VEGETABLE STEWS

MANY VEGETABLE STEWS CAN TASTE one-dimensional, much like a pan of sautéed vegetables with some broth. There is nothing wrong with these "stews," but they lack the intensity of a good meat, chicken, or fish stew. The biggest challenge when making vegetable stew is figuring out how to create a rich, deep flavor. This task is even harder if you want to make a vegetarian (that is, no chicken stock) vegetable stew. However, we have had some good vegetarian stews in the past—dishes worth eating even if you like meat—and wanted to figure out what makes some vegetarian stews delicious and others bland and insipid.

We started our testing by preparing a number of basic vegetable stews and devising a composite recipe. From early tests, we preferred stews that started with onions, carrots, and celery sautéed in oil. (We tested butter but preferred the lighter flavor of olive oil with the vegetables.) For maximum flavor, we found it best to mince these vegetables and let them brown. We also found the addition of garlic and a strong herb, such as rosemary or thyme, added further depth to this base for the stew.

At this point, the larger vegetables, those which would hold their shape during cooking and form the backbone of the stew, could be added. High-moisture vegetables that are usually sautéed, such as mushrooms, red onions, fennel, eggplant, bell peppers, and zucchini, should be added at this point. The pot can then be deglazed with a little wine. We found that red wine overpowered the vegetables and vastly preferred white wine. We also found that too much wine will make the stew boozy, no doubt because of the relatively short simmering time for vegetable stews. However, when we omitted white wine we felt the stew tasted flat. A half cup adds just the right amount of flavor and acidity to a vegetable stew.

Once the wine has reduced, it is time to add the other liquids along with root vegetables. We experimented with various liquids and liked the combination of vegetable stock and tomatoes. Homemade vegetable stock makes a delicious stew, but canned products are fine as long as you shop carefully. Vegetable stews tend to be sweet, so avoid stocks that are more sweet than savory. You can almost tell by looking at the stock how it will taste. If the color is bright orange, the stock was made with a lot of carrots and will be achingly sweet. We found the shockingly orange canned vegetable stocks made by Swanson and College Inn to be quite sweet. We had better luck when shopping at our local natural food store. We particularly liked an organic stock made by Pacific Foods of Oregon. It comes packaged in an aseptic carton and has a good, balanced vegetable flavor.

In addition to stock, we like to add tomatoes, both for flavor and color. The acidity helps balance some of the sweetness of the vegetables and the red color keeps vegetable stews from looking dull or brown.

We tested porcini soaking liquid and cream and found that both are too intense for an all-purpose vegetable stew. The one exception was a root vegetable stew that was quite sweet and needed some additional savory elements. The smoky, meaty flavor of the porcini helps balance the sweetness of carrots and butternut squash. We also liked some cream in this rich winter stew. However, we found that the cream muted the flavor of more delicate spring and summer vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, and asparagus.

Some sources suggest thickening vegetable stews with flour (like meat stews) or by stirring in a cornstarch slurry when the stew is almost done. However, both methods assume that the vegetables have been cooked in an abundant amount of liquid that needs thickening. We found that vegetable stews taste watered down when the vegetables are cooked in too much liquid. We found it best to cook the vegetables in just as much liquid as is necessary. While other stews are cooked covered, we prefer to cook vegetable stews partially covered to allow some of this liquid to reduce and concentrate in flavor. Cooking the stew with the cover ajar also allows the liquid to thicken up to a nice consistency.

For this reason (and because different vegetables must go into the pot at different times), we prefer to cook vegetable stews on top of the stove. This eliminates the problem of toughening vegetables by cooking at a high temperature, a constant worry when making meat, chicken, or fish stews. Vegetable stews can be simmered (not boiled, you don't want the veggies to fall apart) rather quickly, just until the vegetables are tender.

When the stew is almost done, delicate green vegetables such as asparagus and peas should be added. We found it best to add a little acid (either lemon juice or balsamic vinegar) just before serving the stew to balance the sweetness of the vegetables. A fresh herb finishes things off nicely.