Magical liquid of the kitchen
Posted by Arwen Mosher
in Food
on Wednesday, December 03, 2008 6:41 PM
There are lots of liquids that are wonderful to have in the kitchen, but for a low ratio of cost and effort to taste-per-ounce, one of my absolute favorites is homemade poultry stock.
A good turkey or chicken stock made on your own stove tastes noticeably better than canned stock or broth, and there are lots of ways to use it.
Homemade stock makes gravy into something special. It forms an excellent base for any number of soups, and brings so much flavor of its own accord that you hardly need anything else. I’m salivating just thinking about French onion soup that has basically two ingredients: caramelized onions and homemade chicken stock. I love to cook rice in stock instead of water; it also adds great flavor to many different pasta sauces.
And I’m sure I’m just skimming the surface of all the different uses that people find for stock in their kitchens. I’ve read that chefs make their own stock and use it in everything, so I’m sure I’m missing most of the good uses for it.
At any rate, have I converted you yet? Do you want to try making your own stock?
I’ve never actually made turkey stock because I never cook a turkey, thanks to living only 90 minutes from my parents and always going “home” for Thanksgiving, but my mother makes stock every year with her turkey carcass, and I can attest that it is excellent. Her particular method takes several days, but this recipe looks fool-proof and has good reviews. I’m also intrigued by Michael Ruhlman’s method for making turkey stock; here is his article about it, but if you click over be forewarned that you’ll have to wade through a fair amount of anti-canned-broth snobbishness to get to the instructions.
It didn’t occur to me until a couple years ago that I didn’t need a leftover turkey but could actually start stock from scratch. One January the circumstances aligned: chickens had gone on sale at my grocery store for 79¢ a pound; I’d gotten an 8-qt stockpot for Christmas; I had a free day. The Joy of Cooking stock recipe looked fairly simple, so I tried it, and I’ve been hooked ever since!
Joy of Cooking recipes aren’t online, but this one from Epicurious looks similar and just as easy. And it doesn’t even matter if you’re missing ingredients! The only essential ones are chicken and water; leave a couple of the others out and the stock will still be excellent, the flavor will just be slightly different. For even better stock, I generally stick the chicken and vegetables in the oven for an hour at 425ºF before proceeding with the stock-making; if you have time this step is well worth it for the extra flavor it adds.
If you try making your own stock, I promise you will not be sorry!
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Filed under economy, homemade, poultry, stock
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Comments
1. Posted by Hoo on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008 6:54 PM (EST):
Consider me converted. Canned stock is icky, though I use it *all*the*time. I always thought you just tossed a leftover bird in a pot and now I can see why I’ve ruined gallons of potential stock with my “winging it”. I’ve been following your gravy recipe for awhile and have upped my GCL (Gravy Competence Level ) from zero to very edible, so I am confident you won’t lead us astray here!
PS -which edition of Joy are you using?
2. Posted by Jennifer on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008 7:12 PM (EST):
During the colder months, I roast a 5 to 7 lb chicken about once a week for my family. Then I pick off all the left over chicken and set it aside. I take the carcass and any other leftovers and throw it in a stock pot with some water, parsley, bay leaf, salt & pepper. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for a few hours. Strain & discard carcass and cool overnight. Now that i have my stock, I start the soup. It’s a great economical meal for a large family.
3. Posted by Amy F
[website] on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008 8:05 PM (EST):
I started making all my own stock this spring. I save vegetable scraps in the freezer and put them with a carcass in a big pot, cover with water, and simmer for 2-3 hours. We eat a whole chicken once every two weeks and I usually accumulate a gallon bag of carrot peels and top, onion skins, and other odds and ends by then. After Thanksgiving my MIL and I split the carcass and each made broth with it. Good stuff!
4. Posted by anon on Thursday, Dec 4, 2008 8:54 AM (EST):
I was so happy to have TWO turkey carcasses to make stock out of-and I got a lot of it! But I just toss the carcasses - both had lots of seasonings of themselves since one had been roasted witha rub and the other grilled after soaking in a brine. I tossed in carrots, onion and celery chunks, frozen parsley and some seasonings and cooked a good part of the day. The house smelled great and now I have plenty in the freezer to use. It also helps offset the cost of those birds to start with!! It really is soooo much better than canned and I use it in anything that calls for broth and also for rice, Quinoa, etc.
5. Posted by Kansas Mom
[website] on Thursday, Dec 4, 2008 11:24 AM (EST):
I always make stock when we roast chicken or turkey. I even made some last spring with a smoked turkey my husband bought for about $0.10 a pound. It had a slightly different flavor, but worked just as well. It takes such a small amount of time for the benefits reaped!
I freeze mine in 1 or 2 cups quantities. I try to remember to pull them out the night before if I need stock or broth, but I’ve also just run it under some warm water to melt the edges and dropped it frozen into a pot for soup (which works best if there’s some other liquid in there).
6. Posted by Leah on Thursday, Dec 4, 2008 4:17 PM (EST):
The best stock-making tip ever: roast the bones (longer if they’re raw, for less time if they’ve come from a roasted bird) until they’re nice and golden brown before you start simmering. Ups the flavor immensely and gives the stock a lovely color!
7. Posted by Rosie_Kate
[website] on Sunday, Dec 7, 2008 8:58 PM (EST):
Don’t forget the feet! I know it sounds gross, but it used to be the way stock was always done. You throw in a the feet of the bird (because you just butchered it before supper...) and the feet add lots of gelatin which is extremely good for your digestive and immune systems!
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