Steaming foods like vegetables, tamales, seafood, and grains supplies gentle, moist heat that will cook these foods to perfect tenderness without drying them out.
Braising is the go-to cooking method for tougher cuts of meat, like brisket , chuck , pork shoulder , and short ribs. They need moist heat over a long period of time to break down the collagen and connective tissues for succulent, fork-tender results.
Cooking a soup , stew , or sauce uncovered allows water to evaporate, so if your goal is to reduce a sauce or thicken a soup, skip the lid. The longer you cook your dish, the more water that will evaporate and the thicker the liquid becomes—that means the flavors become more concentrated, too. If you take a peek at your pot of soup and decide you'd like it to be thicker, just allow it to simmer with the lid off until it's as thick as you like.
This same principle applies with most sauce and gravy recipes, which include a step to reduce a liquid—often stock, juice, or wine—in order to reduce volume and intensify flavors. You should also leave the lid off whenever you're trying to achieve a beautiful sear.
Searing takes place in a very hot pan and serves to create a flavorful, caramelized crust on the exterior of steaks , duck breasts , lamb chops , pork chops , salmon , tuna , scallops , and other kinds of meat and seafood. Moisture is the arch nemesis of pan searing, as it creates steam and prevents a crisp coating from forming, so this is the time to leave the lid off the pan.
The same thought process applies to stir frying and deep frying: Just like with pan searing, moisture interferes with creating a caramelized, crispy surface on s tir-fried and deep-fried foods. All foods give off some steam when cooking, so it's important to leave the lid off the pan during frying so the steam evaporates rather than collecting on the lid and dripping back into the hot oil. Another reason to always cover tomato sauce is splatters.
Hot tomato sauce splatters can and will stain everything. Just remember that you still need to stir the sauce every now and then. Be sure to use a thick bottom pan with a non-stick coating, just to avoid any unhappy accidents.
Tomato sauce can simmer for as long as you want. The more you simmer it, the better it gets. This means you can simmer it for 4 whole hours if you have the time and patience for it. Or as long as your time allows it. The more it simmers, the more the flavors will meld together. Kind of like a curry, where the sauce tastes better the more it sits.
Heat helps draw out flavors much better, but so does time. Low heat and long hours make the best sauces, stews, curries, and roasts.
It can be water, stock, anything you like. We really recommend adding a bit of red wine, but never top off with wine. A little goes a long way. If your tomato sauce runs out of liquid, it will thicken and turn into a tomato paste.
But those 4 extra hours can mean a lot of your time can be used differently. Obviously the bigger the batch the longer it should simmer. This recipe calls for hours of simmering. Adding the pasta will bring down the temperature of the water , so you can briefly put the lid back on to more quickly bring the water back up to the boil.
There are a few things you can do to thicken your sauce: Simmer — you can simmer the sauce at a low heat for quite a long time without affecting the flavour generally improves it.
Thicken — add tbsp of corn starch or flour tempered. Starches are great for thickening dairy based sauces. The benefit of starches is that they work immediate and as you cook out your sauce you will see it thicken immediately. Stir the slurry through continuously until the sauce has reached the desired texture and then remove from heat. Simmering can thicken a sauce by removing the lid on your pot or skillet to allow moisture to evaporate, instead of pouring into the sauce.
If your sauce is too runny, it has too much water.
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