How to Sauté Vegetables

Yahoo Food Contributors

You can sauté veggies like a boss, right? According to chef Vivian Howard, you’re probably doing it wrong. She says most people use the phrase incorrectly.

To properly sauté, you must use high heat and a small amount of oil, and cook for a short period of time. You can use a proper sauté pan, which has higher sides, or you can use a skillet so that you can easily move the vegetables or meat around in the pan. Be sure to only salt toward the end of your cooking time, because otherwise the salt will pull liquid out of the vegetables and they will sweat.

Read on for a recipe to put your new-found sauté skills to work.

image

Photo: Rex Miller

Ham and Cheese Panini with Sautéed Mushrooms
Makes 4 sandwiches

1 pound mixed mushrooms
6 tablespoons butter, divided
2 large shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon sherry or balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
8 slices hearty sandwich bread
8 ounces freshly shredded Gruyere cheese
6 ounces thinly sliced deli ham

Discard any tough stems from the mushrooms. Cut the caps into ¼-inch-thick slices.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until browned and tender, about 5 minutes. Pour onto a plate in a single layer.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet; cook remaining mushrooms and add to the plate.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet and cook the shallots until tender, about 3 minutes.

Return the mushrooms to the skillet, leaving any standing liquid on the plate.

Whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar in a small bowl and pour the mixture over the mushrooms. Increase the heat and boil the liquid until it reduces slightly and coats the mushrooms, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, arrange 4 slices of the bread on a work surface. Top each with equal portions of cheese. Divide the ham among the sandwiches. Top with the mushrooms, leaving any standing liquid in the skillet. Top with the remaining bread. Spread the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter on the outside of the sandwiches.

Cook in a panini press, grill pan, or skillet until the bread is golden and sizzling and the cheese melts. Serve warm.

Credits: Produced by Markay Media/Deep Run Productions; Featuring Vivian Howard; Culinary Producer Sheri Castle; Music by Greg Humphreys