Braising

All of the recipes in this section rely on braising—cooking in liquid, either a little or a lot, over low heat. Braising will tenderize even the toughest cuts, and these are the cuts that are most likely to be not only the least expensive but the most flavorful. The flavors of added seasonings and vegetables have plenty of time to mellow and marry with those of the meat. Furthermore, though it usually takes a long time, braising meats can almost always be more or less ignored for long stretches. All of this goes a long way to explain why this part of the chapter is huge and incredibly useful.