TAKING STOCK
I became interested in stock making in high school, but didn’t really start making it until I was out of college. Stock making is more of an art than a science, I’ve found, but the end result is way better than what you can get out of a box from the supermarket, and it results in less waste, so it’s good for the environment or something.
I’ll talk more about various stocks later, I’m sure, but let’s turn to the one I made over the weekend.
The local supermarket had turkey wings on sale. I’m not much of a wing eater (heresy, I know!) but I know that wings are full of gelatin and other connective tissue, so for 50 cents a pound, I bought 5 huge wings.
I received a pressure cooker for the winter holidays, and that has also changed my stock making — it shaves off so much time, turning something that requires staying home all day (without much effort needed, yes, but you still don’t want to leave a stove burning!) into something that can be done in a couple hours. The disadvantage is you can’t get nearly as much liquid out of it — I get about a gallon or so in my 8-quart cooker, compared to two or more in my 20-quart stock pot.
So into the pot went the turkey wings, carrots, celery, parsnips, two onions, a bunch of scallions, and a few whole black peppercorns. 15 minutes of pressure building, 60 of cooking under pressure, and about an hour of me forgetting about it later, it smelled delicious. The proof of a stock, though, is in the setting afterwards:
LOOK AT ALL THAT GELLING!
I’m currently making six cups of that stock into a chicken leek barley soup, so stay tuned for that.
RECIPE
It’s all above, really, but if you want more specifics:
- 5 turkey wings (about 3-4 lbs)
- 1 extra large carrot or 2 large carrots or 3-4 small ones (with tops, if you can find them), broken or cut into chunks
- 2-3 parsnips, broken or cut into chunks
- 1/2 bunch celery (with leaves, if you can find them), broken or cut into chunks
- 2 small onions (I used yellow), quartered, skin still on
- 1 bunch scallions, torn into thirds
- 8-12 black peppercorns
- water
Place all ingredients in electric pressure cooker, cover with water to the Max Fill line, cover, seal, and bring to pressure. Set timer for 60 minutes, and let the pressure release naturally. Store in refrigerator; it’ll keep for a few days. I also like to reduce my stock into a glace de viande, but that’s another show post.
–c
NOTES
Your pal and mine, JKLA, talks about the difference between pressure, stove top, and slow cooker stock making. The verdict, for those who didn’t click, is that stove top and pressure cooking are the best, and slow cooker isn’t really worth it.
Also: Don’t add salt to stock, because you never know how much you’re going to need in the final result. Salt is very important in cooking, but not in this case.