Making a Stock

23/02/2013 17:29

A stock is a liquid flavoured from meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and seasonings. A Stock forms the basis of many soups and sauces and can be added to stews and casseroles.

 

BEEF STOCK
Quite easy to make. You can use all kinds of bones – meaty beef shanks, beef oxtails, rib bones, marrow bones, knuckles-  pretty much anything goes. Beef stock makes a delicious base for all types of dishes from meaty soups to casseroles.

It’s best if the bones are roasted off in the oven first to give a much stronger flavour and darker colour. You can use leftover roasted bones, too. If you do, you can skip the part where you roast the bones.

Makes about 2 litres/3½ pints

1kg beef bones
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 onions, peeled and quartered
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
1 leek, cleaned & coarsely chopped
1 tbsp oil or dripping
6 black peppercorns
1 Bouquet garni

Put the bones into a roasting tin with oil or some dripping and cook at 220C/ 425F, Gas mark 7, for about an hour, until they're nicely browned. The bones should never char, or they'll make the stock bitter. If they start to burn, then reduce the heat.

 Put the roasted bones in a large pan, add onions, celery, carrots, leek, peppercorns and bouquet garni. Cover with cold water, bring up to the boil and remove the scum from the surface with a large spoon and turn down the heat. Simmer gently ( The stock should barely be simmering. The surface should be still, but you should still see some tiny bubbles rising from the bottom. That's the best way to extract gelatin from the bones.) for about 4-6 hours to extract all the flavour from the bones.
    
Top up with hot water if the level of liquid should fall below the other ingredients. Cool a little, then strain the stock into a large bowl. Discard the bones and vegetables.

Let the stock cool down to room temperature, then store it in the fridge, where it will keep for 3-4 days. Leave the layer of fat over the stock until you plan to use it. The fat helps protect the stock from bacteria. The fat can be easily lifted off with a spoon when required. Beef stock will also keep well in the freezer for 1 month.

* You can reduce the stock again if you wish to do so, after straining it. Just bring it to a boil, then simmer it until it's reduced by half, it's then essentially a super concentrated beef stock. You can then pour the stock into ice-cube trays and freeze. When they are frozen put the cubes into a bag and label. When a recipe calls for it, you just put a cube in a jug and add boiling water to dissolve it.




CHICKEN STOCK
Makes about 3 litres

3 kg chicken carcasses and bones
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 leek, white part only, coarsely chopped
1 garlic head, halved
1 bouquet garni
6 white peppercorns


Remove as much fat as possible from bones, then rinse them under cold running water and place into a large saucepan. Add the vegetables, garlic, bouquet garni, peppercorns and enough water to cover bones, bring to the boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to low and gently simmer, skimming occasionally for about 4-5 hours, until stock is well-flavoured.

Remove from heat, and strain through a muslin-lined fine sieve, and discard the solids. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the stock until chilled and fat comes to the surface, then remove fat from surface. Stock will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

To make a brown chicken stock, preheat oven to 190C/ 375F /Gas 5.  Divide chicken carcass between two roasting tins and roast, rotating pans halfway through cooking until golden in colour, then add vegetables to pan and roast until vegetables begin to colour, place in a large saucepan and follow as per above recipe.



VEGETABLE STOCK
Makes about 2 litres/3½ pints

4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 leeks, white part only, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, bruised
1 bouquet garni
6 white peppercorns


Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil over medium heat, then reduce to low and lightly simmer, skimming occasionally for about 30-40 minutes, until the stock is flavoured. Remove from heat, strain through a muslin-lined fine sieve, but don't press the vegetables through it as the stock will be grainy and cloudy - discard the solids. Cool to room temperature then refrigerate the stock until chilled, about 2-4 hours. The Stock will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 1 month.




FISH STOCK
To make a good fish stock you need bones, fins, skins, and heads of the fish, fresh white fish is best - Cod, sole, and sea bass are a good choices.

Makes about 2½ litres.

2 kg white fish bones & trimmings, rinsed
1 leek, white part only, washed and coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 bouquet garni
6 white peppercorns

Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil over medium heat, reduce to low and lightly simmer, skimming occasionally until well-flavoured for about 20-30 minutes. Cool slightly, then carefully strain through a muslin-lined fine sieve. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate stock until chilled. Stock will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.




 

STOCK TIPS

* A Bouquet garni ~ imparts a great depth of flavour when added to slowly simmered soups, casseroles, stews and stocks.

* A heavy-based pot gives an even heat and allows your stock to simmer gently.

* Never boil stock for any length of time. A clear stock is fresh and flavoursome while a cloudy stock has murky flavours and is greasy, it’s the slow simmering process that will deliver a clear, well-flavoured stock.
    
* Always start with cold water, don’t be tempted to speed up the cooking process by using hot water - it will only make a meat stock cloudy or murky.
   
* Don’t add too much water to the stock ingredients. Cover the bones with enough cold water so they are covered by about 5cm of water. Additional water is only needed when or if it evaporates below the level of the ingredients before the stock is fully cooked.
    
* Don't add any salt, stock s a clean flavour base and shouldn't taste salty. Save the seasoning for the recipe it is being used in.

* Don't use starchy vegetables, like potatoes, as they will break down and make the stock too grainy and cloudy.  Also its best not to use green vegetables such as cabbages or broccoli, which can overpower the flavour of vegetable stock.

* Its best to avoid using oily fish - its just too strong.
 

* Never leave stock in a stockpot overnight. Stock must be cooled quickly and stored in the fridge, so it does not spoil.


D.Moss