Amazing Braise Recipes

Steps:

• Rinse and pat dry all chicken pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. (NOTE: go lightly on salt or skip it - the soy sauce will add saltiness later.).
• Heat olive oil in saute pan. Add chicken pieces to hot oil and brown on each side (about 3 - 5 minutes per side). Remove chicken from the pan, and set aside.
• Toss garlic, potatoes and carrots in the remaining olive oil and chicken fond in the saute pan. Season vegetables with salt (lightly) and pepper, and sprinkle with the rosemary leaves. Saute and stir until the vegetables start to brown (about 5 - 10 minutes).
• Juice the orange, and mix 3 tbsp of the orange juice with the soy sauce, reserving the rest for another use.
• Add chicken back to the pan with the vegetables. Drizzle the orange/soy mixture over the chicken. Cover the pan, and simmer for 20 minutes, turning the chicken after 10 minutes. Serve with a green salad.

Steps:

• Put the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the turkey and brown the leg (and, if you're using them, wing) portions on the skin side well, 10 minutes or more; turn and cook for another 2 minutes on the skinless side. Remove to a plate and brown the breasts in the same skillet, again mostly on the skin side; remove and keep them separate.
• Heat the oven to 300, and cook the bacon or pancetta (if using) in the remaining fat in the skillet until nearly crisp; remove with a slotted spoon. Cook the onions, mushrooms, carrots, celery and herbs, in batches if necessary, until beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer with the bacon or pancetta to a large roasting pan, then nestle the dark meat in there, leaving room for the breasts. Add stock or water to come about one-third to halfway up the sides of the thighs.
• Roast uncovered for about 90 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure liquid levels remain sufficiently high and stirring vegetables if they threaten to brown too much. When thigh meat is tender, place the breasts in the pan, and cook until tender, 30 to 45 minutes more, or until done. (They should register 155 on an instant-read thermometer.)
• Slice breast and thigh meat and serve on a platter with the vegetables garnished, if you like, with parsley.