Welcome to The Stock Exchange!
I'm so delighted to have you here.
The purpose of The Stock Exchange is to compile, in one convenient, accessible place, a list of tips, tricks, and recipes pertaining to making your own stock.
Why today?
Knowing that we'd all have a pile of bones, scraps, and leftovers tomorrow made the day before Thanksgiving seem like a great time to get together and talk about it!
How to participate:
Simply leave a link to a post that you've written on your blog in the Mr. Linky below. It's perfectly fine if it's something you wrote awhile ago. Please link directly to your post (not your main blog page) and leave a link back to this page somewhere in there.
Thanks so much- I can't wait to see what I can learn!
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I'm a real novice when it comes to making stock, I'll be honest with you. Fact is, even with as frugal as I am, I didn't often buy meat that had bones in it. I would say we just ate "less meat" rather than cheaper cuts. It is only recently that I started buying chicken breasts with the bone in. Perhaps you can chalk it up to the jump in meat prices I saw moving from the Midwest to New England.
Anyway, now that I'm in the business of making my own stock, here is my favorite chicken stock recipe:
I dump that whole mess in a big ol' stock pot (Ah hah! So that's why they call it that!) and bring it up to a boil.
Once it boils, I put a lid on it and reduce to a simmer. And then I leave it alone for a few hours.
Once that's cooked away for quite awhile, I turn the heat off and let it cool just to the point that it's not going to scald me if I splash myself while straining it. (Ask me how I learned to take that extra step...) I strain out the bits and pieces of veggie and meat scraps (true frugalistas and excellent stewards would definitely have a use for these- I want to be honest with you though, so I'll confess that I toss them.)
Once I'm left with just the "broth"-looking portion, I put that in a large dish and leave it in the refrigerator for a few hours or, preferably, overnight. Sitting in the fridge for awhile allows the fat to float to the surface and form a gelatinous layer that is easily scraped away. Again, I have no doubt there are uses for this fat and I really hope some of you will enlighten me in your posts or comments! For now, I toss that too.
What I'm left with is usually a couple quarts of delicious, unseasoned chicken stock. I choose to not add salt or spices as I make my stock because I usually end up using a cup here and a cup there for various meals of different ethnicities. If you know, however, that you'll be making yours into chicken soup, there's no reason not to season it up as it simmers!
So there you go. That's how stock gets made in the Parenting Miracles household.
How do you make your stock? What tips do you have to share with the rest of us? Let's help each other out!
Anyway, now that I'm in the business of making my own stock, here is my favorite chicken stock recipe:
- leftover bones from cooked whole chicken or family pack breasts, picked quite clean, skin discarded (I don't like all the grease that comes from the skin, personally)
- veggie scraps (in our family, this usually means carrot peels and ends and broccoli stalks)
- one small yellow onion, quartered
- 1 - 1 1/2 gallons water
I dump that whole mess in a big ol' stock pot (Ah hah! So that's why they call it that!) and bring it up to a boil.
Once it boils, I put a lid on it and reduce to a simmer. And then I leave it alone for a few hours.
Once that's cooked away for quite awhile, I turn the heat off and let it cool just to the point that it's not going to scald me if I splash myself while straining it. (Ask me how I learned to take that extra step...) I strain out the bits and pieces of veggie and meat scraps (true frugalistas and excellent stewards would definitely have a use for these- I want to be honest with you though, so I'll confess that I toss them.)
Once I'm left with just the "broth"-looking portion, I put that in a large dish and leave it in the refrigerator for a few hours or, preferably, overnight. Sitting in the fridge for awhile allows the fat to float to the surface and form a gelatinous layer that is easily scraped away. Again, I have no doubt there are uses for this fat and I really hope some of you will enlighten me in your posts or comments! For now, I toss that too.
What I'm left with is usually a couple quarts of delicious, unseasoned chicken stock. I choose to not add salt or spices as I make my stock because I usually end up using a cup here and a cup there for various meals of different ethnicities. If you know, however, that you'll be making yours into chicken soup, there's no reason not to season it up as it simmers!
So there you go. That's how stock gets made in the Parenting Miracles household.
How do you make your stock? What tips do you have to share with the rest of us? Let's help each other out!
Posts
2 comments:
I LOVE making homemade stock. I count it as one of the most frugal and nutritious things I do, plus I love that I save the earth by avoiding all those cans of broth. If you don't use a vinegar soak, you're not getting all the nutrients you can out of them bones: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/03/30/monday-mission-how-to-make-your-own-homemade-chicken-stockbroth/
I also hosted a stock carnival with lots of recipes from around the blogosphere using homemade stock (soups and other stuff, too). Plus I finally figured out the secret to getting good gelatin: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/10/08/october-fest-carnival-of-super-foods-brothstock-recipes/
Love this carnival, JL! Thank you!!
:) Katie
I do the vinegar soak, too. And for the same reason - it increases the mineral content of the broth. Remember the chicken bone-in-vinegar experiment? The calcium leached into the vinegar. And the final broth has no sour taste.
I do add a bay leaf, pinch of peppercorns and blob of thyme, so maybe I taste them instead. I use broth instead of water most of the time. It's a yummy way to fight the osteoporosis that runs in my family.
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