Stocks

A good stock is the key ingredient to a great soup, sauce or braised dish.

Realistically, I know that most people wouldn’t go out of their way to make a stock at home. It may seem intimidating, time consuming, or simply inconvenient. The truth is that stocks are really quite simple to make and the key is starting with good quality ingredients. This is something that you can make on the weekend and store it to use at your convenience. It keeps in the fridge for up to seven days or in the freezer for several months.

All standard stocks, except for vegetable stock, consist of four basic elements.

1. Bones

2. Flavoring vegetables (mirepoix)

3. Seasonings

4. Liquid

Principles of stock making:

A. Start the stock in cold water

When bones are covered in cold water all the impurities are drawn out. As the water heats up, the impurities coagulate and rise to the top, where they can be skimmed easily.

B. Simmer the stock gently

The stock should be brought to a boil and reduced to a simmer. Boiling any stock for a particular length of time causes the impurities and fats to blend with the liquid, affecting the overall quality of the stock.

C. Skim the stock frequently

The more impurities are removed the better the end product will be in both appearance and flavor.

D. Add mirepoix, herbs & spices

(onions, celery & carrots, diced)

A lot of Chefs and cookbooks tell you to add these favoring agents at the beginning. The problem with this is that you will remove some of the flavorings as you skim your stock. You can add this component 2 to 3 hours before the end of cooking time, or just long enough to release the flavors.

While veal or beef bones are tougher to find, unless you go out of your way to arrange something with your butcher, you can still achieve something rich in flavor by using tougher cuts of meat like the brisket, shank or shoulder. This is called a broth, and the same principles apply when making it.

Recommended Cooking Times:

Poultry (3 to 4 hours)

Veal, beef (6 to 8 hours)

Fish (30 to 40 minutes)

Vegetable (30 to 40 minutes)

It’s always a good idea to cook meat stocks for a longer period to allow the liquid to reduce. While no additional flavor compounds may be extracted from the bones after a certain period, the reduction concentrates the flavor of the stock.

Basic White Stock (yield: 5L)

Ingredients:

Bones: chicken or beef 2.5 kg

Cold water 7 L

Mirepoix 500 g

Bay leaf 2

Peppercorns, crushed 0.25 g

Dried thyme 0.25 g

Parsley stems 8

*A generally accepted ratio of ingredients for a given amount of water is 50% bones (by weight) and 10% mirepoix (by weight). For example, to produce 20 L of stock you would need 10 kg of bones and 2 kg of mirepoix.

Directions:

1. Place the bones in a stock pot and cover with cold water.

2. Bring the cold water to a boil and skim off the scum that rises to the surface. Reduce liquid to a simmer.

3. Add the mirepoix and flavoring agents to the simmering stock.

4. Continue cooking the stock for as long as the type of bones require, skimming as needed.

5. Strain, cool, and refrigerate over night.

6. Degrease the stock. When a stock is refrigerated, the fat content rises to the surface and hardens, forming a layer that needs to be lifted and discarded before the stock can be used.

Since most stocks are prepared to use at a later time, great care must be taken when cooling a stock to prevent food borne illnesses or souring. A stock should be cooled quickly before storing in the fridge or freezer.

The best place to cool your stock is in your sink. Simply place the stock pot in the sink, making sure that it won’t tip over then, add crushed ice, water & salt. Why salt? Simple physics.

When salt dissolves in water, the water dispenses energy (in the form of heat) to break the bonds that hold the ice crystals together. As the water loses heat it gets cooler, lowering the freezing point of water, causing the ice to melt faster than the water can freeze.

This process works well whenever you need to cool anything quickly before storing.

*Vegetable Stock (yield: 4L)

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 50 mL

Mirepoix, small dice 600 g

Leek, chopped 125 g

Garlic, chopped 4 cloves

Fennel, small dice 100 g

Tomato, diced 100 g

Water 4.5 L

Bay Leaf 1

Dried Thyme 0.25 g

Peppercorns, crushed 0.25 g

Parsley stems 8

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and add the vegetables. Sweat for 10 minutes

2. Add the water and the rest of the ingredients.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Strain, cool and refrigerate.

* When making a vegetable stock, stay away from vegetables that contain strong flavors such as cabbage and cauliflower.

Let's talk pasta!

Easily a favorite and one of the things that I love about it is how versatile it can be. It can also be simple and easy without taking much time to make, as well as a great way to get your daily food groups requirement. These three recipes are some of my favorite to make, simple and full of flavor.

Chicken Carbonera, with sundried tomatoes & fresh basil

Served on penne

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 200 ml

Chicken breasts, sliced 2 (serves 3-4)

Bacon, diced 250 g

Bay leaf, optional 2

Onion, diced 150 g

Garlic, minced 100 g

Sundried Tomatoes, chopped 250 g

White wine (optional) splash (chardonnay, or substitute with water)

Flour, all purpose 300 g

Heavy cream, 35% 1 cup

Mozzarella, shredded 150 g (substitute with parmesan)

Fresh basil 50 g

Salt & Pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Boil some water and cook your pasta.
2. Heat oil over medium heat and add the chicken.
3. Add diced bacon and bay leaf.
4. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
5. Add sundried tomatoes and wine and bring to a simmer.
6. Add flour, stirring constantly until you get a light paste consistency.
7. Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer
8. Add the cheese and basil, slightly stirring until cheese is melted.
9. Add the basil, and season to taste.

Lasagna

This is a very easy recipe to put together and you could even freeze it to have it ready for those days when you just don’t feel like taking the time to cook anything.

