Top Blog Recipes

29 Nov 2011

ANY BONES WILL DO, BOIL & SQUEEZE ALL THE LOVELYNESS OUT OF THOSE BONES


I AM KNOWN FOR TAKING LEFTOVER BONES FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY DINNERS, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH STOCK, NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR HOW LARGE A STOCK POT, I RANGE FROM 1 LITRE TO 30 LITRE POTS...

THE BASE FOR MOST STOCKS:
3 whole carrots
2 onions skin too
3 sticks celery
1 leek
2 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
Water
Seasoning

Place all the above in a pan with any left over roasted bones or fish shells, any gravy etc and bring up to a gentle simmer, then just turn down the heat so only a few bubbles are popping through the stock, and leave to tick over for 2-3hours.  This method helps to keep the stock clear, if you don't mind a cloudy stock then crank up the heat and boil away for approx 1hr.  I sieve the stock and put in a container and into the fridge, after a few hours I can then skim off the set fat, now I really really want to keep the fat in the stock, however my waistline is already two countries, (Australia & American) so I do remove it. 

If I am making a fish & chicken stock as the picture above shows, I like to pan fry the prawn shells on their own and bash them with the end of a rolling pin, then add the chicken bones and when up to heat add the water, I don't add all the veg on this one as the prawns add so much depth.

Once the stock is made and consistency is what you want, I sieve and then taste, this is when I add the seasoning, not before, in order not to concentrate the seasoning.

Stock is like making magic.

No comments:

Post a Comment