Category:Stew

A Stew is typically a main dish that's slow cooked with some water. Typically a stew contains less water than a soup. Ingredients in a stew may be fried first with water added later, that's called braising. There are vegetarian stews, fruit can also be stewed as a dessert. A heavy based saucepan is recommended for braising and for stewing if not much liquid is added to a stew. Stews may be cooked on top of a cooker or in an oven.


 * 1) Select ingredients so flavours will blend together to make a tasty stew. Doing an online search for recipes with ingredients you have to hand often gives good ideas about combinations that work.
 * 2) The ingredients should be cut to similar sizes so everything is finished at the same time. Alternatively Items that take longer to cook can be added to the stew earlier.
 * 3) Adding a liquid with a good flavour improves a stew. Wine is sometimes used but stock including stock made with stock cubes or stock powder also can work.  Cheese can improve a vegetarian soup of stew.
 * 4) After adding liquid the stew should be stirred.  The stew should be covered at first though some stews are uncovered later.
 * 5) Slow cooking improves a stew and tenderises tough vegetables. Stews typically are best left to simmer for a long time and shouldn't be boiled vigorously.

As with soups all the nutrients are eaten, nothing is thrown away with the cooking water. In a stew as with a soup flavours blend.