Things To Know About Stew

Some things you should know about stew, in case you don't have the skinny:

• Dredge the meat in flour and brown it in a pan lightly coated with oil before stewing. This releases the caramel flavors from the meat. You'll never regret the extra step.
  

• When you dredge, do it one piece at a time. If you leave meat, poultry or fish in flour for more than about 30 seconds, it gets all gluey. Yuck.

• Don't crowd your meat. Seriously. Meat needs space. Put it in the pot in batches, a few pieces at a time, or it won't brown. That's yuckey, too.

• Cover your meat completely with liquid. That's what stewing is all about. Otherwise, it's braising.
  

• Don't get all up in your stew's face. Bring it to a full boil for a minute or two, then down to a simmer. Cover it and don't open the cover for as long as you can possibly stand not to. For me, that's like an hour and a half. Then I just have to taste.