Thursday, May 10, 2012

More on Brawn en Peverade

Last night I made Brawn en Peverade but I made a variety of modifications.

The first was that I didn't have my usual spice selection available (it's a long story!) so I had to get creative.  Instead of the specified mace, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves, I used Grains of Paradise, cardamom, and cinnamon.

I'm pretty new to using Grains of Paradise; they are considered a pepper substitute.  They do have a peppery-bite that is strong before they are cooked and milder afterwards.

The spice combination was very fragrant while cooking.  The meat and gravy had a lovely flavor, too.  I really liked it!  One thing about the Grains of Paradise -- they had a "slow peppery bite"; that is, first I tasted their flavor then shortly thereafter a light pepper burn spread across my tongue.  Not unpleasant at all! 

In my first attempt at this recipe, I loved the gravy but noticed it was a bit gritty when I first made it.  So my thoughts then were to start soaking the dried bread crumbs in the wine and wine vinegar when the meat went into the oven.  I did that this time but without the results I had hoped for.  The gravy was not gritty, however it never did thicken properly.  I had to make adjustments to get it to thicken.

Also, I used white wine instead of red and the flavor was good.

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