Friday, February 27, 2009

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Making Stew

By KC Kudra

Stews are very popular, especially when the weather is cool, and you want something warming and tasty. A stew is a combination of solid foods, usually meat, or fish with vegetables that have been simmered or cooked slowly in a liquid sauce to allow the flavors to combine well. The sauce is served as well as its contents.

Chicken, meat, seafood, potatoes, fish, beans, fruit, and carrots are all popular stew ingredients and you can use water, wine, bouillon, or beer in the stew liquid to give flavor, as well as seasonings.

What is the Difference between Stew and Soup?

Stewing is a good cooking method to use on tough cuts of meat because stewing is the only way to tenderize them. Stews contain large pieces of meat or fish and vegetables. Soups contain smaller pieces, if any.

Stew is served as a main dish rather than as an appetizer and always contains chunky ingredients. Soup can be served as pureed liquid only without any bits in and is always served in a bowl or deep dish. A chunky stew can be served on a plate.

Making Your Stew Rich and Flavorful

Meat, water, and vegetables cooked together will produce a stew but a very bland one, so it is helpful to know how to liven up your stew recipes and make them more delicious.

Stew is a very versatile dish and can work well with many different combinations of meat, vegetables, liquids, herbs, and spices. It is a good idea to season your stew meat with plenty of salt and pepper before searing them in a hot pan.

You can also roll the meat in flour to thicken up the dish. Check the meat is browned all over before adding it to the liquid, to stop it from drying out. This applies to other meats such as pork, lamb, and chicken.

You will need to saut your vegetables in a pan, and then add liquid. You can use juice, water, wine, broth, or anything else. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any stuck on bits. These add a lot of flavor. Put the meat back in the pan and cook slowly until everything is tender.

You should check the pan periodically to see if you need to add more liquid or seasoning or give it a stir. When the stew is done, you might want to throw in some cider, lemon juice, crispy crumbled bacon or parsley to brighten up the overall flavor. You can serve it in big bowls accompanied by warm bread to mop up the juices.

It is fun to make stew and extremely simple too. Whether you want to make a traditional Irish stew or a Moroccan chicken stew, as long as you follow the above tips your stew should be very nice. - 16650

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