Ingredients:

Pasta sheets, cooked

Bolognese sauce (recipe in previous entry)

Ricotta cheese 500 g

Spinach, stemmed 1 kg

*Mozzarella cheese, shredded enough to form a thin top layer

Fresh parsley just enough to garnish

Directions:

1. To layer the lasagna start with a layer of meat at the bottom, pasta, ricotta cheese & spinach, pasta, meat, and coat with cheese.
2. Cover aluminum foil and seal tightly.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350F
4. Cook lasagna to an internal temperature of 160F. If you don’t have a thermometer you can use a butter knife, just poke in the middle and with it touch just underneath your bottom lip to feel the heat.
5. Remove aluminum foil and brown the cheese slightly.
6. Garnish with parsley

*You can use your favorite cheese, or a combination here. Play around with it and find something you like. I like a combination of mozzarella and asiago.

*Mediterranean Vegetable Penne

One of the benefits of this dish is that it takes very little time to make. You can chop all your vegetables the day before and have ready to just throw together.

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 100 ml

Red onion, sliced 1 half

Garlic, minced 100 g

Roma tomatoes, diced 2 (substitute with sundried tomatoes)

Canned artichokes, drained 1

Canned black olives, drained 1

Dry white wine 50 ml

Fresh basil, thinly sliced 60 g

Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped 60 g

Parmesan cheese 40 g

Salt & pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat and add the onions.
2. When onions are soft, add garlic and tomatoes and sauté for about a minute.
3. Add the canned vegetables and wine and bring to a simmer.
4. Finish with the fresh herbs, cheese and season to taste.

* Mediterranean cuisine can be described as a fusion of the foods from all the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Given the geography, the cuisine of these nations have influenced each other over time and evolved into sharing common principles and ingredients, making this type of cuisine very flexible.

"Meez"

Let’s kick things off by talking a little bit about “Mise en Place” or simply, Meez, literally meaning, put in place. This is the philosophy that drives any professional kitchen and there’s no reason why you can’t apply it at home. This includes everything from getting your pots, pans and utensils ready as well as cutting all your meats and vegetables beforehand. The more prepared you are the easier things will flow when you actually come to cook your meal.

Something else to think about when cooking any meal is to start by cooking the item that will take the longest. This obviously goes without saying but you would be surprised by how often it gets overlooked.

So with that in mind, here’s a two simple recipes that require little to no Meez.

Chicken & Snow peas stir-fry with Shitake Mushrooms
Served on a bed of white rice

White Rice

*Converted rice 1 cup (serves 2-4)
Water 2 cups
Salt 2 grams

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. Cover and reduce temperature to a simmer. (on most domestic stoves the ideal simmering temperature is 2)
3. Simmer the rice until tender or most of the liquid is absorbed.
4. Remove from the heat and allow excess moisture to evaporate, approximately 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid if necessary.
5. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.

Stir-fry ingredients:

Vegetable oil, or sesame oil if you have it
Chicken breasts, cut into strips (depending on the size of the breast, estimate about half to a full breast per person)
Shitake mushrooms, sliced (substitute with button mushrooms)
Snow peas, cut into halves
Soy sauce
Mirin sauce (substitute with brown sugar, pineapple juice or honey)

Directions:

1. Heat your pan with medium heat and add your oil.
2. Sauté chicken, making sure chicken is cooked before adding the rest of your ingredients.
3. Add shitake mushrooms and snow peas and sauté for about a minute. These items don’t need much cooking time.
4. Add Soy and mirin sauce and bring to a slight simmer.
5. Serve on bed of rice and garnish with sesame seeds, if you have any.

*On choosing rice:

Converted rice is parboiled to remove surface starch. What that means is that while the cooking time is longer, it retains more nutrients and flavor.

Instant/quick cooking rice is done by fully cooking then flash freezing milled rice. While this gives you the advantage of a quick cooking time, the process removes some of the nutrients and flavor from the rice.

Bolognese (or quite simply, tomato & meat sauce)

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 15 ml
*Lean ground Beef 3 lbs
Bay Leaf 2 (optional)
Garlic, minced 20 grams
Oregano, dried 5 grams
Thyme, dried 5 grams
Basil, dried 3 grams
Onion, medium diced 500 grams
Celery, small diced 500 grams
**Crushed tomatoes 1 can (540 ml)
Tomato paste 1 can (284 ml)
Granulated sugar To Taste (optional)
Salt & Pepper TT

Directions:

1. In a medium sized sauce pot, brown the meat in the oil.
2. When beef is cooked, add the garlic, herbs, onions and celery. Sauté until vegetables are soft (Until onions are almost transparent)
3. Add tomato product and bring to a simmer over medium to low heat. (You don’t want the temperature too hot here because the natural sugars in tomatoes will cause the sauce to burn and stick to the bottom. Always watch your heat)
4. Season with sugar, salt and pepper until desired taste. (I try to always leave this until the end, adding by small increments to avoid over seasoning)
5. Serve over your favorite pasta. If you’re looking for something a bit healthier for you, use whole wheat pasta. It contains fiber and proteins and just generally tastes better.

*You can substitute ground beef here with ground chicken or pork for a leaner option.

**The amount of crushed tomatoes here is used simply as a guideline. If you want more volume or a thinner texture then add more crushed tomatoes or tomato juice.

Welcome

Welcome to my Cooking at Home blog. Let me start off by saying that whether you're just a beginner or already comfortable with cooking, my hope is to make things a little bit easier for you in your kitchen. Please feel free to post your comments, questions or ideas for the type of meals you would like to see here so that there can be something for everyone.

Welcome & enjoy!