Showing posts with label Stock Exchange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stock Exchange. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The 2009 Stock Exhchange Is Here!


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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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:

  • 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!


Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Stock Exchange


Please don't forget! Less than a week remains until The Stock Exchange. Post your best recipes, tips, and tricks... or, post a question you've had about making your stock- surely someone amongst us will have the answer. Link back here, at Parenting The Tiniest Of Miracles, this coming Wednesday, November 25th.

Please spread the word! I'd love for us to glean a wealth of information from each other.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Parenting the Tiniest of Miracles Stock Exchange


My husband will be so excited. I'm going to blog about the Stock Exchange.

Okay, not really.

But do you know what I've noticed? So very many of us make our own stock...

and we all seem to have our own little tips and tricks for making it just right.

Truth? I'm still pretty new to this "stock-making" business. I thought it might be fun to host a Stock Exchange so we can share our recipes, tips, best practices. I know I could definitely learn a thing or two!

Here's how it will work:

1. Post your favorite stock recipe, tip, trick, or best practice on your blog.

2. Come back here on Wednesday, November 25th (the day before Thanksgiving- we'll all have lots of bones and scraps coming up!) and link up to the Stock Exchange.

I can't wait to read them all!

(Don't have a blog? No worries- we'd love to read what you have to say in the comments!)

One final note- please pass the word! The more participation we have, the better. I absolutely love to learn from you all.