Hold the Belly and Give Me a Breast

Pork belly may be all the rage these days, but it's time that everyone give veal breast a chance.  It's impossible not to compare the two cuts of meat: both are extremely fatty, economical cuts of meat best suited to braising.  Thanks to the David Changs and Mario Batalis of the world-- not too mention those whose idea of Sunday brunch is dim sum-- pork belly is the sexier of the two; people are probably more apt to have memories of their grandmothers cooking veal breast than they are of seeing it on a restaurant menu.  I urge you to give veal breast a try for a few reasons, not the least of which being that it's darn tasty. 

For one, it's a good bit less expensive than pork belly.  Thanks to pork belly's rising popularity, it has become a pricier cut.  The lowly veal breast, on the other hand, can be found in New York City for less than $2 a pound. 

Second, I have found veal breast much easier to find at stores than pork belly.  Pork belly may be trendy among professional and amateur cooks, but the rest of America doesn't seem to be up for cooking it.  In New York, a recipe with pork belly usually requires a trip to Chinatown or a very good butcher.  Veal breast, while ignored by the food-obsessed, must be popular enough among the rest of the population, for I have found it to be stocked at most grocery stores.  

Best of all, veal breast is a cinch to cook.  Veal breast has so much melt-in-your-mouth fat, that there's really not much you need to do with it other than season it and pop it in the oven.  The other night, I sauteed a bone-in veal breast on both sides until it was a very deep brown, then rubbed it all over with a mixture of parsley, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and lots of crushed garlic.  I put the veal breast in a Dutch oven, surrounded it with a mixture of reduced white wine and stock, then covered the pan and put it in the oven at 300F for about two and a half hours.  Served with plenty of creamy polenta, the total price of the meal came out to be about $2 per serving and only a small amount of my time.  No pork belly can beat that!

Braised Lamb Shanks with Lentils and Curry

Although I love the flavor of curry powder, I find that it tends to overpower dishes.  I have made a number of recipes that use curry powder as the central flavoring component, and they all have tasted about the same regardless what other ingredients are used in the recipe.  My past results have made me avoid recipes with curry powder; what's the point of stressing over a new recipe if it will taste just like another one you have made before?

Fortunately, I let my prior experiences with Molly Stevens' recipes outweigh my experiences with curry powder and tried her recipe for Braised Lamb Shanks with Lentils and Curry from All About Braising.  In this braise, the curry powder is noticeable, but plays a supporting role to the aromatics, lamb broth, and tomatoes that make up the slightly spicy braising liquid; a good baguette is a necessity for sopping up the last few spoonfuls of the liquid.  Lentils are a natural accompaniment to lamb and this dish is no exception.  Lamb, lentils, and a crunchy baguette and you have yourself perfection in a bowl. 

Lamb Shanks Braised with Lentils & Curry
Adapted from All About Braising 

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 lamb shanks
• salt and pepper
• 1 red onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tbsp Madras curry powder
• 1 tbsp plus 1/2 tbsp thyme leaves, chopped 
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup canned whole peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 2 cups lamb stock
• 1/2 lb French lentils
• 1/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped
• lemon wedges or red wine vinegar for serving

Directions:
Heat the oven to 300F.
Dry the lamb shanks with a paper towel and season them with salt and pepper. 
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large braising dish.  Add as many lamb shanks as will comfortably fit in the pan and cook until well browned on all sides, about 12 minutes.  Set the shanks on a plate and brown the remaining batches.
Discard all but 2 tbsp of fat from the braising dish.  Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. 
Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the garlic.  Cook for 2 minutes.
Add the curry powder, 1 tbsp of the thyme, and 1 bay leaf.  Cook for 1 minute.
Stir in the tomatoes and stock.  Raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil.  Let the liquid boil for 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon a few times to dislodge the brown bits that stick to the bottom of the pan.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and nestle in the lamb shanks.  Let the liquid return to a simmer then cover the braising dish and add it to the oven.  Braise for 2.5 hours, flipping the lamb shanks once as they cook.  
Meanwhile, parcook the lentils while the lamb cooks.  Add the lentils, 6 cups of water,  a 1/2 tbsp of thyme, and 1 bay leaf to a large pot and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook the lentils for 30 minutes.  Drain the lentils and set them aside to cool on a large plate.
Once the lamb shanks have braised for 2.5 hours, remove the braising dish from the oven.  Set the lamb shanks on a plate.  Stir the lentils into the braising liquid and add the lamb shanks back to the braising dish and cover the dish.  Continue to braise the lamb in the oven until the lamb is falling off the bone and then lentils are tender, approximately 30 minutes.
Remove the lamb shanks from the braising dish and set them on a plate.  Taste the braising liquid for salt and pepper.  Spoon the lentils with the braising liquid into serving bowls and top each bowl with a lamb shank.  Garnish the bowls with the chopped parsley.  Serve immediately, allowing your guests to sprinkle a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice over their bowl if desired.

Braised Pork Shoulder with Cardamom & Ginger

Cooking can be at its most fun when you don't give a damn. It can also be at its most educational. With a good combination of ingredients and good technique, a recipe doesn't need to offer any more than a little inspiration. This pork dish was inspired by a recipe I came across in Molly Stevens' All About Braising, while looking for ways to cook a pork shoulder roast I had purchased at Whole Foods. Stevens' recipe called for dried apricots to be added to the sauce, but being the lazy Sunday that it was, I decided against a second trip to the store to purchase apricots. Eventually, my straying from Stevens' recipe turned into all-out rebellion. It's a very loose interpretation of the original recipe, but it worked and I had fun preparing it.

Braised Pork Shoulder with Cardamom & Ginger
Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 5 lb boneless pork shoulder roast, trimmed and tied with butcher's twine into a neat log
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1.4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp brandy
• 1/2 cup dry vermouth
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, minced

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300F.
2. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and generously season it with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a dutch over over medium heat. Add the pork and cook until well browned on all sides, approximately 20 minutes. Remove the pork to a plate.
4. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat from the pan. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and cardamom, turmeric, and cayenne and cook until the vegetables soften and the spices are fragrant, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the ginger and bay leaf to the pan and cook for another two minutes.
6. Pour in the brandy and stir with a wooden spoon to stir up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Boil until the brandy is reduced by half, about 1 minute.
7. Add the vermouth to the pan and cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
8. Stir in the stock and bring to a slow simmer.
9. Add the pork to the dutch oven. Baste the pork with the braising liquid and cover the dutch oven. Place in the oven. Every 30 minutes, turn the pork and baste it with the braising liquid. Cook until the pork is very tender, approximately 2 hours.
10. Remove the pork from the dutch oven and let it rest on a plate for at ten minutes. Meanwhile, keep the braising liquid at a simmer. The liquid should not be thick, but if it appears too watery, boil it for a few minutes until it reaches its desired consistency. Taste it for salt and pepper.
    
11. Serve the pork with the braising liquid spooned on top and garnished with the cilantro.