Monday, May 11, 2009

Chicken Stock (aka cleaning out the fridge/freezer)


I love filling a big pot with odds and ends from my freezer and vegetable drawer, adding water, and VOILA - i get homemade stock!

My grandmother, Sye, was famous for her "everything" soup. She didn't make homemade stock - but made this great soup out of things that she had set aside instead of throwing out. The juice from a can of peas, the bones and scraps of meat from dinner - all of it went into a container that went into the freezer. When it was full - it was time to make soup!

So - i took this "pack-rat" lesson and apply it to my stock today. The only part of today's stock that came from a recent grocery trip was the onion and the leek (both due to be used, so not that recent).

The stock recipe today included:
3 chicken carcsses (2 from a rotissery session, one from the smoker)
1 lamb leg bone (brought home from dinner at the grandparents')
2 stalks of celery (frozen - waiting for a home)
1 yellow onion quartered
1 leek sliced - green and white parts
3/4 container button mushrooms
3 garlic cloves
peppercorns
1 anise star
juniper berries
water to fill pot
* any veggies you have on hand - especially root varieties should go in

Simmer on low heat for at least 4 hours. Add more water if you need to - skim fat off of the top as you see fit.

My favorite tricks
Choice pot: I like using my monster pasta pot with the insert. That way - when it is done, i can pull the insert - with all of the cooked and dead bones/veggies and throw right into a bag in the garbage.
Temp: DO NOT LET THIS BOIL. Boiling causes the stock to turn cloudy and gelatenous when cold. It still is OK to use if it does this - just don't let the company see you plop it out of the container and into your risotto.
Storing: I love to fill up snack-sized ziplocks with stock and freezing it. If you want to be anal and measure it before freezing - it will make it more accurate when you want to use it later.
Uses: I like using homemade stock whenever possible. The chickens are always flavored the way we like it - with flavors that we tend to use often, so it blends well with our cooking later. Risotto, soup, sauces, glazes, anything that calls for stock!

** what do you like to put in your stock to make it unique? Any tips you've learned that help make your stock turn out everytime?

5 comments:

Ginger said...

Scate I have to get better at saving my stuff for this! Your chicken stock looks incredible and I like all the tips that you gave. Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

This stock sounds like it would have some amazing flavors with all these ingredients! Excellent!

Anonymous said...

yum!
I do the same thing wit he freezer bag. Not pea juice and meat scraps, but carrot tops and bits on onion? sure!

Donna-FFW said...

Oh what great ideas.. no excuse for not making homemade stock now!

Tangled Noodle said...

You are too good! Cleaning out the fridge/freezer AND making awesome stock. I'd probably have to buy this ingredients for this as whatever is in the fridge is long past the point of being edible!