Of Stock and Pots
I discovered through a rather informal chat at the office that a great number of modern women (or men) haven’t the slightest clue as to how to make an cook’s essential base for soups, rices, sauces, stir-frys meat and veggie dishes. The bullion cubes with their ridiculously high sodium counts should be banned by Health Canada and the canned stock is beyond bland besides being ridiculously priced. Homemade stock has to be one of the most no-fuss basics as well as being absurdly easy.
4 – 5 Pounds Raw Chicken Bones
2 Medium Carrots, peeled and cut into 2″ pieces
1 Celery Stalk, cut into 2″ pieces, leaves removed
1 Large Yellow Onion, peeled and quartered
1 Green Onion
1 Large Leek
3 Cloves Garlic, peeled
1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorns – un-crushed
1 Small Bunch Parsley (with stems), washed
1 Large Bay Leaf
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
The stock recipe works with well with beef or lamb bones and probably would work just as easily for pork bones but for obvious reasons I never use pork – let alone pork bones.
I often buy whole chickens to cut up and I toss the unnecessary bones and back into a freezer bag until I have enough bones (approximately one whole chicken equals 1 lbs of bones). If you buy whole frying chickens you will have significant savings rather than buying chicken pieces individually wrapped. When I have the time and enough bones in the freezer I begin the process of making stock.
Use either a pasta pot or a large pot with a metal strainer insert. Wash all vegetables and parsley well. Cut the carrots, leek, and celery stalk into large chunks. There is no need to peel or trim off the ends – this is stock – not soup but do peel and quarter the onion. Place the metal cooking strainer inside the pot and toss in the vegetables with the parsley (no need to remove the parsley stems) and then add the frozen chicken bones. Cover with the un-crushed black peppercorns, garlic, bay leaf and kosher salt. If you cannot find kosher salt substitute with sea salt but leave the iodized salt on the shelf. The bones should be the last in the pot.
Cover the mixture with cold water to about 1 ½ to 2 inches above the bones and vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil without covering the pot, skim off the scum, and let simmer uncovered for approximately three hours or until you get a nice rich chicken colour. DO NOT COVER OR ADD WATER TO THE STOCK but periodically you will have to skim off the foam during the simmer process.
Once done, strain vegetable and bone mixture from stock and toss. Place the stock in the fridge. If a layer of fat forms don’t disturb it until your ready to use – this fat acts to keep the flavour from evaporating in your fridge and is easily removed once it has congeled on top. Stock will last about a week in the fridge but you can freeze it in multiple containers to be defrosted and used at a later date for soups or even rices.
I want to talk about the necessity of good quality stainless steel pots. For years, I cooked deliciously meals on whatever pots were cheap and on sale. Consequently, I actually wore out six complete sets of pots in less than 8 years. I really thought the hype of about quality stainless steal pots was simply hype. Now you can cook wonderful meals on cheap pots but it takes a lot more work and a great deal more finesse. You need to know how your pots interact with heat and change your methods to suit your pots. Gravies, white sauces or rice needed extreme care or they get get gluey or burned easily on the bottom.
Now my mother, on one of her periodic visits watched my kitchen aerobics during a kitchen mishap with pot and leaking through a tiny whole while on the burner. She decided what I needed more than anything else was a decent set of real stainless steel pots and bought me a wonderful set of a high quality Italian 18/10 stainless steel pots on sale for half-price…but it still cost her over $300 dollars. That was over 4 years ago and the pots still look brand new.
The difference is frankly amazing. The pots and lids don’t warp through repeated heatings and I cannot remember the last time anything started to glue up or crusted on the bottom. Flavour is completely locked in and clean up is a breeze. Learn from my mistakes and buy yourself a set of decent stainless steel pots for your all-purpose cooking – even if you can only afford one piece at a time its well worth the investment.
