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In a stew

Keep warm and cozy with a hearty meal in a bowl

by Laura Langston

The kitchen smells wonderful when a pot of hearty stew is simmering on the stove. Stews are versatile and flexible, and they’re economical too.

Stews date back to prehistoric times. Today, of course, stews are ubiquitous. From Hungarian goulash and Puerto Rican beef sancocho to the tagines of North Africa and classic American burgoo, virtually every culture has its own variation.

Stews can be made from beef, pork, chicken, fish, or beans and root vegetables. Stews need a long simmering time to encourage flavors to meld and deepen, and to give the meat and vegetables time to properly cook.

Beef stews are sometimes made with inexpensive stewing meat, often composed of tougher cuts like beef chuck or shoulder. These cuts are rich in collagen, the connective tissue that slowly breaks down during the cooking process, producing meltingly tender meat.

Chicken stews are sometimes made with stewing chickens, but bone-in chicken thighs or bone-in breasts can also be used.

To build flavor, sear the meat in a little oil first. Next, sauté aromatics like onion, garlic and herbs before adding the liquid (stock, broth, wine or a combination) and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. When making a vegetarian stew, starting with the aromatics and gently sautéing until they’re golden brown will give you a savory flavor base from which to build.

Adding vegetables to the broth at the same time as your meat results in vegetables that are softer and more integrated into the stew, while adding vegetables later in the cooking process helps them to retain their shape and flavor. In either case, always cut your vegetables to be about the same size so they cook uniformly. Add quick-cooking or frozen vegetables like peas and corn in the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Stew can be refrigerated for several days and reheated as is, or served in a potpie, on pasta or over rice or potatoes. Stew freezes well too. Store it in airtight containers, leaving one-quarter to one-half inch of space to allow for expansion, for up to three months.

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Laura Langston (lauralangston.com) is an author and writer based in the Pacific Northwest.

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