April 19: The hunky chef stews and simmers delectable, melt-in-your-mouth holiday meals featuring brisket, pork short ribs and lamb shanks.
字幕 >> back at 8:43. this morning on "today celebrates easter," braising three ways. it is a technique used to prepare many meals during the spring holidays and curtis stone is here with details. good morning. nice to see you. >> what's your best memory, mealwise of easter time? >> we had roast lamb, but it is the end of the braising season for me. you get nice big stews. the weather is about to turn nice. >> i didn't even know what braising meant. for folks at home, you fry it, first, in oil or fat and then stew it? >> i can tell you, meredith. the whole idea is you get a big piece of meat. >> and this is brisket. >> this is a big piece with a lot of fat on it. >> you cut it into pieces. >> i do. i season it, get it nice and golden. >> how long did that take? >> four, five minutes depending how hot the pan is. >> then you put it back in the pain. >> cook in the same fat that you cooked the meat in. i have spring onions. then the beautiful thing about braising -- and this is why i love it for holidays like easter, you throw it in together and let it do its magic. it only takes a minute or two. >> smells good. >> add the brisket back in. >> that will sit in there for a while? >> a good couple of hours. once you put in the ingredients, tomato, vinegar and red wine. >> is that a dutch oven? >> dutch oven or a casserole. you cover it with beef stock. let it come up to a gentle simmer, pop on the lid and in a couple of hours it looks like this. >> oh, boy. >> that falls apart it's so tender. >> ooh. >> so beautiful. >> oh! it's hot! >> that happened to me last week. remember? did you learn nothing? >> when you see steam -- >> it's warm, yeah. >> so then we have pork working over here. >> you sear those first, too, seal them up? >> seal them up. add your vegetables. >> oranges? >> oranges, fennel, garlic. whatever flavor you like. i have rosemary, thyme again. add your meat. it's simple. >> what do you use for liquid on this one? >> we have white wine and champagne vinegar. you want to keep the pork lighter. it's a fattier meat which is why the oranges are there for acidity. >> do you want the meat totally covered in stock snm? >> you do. play with it, poke it around. >> until it's covered. >> and it fills your whole house with the arema. fantastic. >> you come home from a day out and you come back to the smell of the delicious food, so nice. >> these are the pork short ribs with oranges and different bits and pieces. fennel. >> and lamb. >> this is from my mum. >> so far we have cooked everything on top of the stove. >> right. when you braise you can put it on top of the stove or in the oven. the same thing will happen. here we have shanks. >> how long did it take? >> the same. >> oh, okay. >> i want the sauce with the lamb to be richer. so i put flour, cayenne pepper and paprika. >> like a rub. >> right. start with the onions first, cut the garlic in lauhalf like that. >> why onions first? >> you get the flavor that slowly comes out. carrots, celery and herbs. pick up the shanks, pop them back in the pot like so. >> i thought you put some of this back in. no? >> you season the lamb up with that. >> that was for the searing part. >> right. then you have the red wine. >> i like the wine. >> lamb stock or beef stock if you can't find lamb. >> lamb cook in the same amount of time? >> it takes longer because of the big bone. this will be two and a half hours. i have chopped tomatoes. >> mm. >> you pop the lid on and it comes out like that. >> falls right off the bone. >> it's so tender and delicious. look how beautiful, steamy. >> you're so busy on tv with " top chef masters" and "next great restaurant." do you miss spending time in the kitchen? >> i cook all the time. " top chef masters" took only 20 days to film the season. i ate the food from the best chefs in the country. fs it was unbelievable. >> don't you miss us? >> i miss cooking with you. my insurance is lower. i no longer have to have a relationship with the new york fire department. >> you're not funny. >> you can catch curtis on " top chef masters" wednesday nights
