Home-made Stocks

Home-made Stocks (Chicken, Fish, Beef and Roasted Vegetable)

Stocks are the basic ingredient for soups, risottos and other rice dishes, noodle dishes, casseroles etc and therefore are a very important component in a cook's repertoire. A good stock can lift a simple dish to divine heights, while a bad or commercial stock can turn it into a gluey over-salted mess.

Stocks are real easy. There is no magic. It's pretty much a simple mixture of bones, vegetables, herbs, and water to cover; simmer very gently in a large stockpot for a couple of hours depending on type of stock (or halve the time if you are lucky enough to have a big stainless steel pressure cooker), strain and reserve the liquid, and that's it.

NB: The quantities here are based on using an eight-litre pressure cooker or stockpot.

CHICKEN STOCK

Ingredients:

3 x chicken marylands (otherwise known as chicken backs), skin on; OR 3 x chicken carcases, available at your supermarket/butcher; if they're not on display, ask for them
one onion, skin on (gives a nice colour), cut into quarters	2 sticks celery, with leaves, chopped into two or three pieces crosswise
2 carrots, chopped into two or three pieces crosswise	bunch fresh parsley, stems and all
4 dried bay leaves	1 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn dried basil	1 tspn salt
2 tspn whole black peppercorns

(if I'm making a chicken stock specifically for a Thai or Chinese soup, I often add a few slices of unpeeled fresh green ginger, maybe a little lemongrass if I have it to hand)

Method:

Put all ingredients into the stockpot. Cover with water to about three-quarters full.

Cover the pot, simmer stock very very gently (a relaxed gloop-gloop is what you're after; any faster and it will overboil and lose flavour) for about an hour and a half; or about 45 minutes only if using a pressure cooker.

Take off heat, leave to cool. Strain through a colander into large tupperware containers or whatever you have. Squish the bones and veggies around in the colander to extract all possible juices.

Use immediately or freeze in batches for when you need it. This will produce a pretty concentrated stock so you will probably want to dilute it with additional water (two parts stock to one part water is a good measure) before using.

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FISH STOCK

Ingredients:

heads, bones, skin and bits of one large or two small fish	2 sticks celery, with leaves, chopped into two or three pieces crosswise
2 carrots, chopped into two pieces crosswise	half an onion, peeled and cut into quarters
4 dried bay leaves	1 tspn whole black peppercorns
1 tspn salt

(a fish stock is a much more delicate proposition than a chicken or beef stock hence the reduction in cooking time and amounts of onion and black pepper; however as with the chicken stock if I plan to use the fish stock specifically for an Asian creation I will add a tspn or so of grated fresh ginger)

Method:

Put all ingredients into the stockpot. Cover with water to about three-quarters full.

Cover the pot, simmer stock very very gently (a relaxed gloop-gloop is what you're after; any faster and it will overboil and lose flavour) for about 45 minutes; half an hour only if using a pressure cooker.

Take off heat, leave to cool. Strain through a colander into large tupperware containers or whatever you have. Squish the bones and veggies around in the colander to extract all possible juices.

Use immediately or freeze in batches for when you need it. This will produce quite a light subtle stock, especially nice for Asian-influenced soups or other fish broths.

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BEEF STOCK

Ingredients:

2 kg beef bones, sawn in 5cm pieces (you might have to ask your butcher to do this for you)	two onions, skin on (gives a nice colour), cut into quarters
2 sticks celery, with leaves, chopped finely	2 carrots, chopped finely
1 leek, chopped finely	1 tbspn tomato paste
bunch fresh parsley, stems and all	4 dried bay leaves
1 tspn dried basil	1 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn salt	2 tspn whole black peppercorns

(the method of cooking here is a little different; the browning of the beef and vegetables first gives a more intense flavour, and overall it is a much heartier concoction mmm mmmmm)

Method:

Heat a little extra virgin olive oil or canola oil in the stockpot. Put beef bones and vegetables (the mix of finely chopped celery, carrots and leeks is called a mirepoix in lingua culinaire, cute huh) in and stir over heat until the beef browns and the vegetables begin to stew/melt.

Add tomato paste, herbs and seasoning and cover with water to about three quarters full.

Take off heat, leave to cool. Strain through a colander into large tupperware containers or whatever you have. Squish the bones and veggies around in the colander to extract all possible juices.

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ROASTED VEGETABLE STOCK

Ingredients:

2 kgs mixed root vegetables eg carrots, pumpkin, potato, parsnip, roughly chopped	one onion, skin on (gives a nice colour), cut into quarters
2 sticks celery, with leaves, chopped into two or three pieces crosswise	1 leek, trimmed, washed well and roughly chopped
bunch fresh parsley, stems and all	1 tbspn tomato paste
4 dried bay leaves	1 tspn dried basil
1 tspn dried oregano	1 tspn salt
2 tspn whole black peppercorns

(this uses pretty much the same cooking principle as the beef stock above)

Method:

Heat a little olive or canola oil in the stockpot. Put root and other vegetables in and stir until the vegetables brown and begin to stew/melt.

Add tomato paste, herbs and seasoning and cover with water to about three-quarters full.

Take off heat, leave to cool. Strain through a colander into large tupperware containers or whatever you have. For this stock (and whenever you want a clear consomme, for that matter), don't squish the vegetables too vigorously as you want the stock as clear as possible - this isn't a puree.