How to Make Stew

An illustrated step-by-step guide to beef, lamb, pork, chicken, seafood, and vegetable stews

Stews warm and comfort, but are too often carelessly made. To the rescue comes How to Make Stew, a concise guide. In fewer than 100 pages it provides illustrated, step-by-step instructions for preparing perfect meat, chicken, seafood, and vegetable stews--recipes, tips, and information that all cooks can use.

Asserting the importance of cooking any stew at temperatures below the boiling point, the book then provides useful data on ingredients and equipment. Chapters based on the main protein ingredient, or on vegetables, follow, with master recipes and variations. Thus "Meat Stews" provides a basic blueprint plus recipes that include Beef Stew with Bacon, Mushrooms, and Pearl Onions; Irish Stew; and Pork Stew with Prunes, Mushrooms, and Cream, among others. Seafood lovers will want to try Sicilian Fish Stew and vegetable fans will love Spring Vegetable Stew with Fennel and Asparagus, one of a number of delicious vegetable-based recipes. Throughout, underlying techniques are explored and illustrated (useful charts depict the provenance of various animal cuts), and sensible tips abound (avoid packaged stew meat, which may be made up of irregularly shaped end pieces from different muscles, for example).

A true primer, the book is part of the Cook's Illustrated Library series. Like the magazine, the books are dedicated to presenting tried-and-perfected recipes and cooking techniques in a concise, approachable way. --Arthur Boehm