This thread is for the 1st exercise on Braising. Look forward to seeing your feedback.

The flavour of this dish was amazing. However, the texture of the meat varied considerably, and I think this was due to my meat selection. The one or two pieces of rib with a lot of meat on it cooked perfectly. The other pieces had barely any meat, and a lot of silver skin. Some of these pieces were quite tough. I made the sauce by reducing the braising liquid by about half, and I was surprised how much flavour there was with no stock added.

Nice work on the short ribs. As for the meat you may want to watch the lessons in the section of the cooking school called "Moist Heat Cooking Methods". More specifically you may want to watch the lesson on Braising - Topic 2 talks about the meat and what to look for when buying it. Cheers!

Hello all. When brasing, even having used mirepoix and having bones and meat being cooked for such a long time, a stock is still useful, instead of pure water?

Stock always adds another layer of flavor to foods (make sure to check out the lessons on Combination Cooking in the Cooking School). It's acceptable to use water but you should definitely test it to find out the difference for yourself. A good homemade stock will take your cooking to another level - guaranteed. Cheers!

I am in the middle of the first practice exercise of braising/combination cooking. This is my first attempt ever at this cooking method, and I have to say, the house smells wonderful! If the aroma is at all indicative of what lunch is going to taste like, I certainly have something to look forward to!