One-hour chicken stock

I have been reflecting on how could I turn this blog into a more helpful tool for those who are now starting to give the first steps in the kitchen. After all, cooking is not only following a recipe. It is also creativity and that comes with knowledge. You cannot be creative if you do not know the tolls you have at your disposal. That being said, I figured that the inclusion of some "back to the basics" posts could be of some help for whomever reads this blog.

One of the great foundations of cuisine is the stock - a flavored water accomplished by some hours of simmering - by its versatility and great capacity of enhancing the flavor of your dishes. The stocks are the base for countless sauces and soups and once you cook your rice with them you will never go back to water again! 

The word "stock" and "broth" are often used to name the same thing but, in fact, the broth is a flavored water with some of the ingredients in it while the stock is the liquid only. You can make stocks out of almost everything: meat, seafood or vegetables, in all their variety. 

Most people, who already use stocks for cooking, choose to buy them in the grocery store because it is cheaper and faster, they say. I have to admit that, when I started this journey of improving my culinary skills, I shared that opinion because I though one have to allow some 3 or 4 hours of simmering plus an endless list of ingredients to produce a stock. But the fact is that, if you use the right ingredients, you can have a wonderful stock in one hour. This I learned from Chef Jean Georges Vongerichten who says "the best stock taste of meat, not bones. Shorter cooking times, with lots of meat and not many bones, produce the best stock". Most recipes for stocks call for bones (excepting the ones with vegetable flavor, naturally) and to take some flavor out of bones you really need several hours of cooking. But if you use more meat, the flavor will develop in one third of the time. You might be questioning the financial side of this but you will be surprised with how cheap it takes to make a chicken stock, for example. You pay at least 3 dollars for a package of stock in any grocery store. A 1 lb package of chicken backs that you can use to make your stock costs around 1.50 dollars. Besides those chicken backs, you only need a piece of some veggies you have in your refrigerator. So, as you see, the investment is not that big and you get to cook your own stock.

The recipe I am about to share is the one I make all the time now. It takes one hour and the credits are owned to Chef Jean George. You can, actually, make this stock while cooking and eating dinner, vacuuming your place, reading a book or doing something else because once on the stove it does not require much of your attention.

Stud 1/2 large onion with 4 cloves. Into a large saucepan, put 6 cups of water, the onion sticked with the cloves, 2 pounds of chicken backs (the recipe asks for wings but I have used back very successfully. You can use any part you like providing it has meat.) cut into 2 or 3 pieces each, 1 medium carrot peeled and chopped, 1/2 a stack of celery, chopped, 1/2 a leek, trimmed, well washed and chopped, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 bay leaf, 10 peppercorns, and 3 springs of thyme. Bring everything to a boil, then lower the heat so that the mixture bubbles steady but not rapidly. Cook for 1 hour, skimming any foam that accumulates.

Cool slightly, then strain. Refrigerate (you can skim off the fat after the stock cools completely). You can use it within 3 days or you can keep it almost indefinitely by bring it to a boil every 3 days. You can also freeze it up to several months.

If you want to take even more out of this ingredients, you can add more water to the strained ingredients, simmering them for another hour, and you will have a lighter version of the first stock. The flavor will be less intense but equally delicious.

Homemade stocks are so flavorful that either if you already cook with stocks or you will give this one a try for the first time, you will find yourself, respectively, regretting going back to canned stock when some laziness strikes or being the star of you kitchen next time you invite your friends for dinner.

If you happen to be like me and just feel your heart break by throwing away the vegetables and meat/fish used to cook the stock I have some suggestions for you. After the ingredients cool, patiently separate the meat/fish from the bones and veggies (you will realize that with the cooking some meat will separate from the bone). Set it aside. Then capture all the cloves and peppercorns and discard them. With paper towels or a clean cloth, remove as much moisture as possible from the vegetables. Now you have several options that will easily make an original and fun meal. You can saute the veggies and the meat in chopped garlic and olive oil; you can make a pancake by adding beaten eggs; or you can go for a small cake  by adding eggs, flour, some garlic and parsley. Mix everything and fry in hot vegetable oil. How can one beat making up to 12 cups of stock and one meal for $5?!