Here are 5 healthy and delicious braising recipes for cooking in your MEC Pure Clay Pot. As you are taking all the steps needed to cook an extremely healthy and nutritious recipe, it is important to keep these things in mind:
- Avoid unhealthy canned ingredients like chicken broth as the dish will still be very flavorful when cooked in MEC pots. They cook with gentle heat that keeps the nutritional value and the natural flavor of your food intact.
- If your recipe demands, use homemade chicken broth or vegetable broth. You can always make these at home and store them in glass jars for future use.
- Use sea salt (has many trace minerals), raw sugar like “Jaggery”, and good minimally processed cooking oil like coconut oil, sesame seed oil, or olive oil. Avoid vegetable oil or corn oil and the likes.
The MEC difference:
Besides your food being fully non-toxic (no metals and chemicals interacting and leaching in to the food), and more nutritious (the heat cooking the food is different and cooks without damaging nutritional cells). Here are some more advantages to making chill in MEC’s pure clay pots:
1. The complete recipe can be done in one pot, including cooking the beans Beans and lentils take anywhere from 30 mins to 1.20 hours to cook. To save time off course you can use home pre-cooked beans too.
2. Less water is required than mentioned in recipe for conventional cookware.
3. The water left from cooking the beans will be enough for the recipe, typically it’s recommended this water be discarded to prevent beans from causing flatulence. Not so when cooked in clay.
4. If recipe calls for pureeing ingredients you may not have to when cooking in clay. Just let the ingredients cook some more and smash against the clay walls and they could be easily softened and will blend in well with the rest of the recipe to form a thick base. when cooking in other ware the ingredients acquire a harder texture and thus require pureeing separately to mash them down. The same food that cooks softer in pure-clay can also be easily be mashed to a puree as the walls of the pot are an ideal and smooth texture of the inside of a mortar (a the back of your wooden spoon a pestle)
1. Beef Pot Roast
Ingredients:
(Serves 10)
1 teaspoon olive oil; 1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 cups coarsely chopped onion; 1 cup water; 4 thyme sprigs; 3 garlic cloves, chopped; 14-ounce beef broth; 1 bay leaf; 4 large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces; 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces; Fresh thyme leaves (optional)
Recipe:
Heat olive oil in a large MEC Dutch over medium heat. Sprinkle chuck roast with salt and pepper. Add roast to pot; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove roast from pot. Add onion to pot; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Return browned roast to pot. Add the water, thyme sprigs, chopped garlic, beef broth, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a simmer. Cover the lid and bake it for 1 1/2 hours or until the roast is almost tender. Add carrots and potatoes to pot. Cover and bake an additional 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf from pot; discard. Shred meat with 2 forks. Serve roast with vegetable mixture and cooking liquid. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.
2. Braised Chicken Recipe
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)
4 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick, about 3 pounds total); Kosher salt; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 8 dried shiitake mushrooms; 4 medium shallots, peeled, halved lengthwise; 2 3-inch cinnamon sticks; 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced; 1 red chile, sliced; 8 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 star anise pods; 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth; 1 cup water; ⅓ cup golden raisins; 1 tablespoon light brown sugar; Sliced chives (for serving)
Recipe:
Season chicken with salt. Heat oil in a large MEC Dutch oven over medium. Cook chicken, skin side down, until skin is golden brown and very crisp, 10–12 minutes. Transfer chicken skin side up to a plate. Add mushrooms, shallots, cinnamon, ginger, chile, garlic, and star anise to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally until shallots and garlic are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add broth, vinegar, raisins, soy sauce, and brown sugar and stir to dissolve sugar. Nestle chicken legs skin side up back into the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook, lowering heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer, until chicken is very tender (knee joints should flex easily), 45-60 minutes. Heat broiler. Transfer chicken to a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Increase heat to medium and reduce braising liquid until thick enough to lightly coat a spoon, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, if needed. Broil chicken legs just until skin is crisp again, 30–60 seconds. Transfer chicken to a serving platter and spoon braising liquid around it, topping with shallots and aromatic spices. Serve topped with chives.
3. Braised Fish
Ingredients:
(Serves 2)
15g ginger; 20g garlic; 2 spring onions; 2 sea bass (medium-sized, ready to cook); ½ tsp salt; 1 egg; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 3 star anise; 30g rock sugar (light); 300 ml water
Recipe:
Cut ginger into thin slices. Halve garlic and cut spring onions into strips. Place fish onto a cutting board. Working with one fish at a time, use a sharp knife to make two cuts on each side of the fish. Season fish with salt on each side. Add egg to a bowl and beat until creamy. Coat fish in egg. Preheat vegetable oil in MEC pot on medium-low heat. Place fish into the pot and fry for approx. 1 min. on each side. Add sliced ginger, spring onion, garlic, star anise, and rock sugar to the pot and continue to fry for approx. 1 – 2 min. Add water to the pot, cover with a lid and allow to simmer on medium-low heat for approx. 20 – 23 min. Shortly before serving, add the remaining egg to the pot. Allow cooking for approx. 2 – 3 min until set. Transfer fish and egg to a serving platter and cover with spring onions.
4. Coconut Curry Braised Chicken
Ingredients:
(Serves 5)
1 Tbsp cooking oil; 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 2 Tbsp red Thai curry paste; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 Tbsp grated ginger; 13 oz. coconut milk; 1 cup chicken broth; 1/4 tsp fish sauce; 5 cups cooked jasmine or basmati rice; 1/4 bunch cilantro; 2-3 green onions; 1 lime
Recipe:
Heat a large MEC pot over low heat. Add the cooking oil, then swirl to cover the surface of the pot. Add the chicken thighs and cook until browned on each side (about 3-5 minutes each side). Remove the chicken. Add the Thai curry paste, minced garlic, and grated ginger. Stir and sauté the aromatics for about one minute. Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, and fish sauce. Stir and add the chicken back to the pot, place a lid on top, and allow the pot come to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low or medium-low and let the thighs simmer in the coconut sauce for 15 minutes. To serve, scoop about 1 cup of cooked rice into the bottom of each bowl. Add one of the braised chicken thighs, then top with a ladle or two of the coconut broth. Add fresh cilantro leaves, sliced green onion, and a wedge or two of fresh lime to each bowl.
5. Crunchy Braised Brussels Sprouts with Turkey
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)
¼ cup chicken, turkey or vegetable stock; 1 tablespoon soy sauce, more to taste; 2 tablespoons grapeseed, canola or peanut oil; 1 tablespoon minced ginger; 2 fat garlic cloves, minced; ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes; 1 ½ pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered; 1 bunch scallions, cut diagonally in 1/2-inch lengths, dark green parts separated; 1 red bell pepper, cut in thin 2-inch strips; 1 cup shredded turkey; Salt and pepper, to taste; ¼ cup chopped cilantro; Grains or noodles, for serving
Recipe:
Heat a MEC pan over medium heat, add oil and swirl it around. Immediately add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes and stir-fry for no more than 10 seconds. Add brussels sprouts and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add white and light green parts of scallions and bell pepper and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add turkey and broth mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and stir-fry for another 30 seconds to a minute. Add cilantro, toss together, and sprinkle with green scallion ends. Remove from heat and serve with grains or noodles. (Note: MEC pan is used instead of pot for stir-frying)
“Enjoying every meal I make on this cookware…”
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