Getting Into a Stew

• Stews are thick, hearty slow-cooked meals, usually combining dense root vegetables with tough and flavorful cuts of meat. As the ingredients cook gently over low heat, the tough muscle fibers and chewy connective tissues in the meat slowly melt and soften, leaving each mouthful rich and tender. The flavors of the meat and vegetables slowly blend and complement each other, providing a meeting point where each ingredient is still separate and distinct yet unmistakably influenced by the others.

Going Dutch

• If you plan to prepare a stew on the stove top, choosing the right pot is an essential preliminary. You'll need lots of room for your ingredients, because stew works best in a moderately large batches. You'll also need a pot with a heavy bottom that distributes heat evenly; a thin-bottomed pot creates hot spots over the stove's burner where your stew will stick and scorch. A good-quality Dutch oven is usually the best bet, providing both the necessary thickness and heat distribution. You can prepare the entire dish in your Dutch oven, beginning with browning the meat.

Getting Started

• Most stew recipes start by browning the meat in small batches at a high temperature. That's an optional step, but the browned surfaces gain deep, savory flavors that make your stew better. Tossing the meat lightly in flour before you start helps it brown, and it also provides some of the thickening your stew will need. Adding your onions and garlic at that stage will impart some of their flavor to the meat as well. Once all the meat is browned, add your broth and bring the pot to a gentle simmer. Depending on your recipe, the vegetables can go into the pot immediately or after the meat has begun to tenderize.

Getting It Done

• You'll need to stir the stew periodically, even in the heaviest of pots, to keep it from sticking and scorching on the bottom. If that should happen, pour off the stew into another pot immediately. Don't scrape up the scorched parts, which will give the whole stew a harsh flavor. As the vegetables cook, they'll begin to become fragile. You'll need to stir carefully to avoid breaking them up. Once the meat and vegetables are tender, the stew can be kept warm until mealtime. If it requires a bit of extra thickening, strain or ladle off the broth and thicken it in a separate pot with flour or cornstarch. Add it back when it's thick and doesn't taste starchy anymore.