Jen Hayden posted a timely and informative diary earlier this week on the usefulness of having a pantry during this time of self-isolation. The first thing on her list was broth, a valuable base for a variety of foods. And it got me to thinking that perhaps people don’t realize that broth or stock is something that can be made at home with ingredients that otherwise would end in the garbage. Jacques Pepin, the French chef and collaborator with Julia Child, has said that one of the ways he judges the quality of a chef is how much the chef throws away, the better the chef, the less waste. I am fortunate to be married for over thirty years to a chef who by any measure is excellent. One of my wife’s regular projects is making stock from vegetable parings, onion skins and chicken carcasses. She keeps these in the freezer until there is a sufficient quantity to make a batch of stock. Then they all go into the stockpot with water and simmer slowly overnight. Note that the ingredients are all leftovers from meal preparation.(At family Thanksgivings, the turkey carcass comes home with us). Instead of throwing them in the garbage or compost they are used to make a nutritious and flavorful ingredient. She usually makes a couple gallons at a time that are stored in quart yogurt containers with lids, sometimes called hippie tupperware. These are stored in the freezer and used as needed. Here let me extol the great advantage of having a freezer. A few years ago we bought a small chest freezer from Sears. At about $200 it has more than paid for itself in savings. In summer we pick berries, either from our yard or a commercial u-pick and freeze them so we have fresh organic berries for months. Recently a local butcher bought the animals from an organic meat producer who closed the business and offered organic meats at a discount. We got several pounds and froze them for future use. Here are instructions for making the stock.
In a large pot, 2 gallons or so, put leftover pieces of saved onion skins, carrot pieces and couple pieces of celery, 3 chicken backs or more or one whole chicken with water. Bring to a simmer then turn down to lowest setting. Ideally, one bubble should appear every 90 seconds. Let cook over night or at least 12 hrs. If using whole chicken, save the meat for other meals. Drain in colander and freeze in containers.