bird, I put it on the spit and set it for 1 1/2 hours. This is usually a failsafe method.This particular bird wasn't tough, but it wasn't tender either. It probably could have benefitted from another 15 minutes on the spit.
   Next time, I may braise the chicken.