Best Braised Winter Vegetables Recipes

WINE-BRAISED DUCK WITH LENTILS AND WINTER VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the duck legs, keeping the skin intact but removing any extraneous fat. Lay them in one layer on a baking sheet and season generously on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add duck legs, skin-side down, and cook until nicely browned, about 10 minutes. (The legs will render a fair amount of fat as they cook.) Flip and cook for about 5 minutes more, until lightly browned. Remove legs from pan and set aside.
• Pour off all but 3 tablespoons fat from the pan (reserve it for another use). Place pan back on the stove over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery, salt lightly, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bay leaf, thyme sprig, fennel seed and allspice. Continue to cook, stirring, until vegetable mixture is lightly browned, about 5 minutes more.
• Add tomato paste and flour to vegetable mixture and stir well to coat. Cook for a minute or so, then add chicken broth and wine and bring to a simmer. Return duck legs to pan in one layer, skin-side up. (The liquid will not completely cover the legs.)
• Cover pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until legs are tender when probed with the tip of a paring knife.
• Cook the lentils: Pick over lentils for rocks and debris, then rinse well. Place in a saucepan with a good pinch of salt. Using the cloves, pin the bay leaf to the onion. Add to the pot along with thyme sprig. Cover lentils with water by about 2 inches and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered with lid ajar, until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Taste often so that lentils are neither under nor over-cooked. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.
• When duck legs are cooked, remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 225 degrees. Transfer duck legs to an ovenproof serving dish, cover, and keep warm in the oven. Pour braising liquid into a saucepan. Spoon off any fat that rises to the surface and discard. Simmer braising liquid over medium heat until slightly thickened. Pour liquid over duck legs in the serving dish.
• Meanwhile, cook the vegetables: Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add carrots, celery root and parsnips. Simmer until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes, then drain and toss gently with butter. Sprinkle with half the parsley and chives.
• To serve, place a duck leg, some lentils and a spoonful of vegetables on each plate. Spoon sauce over duck leg and finish with more parsley and chives. Alternatively, pass everything on platters, family-style.

WINTER VEGETABLES BRAISED IN VERMOUTH

Steps:

• Wash the fennel, then remove the outer layer if it is tough. Cut the bulb in half, then slice into pieces about a half inch across and three inches long. Remove the leaves and chop them finely.
• Peel the carrots and cut them into slices about the size of the fennel pieces. Wipe the mushrooms clean, discard the tough stems and cut the caps into slices about a quarter-inch thick.
• Melt the butter in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel and carrots and stir until they are coated. Add the vermouth, cover partway and simmer for five minutes. Add the mushroom slices, cover the pan partway again and simmer for an additional five minutes.
• Remove the cover, stir in the cream and reserved fennel leaves and cook until the liquid thickens a bit and the vegetables are tender but not limp. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

BRAISED WINTER VEGETABLES

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven coated with cooking spray, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the vegetables and seasonings. Add broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender., Uncover and increase heat to medium-high; cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Discard bay leaf before serving.

BRAISED WINTER VEGETABLES

Steps:

• 1. Cut most stems from Swiss chard. (If braising greens are used, these are usually young tender leaves that don't need trimming.) Wash and dry leaves, chop into bite-sized pieces, set aside. 2. Mix oil, tamari sauce, rice vinegar, arrowroot, and Chinese five-spice powder and set aside. 3. Heat peanut oil in the bottom of a large wok. 4. Add butternut squash, garlic, leek, and ginger. 5. Stir vegetables over high heat, turning frequently until squash begins to soften, approximately 6 minutes. 6. Add chard or braising greens and continue to stir until greens are wilted and squash is tender, approximately 10 minutes. 7. Stir in sauce (oil, tamari, rice vinegar, arrowroot, and five spice) and heat through until slightly thickened. 8. Add sesame seeds and serve with buckwheat soba noodles. Super Salad : purple leaf lettuce, sliced pears, avocado, dried cranberries, and sesame seeds with creamy sesame dressing