No Smoking

The other night, we tried braising meat for the first time. For those who are unfamiliar with this cooking technique, it basically consists of browning the meat and then stewing it at a low temperature in a broth for a while (typically at least an hour and a half). It comes in handy for tougher (and usually cheaper) cuts of meat, since the stewing process makes the meat really tender. A simple process, really, but none of us had ever attempted it.

The conditions were just right. Veteran's Day meant no work or school, the three of us were all craving meat, and spare ribs just happened to be on sale. We got started early, anticipating a good 2 hours of oven-time. Since we didn't have a braising pot, we used a casserole dish just barely large enough for our ribs. The downside with this was that some of the boiling broth spilled over the edge onto the oven floor. It quickly burned (unnoticed by the three of us, who were planted on the couch anxiously waiting for dinner) and started smoking. Maybe the intense hunger messed with our vision, but we didn't notice how hazy the room got until the smoke alarm started screaming at us.

I'd imagine the subsequent scene looked pretty amusing from outside passersby. Five kids frantically running around, opening windows, fanning smoke with cutting boards, and climbing chairs to cover up alarms with plastic bags. For fifteen minutes.

I think we've learned our lesson. Next time we'll clean up anything that might burn on the oven floor before it causes a kitchen catastrophe. Or make sure nothing drips down there in the first place.

On the bright side, the ribs had a nice smoky taste.

Halloween

Ours was good. How was yours?