Into the kitchen!

Alright so now that we've gotten the mis en place done, let's walk through a braised beef dish that we made.  We used tri tip beef as the protein of the main dish so let's see what went into making that.

Start by trimming the large chunks of fat and film known as silver skin from the meat and cut into large chunks.

Next heat a large pot and coat with a small amount of oil.  Place the beef in the pan once the oil is hot and saute the outside of the meat, but leave room in the pan so that the heat can get in between the individual pieces.

Turn the meat so that you brown all the sides of each piece.  Once all the pieces have been browned, remove them from the pot. The meat will not be cooked all the way through.  That's okay for now!

Next add the Mire Poix (a mixture of 50% onion, 25% carrot, and 25% celery) to the pot to saute in the fat that is left behind from the meat.  Once the onions and celery begin to become soft and the onions become translucent, add veal or beef stock to remove any impurities (also called Fond) from the bottom of the pan.

When the mixture of mire poix and stock has come to a boil, add your beef back into the pot.  you'll then cover it an place the pot into the oven that is heated to approximately 250-300 degrees Ferenheit and let it cook there for approximately 4 hours.  This is called a braise, when meat is sauteed in the beginning and then finished cooking in a liquid in the oven.

Your finished product should look something like this.  See how the meat is a darker brown, but not dried out.  now you can remove the meat and vegetables and use the liquid to make a sauce to go with the meat and the other components you have for the meal.