Are you stocking me?

A lot of recipes we make call for water or chicken (or vegetable) stock. The easy way out is always to use water, but when we opt for stock the end result is much more flavorful. There are boxed stocks that are available at the grocery, and of course, the all too familiar consume powder which can be added to any dish to make it more flavorful.

Another way to add flavor is to make your own stock at home. It's the most expensive way, the most time consuming way, but by far, the healthiest way. There is a wide variety of stocks that can be added to dishes (like rice, soups, or sauces) like chicken, vegetable, fish, or beef stock.

There is a basic formula to making a no-fail stock:

1. Cold water- Why do we start with clean, cold water? Setting the ingredients in cold water slowly removes the flavor that we want and infuses it into what will become our stock.
2. Bones- We're looking for young bones which have the highest percentage of cartilage to add the most flavor. Backs and necks are best to use in stocks. 
3. Mirepoix (pronounced 'meer-pwa')- A vegetable mixture consisting of 50% onions, 25% celery, and 25% carrots. This is the perfect balance to flavor our stock. 
4. Sachet- Herbs and spices in a cheesecloth, also called Bouquet Garni or an herb bundle.

The length of time that a stock cooks (or simmers) depends entirely on what type of stock you're making. Fish stock has the shortest simmering time of 45 minutes, vegetable stock about 2-3 hours, chicken stock 4-5 hours, and beef or veal stock about 8-10 hours. The longer the stock cooks, the bigger you cut your mirepoix vegetables. If you make tiny dice of mirepoix that'll be cooking in a beef stock, the vegetables will disintegrate, so you'll want to cut them bigger, if at all, for an 8-10 hour cook.

Put the bones in the cold water and bring the stock to a boil. Skim the top of the stock: there will be foam on the top that needs to come off. Take a ladle and try to only get the foam off of the top. Once the stock is skimmed, add the mirepoix and bring it back to a boil. Then simmer on low for the recommended time.

For stocks, no salt is added to the pot until ready to be used in a recipe. Why not? Because when you're making the stock, you don't necessarily know what it's going to be used for. So, keep it neutral, and only salt it when you're adding it to your dish.

When you're done cooking your stock, remove the mirepoix and strain the stock so it's clear.

We made a HUGE pot of chicken stock today (actually two pots) and we'll strain those and make consume tomorrow. Apparently, consume is the most pain-in-the-behind process. I'll tell you more tomorrow. Can't wait!

Tip of the day: When cooling down your soup (or stock), you have a few options to speed up the process without diluting your hard work. You can freeze water bottles beforehand (remove the labels) and place the frozen water bottles in the pot to rapidly cool down the soup without diluting it. Another way you can cool your soup is by pouring it into smaller metal containers (NOT plastic). Place the metal containers in an ice bath. The metal is a conductor, and will adapt to the ice bath around it and cool whatever is inside. Plastic containers can be used for storage and freezing.