Thread by @asymmetricinfo

I just filed a column on how Twitter is a bottomless cesspool of negativity, so let me offer something positive and helpful: the endless braise.

If you're like me, you have a few basic braise recipes in constant circulation all winter. In my case: A tomatillo-based pork braise. A raisin-wine-worcester-and-celery oxtail braise loosely based on a reconstruction of an ancient roman dish. A tomato-wine-and-soy pot roast. Etc.

We always have liquid left over at the end. So instead of throwing it away, or just thickening and serving with pasta or tortillas, I freeze it, and use it to start the next batch.

I started doing this maybe five years ago. I have no idea how I thought of it. Probably lots of other cooks have always done this and I never knew. But by now, the braises are getting pretty great.

So with the oxtails, which I made last night, I popped then in with a box of chicken stock, 1 c red wine, a tablespoon of worcestershire, your standard mirepoix, a little soy, a handful of "golden berry" mix from TJ's, and about 5 cups of leftover oxtail braise from last year.

Also some short ribs, because we randomly had one thing of short ribs in the freezer, and why not?

It was my most delectable oxtail yet. Just gorgeous with all that accumulated flavor and gelatin.

Anyway, you can just keep doing this with your standard braises (though not ones that have dairy in them--dairy Does Not Freeze Well unless it's ice cream). It's thrifty, and it's better than starting from scratch. Win-win.

I mention this because while we were happily slurping our oxtail bones, my husband asked when and why I'd started, and I couldn't remember--which means it's probably not some super widely known trick that every single cook except me knows about. So I thought I'd pass it on.

This has been another edition of Ackshually Not Everything on Twitter is Terrible.

Happy braising!