Macedoine of Vegetables

A quick reheating dish for leftover cooked vegetables, glazed in butter and a little stock. The whole method rests on driving off the liquid so the vegetables finish glossy rather than swimming.

• The hinge: reduce, don't stewEight to ten minutes over high heat is meant to boil the half cup of water almost completely away, leaving butter and stock clinging to the vegetables. If liquid still pools in the pan, keep going uncovered; if it dries before the vegetables are hot through, add a spoonful more.
• Beef extractThis means a concentrated meat paste of the Bovril type (Marmite is a yeast extract, not a meat one, so it is not the same thing). A teaspoon of it plus the half cup of water stands in for the half cup of stock offered as the alternative — use one or the other, not both. A crumbled bouillon cube works in its place.
• "A hot fire"On a modern range, medium-high. The pan should be wide enough that the vegetables sit in one shallow layer, or the water will not evaporate in the stated time.
• Which vegetablesA macédoine traditionally means evenly diced carrot, turnip, green bean and peas, cooked separately so each keeps its color and texture, then combined. Cut everything to a small even dice — classically about a quarter-inch — so it heats evenly.
• Sugar and seasoningThe teaspoon of sugar reads as help for the glaze rather than as sweetening; the dish will taste flat without adequate salt. Season at the end, since reducing the stock concentrates whatever salt it already carries.
• Shaking the panToss rather than stir. Already-cooked carrot and beans break down quickly under a spoon, and a broken macédoine looks like hash.
• YieldTwo cups of vegetables serves three or four as a side dish.