Making Home Made Stock
Just as a store bought tomato can’t compare to a garden fresh tomato, so store bought stock can’t compare to home made stock. The good news is, stock is easy to make, uses up leftover food, and can be frozen for about four months. (You may also can stock using a pressure canner.)
How to Make Chicken Stock
Take the carcass (bones and scraps of meat) of a four or five pound whole chicken or turkey and either fresh vegetables or left over ones. Feel free to experiment with the vegetables, but aim for about one large onion, three chopped carrots, four stalks of celery cut into chunks, one tablespoon of whole black peppercorns, and between six and eight chopped garlic cloves.
Place all the ingredients in a large pot, cover with water, and simmer for about two hours, skimming off the foam periodically. Add water, if necessary, to keep the ingredients covered. Strain the broth to separate the solids from the liquid and refrigerate for two or three hours. The fat will rise to the top of the pot; scoop it away. Use the stock within a few days, or freeze or can.
How to Make Beef Stock
The process for making beef stalk is basically the same as the one for making chicken stock. However, as with all stocks, if you want the stock darker and richer, roast the meat, bones, and vegetables in the oven for about 45 minutes at 450 degrees F. before you do anything else.
Place about five to seven pounds of meat and bones in a large pot. (Beef, lamb, pork, ham, veal, or venison all work.) Add approximately two large chopped onions, four large carrots cut into chunks, four stalks of celery cut into chunks, one chopped up head of garlic, two large tomatoes cut into chunks, one tablespoon of whole black peppercorns, four dry bay leaves, ½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, and any seasonings you desire (oregano, thyme, and basil are good choices). Add enough water to cover everything.
Simmer for around four hours, stirring occasionally. Add water, if necessary, to keep the ingredients covered. Strain and refrigerate for about two or three hours. Skim off the fat and use within a week, freeze, or can.
How to Make Vegetable Stock
You may use nearly any vegetables you like – but avoid broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, which have too strong a flavor for a useful stock. Tomatoes (which are often confused as a vegetable, but are actually a fruit) also should not be used except in small quantities. Fresh vegetables work well, but peelings and left overs are useful, too.
Good choices for vegetable stock include garlic, onions, green onions, potatoes (including sweet potatoes), carrots, celery, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, corn (and corn cobs), peas, green beans, beets, plus herbs like parsley and basil. Also add about a tablespoon of whole black peppercorns and a couple of dry bay leaves.
Make your pot half full of vegetables and half full of water. Simmer for around an hour and strain. Use within a week, or freeze or can.
How to Make Fish Stock
Like all other stocks, scraps work just fine. The seafood used needn’t be expensive and may be in the form of fish, shrimp, crab, or lobster and shells. Use about four or five pounds of seafood, two tablespoons of butter, two large chopped onions, four chopped garlic cloves, one chopped stalk of celery, ½ cup of chopped flat-leafed parsley, one tablespoon of lemon juice (fresh is best), and one teaspoon of whole black peppercorns. You might also add a cup of dry white wine.
Melt the butter in the bottom of a large pot. Sauté the garlic, onion, and celery until soft. Place all the remaining ingredients in the pot and add about a gallon of water. Simmer for around an hour, skimming off any foam periodically. Strain, and either use within a week, or freeze or can the stock.As with all the stocks here, you can use either whole vegetables, or scraps, as we did when making vegetable stock. Just use an approximate equivalent amount of scraps instead of the whole vegetables.
So, here is a basic recipe for meat stock.
- 5 to 7 pounds of lean meat and bones (if your pile is more meat than bones, use 5 pounds, if more bones than meat, increase the amount) – this can include beef, veal, lamb, pork, ham (will have a distinct smoky flavor), or venison
- 2 large chopped onions
- 4 large chopped carrots
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 2 large chopped tomatoes
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- seasonings (about a tablespoon of each that you desire: oregano, basil, thyme) water to cover (about a gallon and a half)
Add your ingredients to your stock pot and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 4 hours. Add more water if necessary to keep the ingredients covered. Strain out the solid ingredients and refrigerate stock for a few hours. The fat layer can easily be skimmed off the chilled stock, making it ready for use or the freezer.
Seafood Stock
Seafood stock comes in handy for many recipes. You can use any inexpensive white fish scraps, bones and trimmings (your seafood market or grocery store probably sells fish packaged for just this purpose). You can also use crab, shrimp and lobster shells for adding flavor to seafood stocks.
- 4 to 5 pounds mild white fish (such as cod or halibut) bones and trimmings, and/or shellfish shells
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large onions chopped
- 4 or 5 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 stalk celery
- a tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 cup dry white wine (optional)
- approximately 1 gallon of water
Melt butter in bottom of stock pot and sauté onion, garlic and celery for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about an hour. Periodically skim off foam that will appear at the top of pot. Cool and strain out solid ingredients. Your stock is now ready for use or for the freezer.
