Confidence In The Kitchen: How To Stew Vegetables (2024)

How To Stew Vegetables

I learned a long time ago to use the correct terminology in a professional kitchen. I was a culinary student at the French Culinary Institute and I mistakenly asked the chef for help with “the gravy.” Ooops. Never in the history of French cooking has a sauce been described as gravy until probably that moment. If it has, I am sure the apprentice was washing the dishes and was lucky to have been invited back to the kitchen to cook. Upon the use of the word gravy, chef Hans’s face, as many a chef’s face has done in past cooking classes and professional kitchens, got very red. There was a moment of yelling. Some expletives – “Gravy! You @#$#*& – “It’s Sauce! You #$%#^&!” There were some snickers from the other wannabe chefs. I won’t say that we tried to rile up the Chefs at FCI purposefully, but sometimes it just happened. Chef Hans was a fine instructor and I got his point – classic French or nothing.

I think the same can be said for braising vs. stewing, although since my kitchen is not a professional one and I never yell at myself, I use the terms interchangeably. When we think about how to stew vegetables, we are technically thinking of the classic term braising. In a braise the ingredients are gently simmered in a liquid until they are tender. We often think about braising meat, but vegetables can be braised, too. The techniques is just the same – ingredients are placed in water or stock (chicken, beef, vegetable) and the liquid is heated just until small bubbles begin to rise. A braise or stew is a slow, gentle cooking technique. This is good for vegetables because gentle cooking helps us avoid mushy vegetables which are just no fun! The firmer vegetables go into the pot first followed by the softer ones so by the time the soft vegetables go in, the firmer vegetables are just about done cooking.
A good vegetable stew does not have to take forever to cook. I like to make my vegetable stew with large chunks of various vegetables so not much detail time is spent at the chopping board. Plus, since different vegetables are added at different times, you can chop as you go in the order the vegetables are needed and add to the pot as you go. Sure, it is always best to do your prep up front, but that is not always possible. A vegetable stew is easy this way.

While I like to flex to the vegetarian side, I do think some meat additions, like sausage, to a vegetable stew adds both deliciousness and heartiness. I like the addition of Italian sausage the most. The fennel seed does magic! Here is how I make my vegetable stew with Italian sausage! This, as with many stews are great with rice. As an added flavor dimension, consider adding sprouts right on top – bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli sprouts.
All of them will work to add some extra depth of flavor.

When we think of a stew we usually think of a melange of ingredients – like tomato, corn and okra, but there is also a whole world of leafy vegetables, out there that do quite well braised. Choisy garniture is an example of this where Romaine lettuce is braised in chicken stock with a bit of onion and bacon until just tender. This is a classic French dish. Endive it also a great candidate for braising. Try stewing individual vegetables, you won’t be disappointed. Knowing how to stew vegetables will lead to many a delicious meal!

I hope you enjoy!

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How do you stew your vegetables? Let us know all about it in the comments or on Facebook.

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