Stock From Scratch
A friend taught me how to make veggie stock from scratch earlier this year and I haven’t looked back since. It’s one of those things that sounds so impressive when other people do it. “I make my own stock at home, actually.” What?? And then you learn how easy it is. I do this once a month or so to make chicken and vegetable stock- you can use just chicken or just vegetables, but I find that a combination of both gives you the best flavor and color.
I keep a gallon size ziploc bag in my freezer and fill it up throughout the month with veggie scraps every time I cook. Garlic and onion peels and ends, carrot and leek tops, potato rinds, pretty much anything you can think of. I avoid anything really mushy like tomatoes or with a really distinctive smell like cabbage, but other than that, pretty much anything goes.
Once the bag is full, I’ll pick a day to either roast a whole chicken (I’ll post my go-to recipe for it soon) or pick up a rotisserie chicken from Costco. The next day, I take the carcass and all those veggie scraps and toss them in my biggest stockpot and cover them with water. You can season with salt and pepper if you like. Then I’ll let the whole thing simmer gently for 60-90 minutes.
Once the whole pot cools down, I’ll get some quart size mason jars out (any watertight container/tupperware will do) and a funnel and sieve. It takes some maneuvering, but tip the liquid out to run through the sieve (to avoid bits of debris in your jars), through the funnel, and into the jar. Mine typically makes around 80 ounces, so 3ish jars. I’ll usually let them chill in the fridge for a couple hours and then skim any fat and debris off the top before sealing.
These’ll keep in the fridge for a week but they’re best in the first three or four days, so I’ll typically keep one jar in the fridge and stick the others in the freezer. If you DO decide to freeze yours, make sure you leave at least an inch of space at the top of the jar, don’t fill them completely, AND don’t screw your lid on too tightly. Alternatively, just pour it into another gallon size ziploc bag and freeze that. Either way, this amount of stock keeps me stocked (LOL) for a month, or three or four soups for four.
Ingredients:
1 chicken carcass
Whatever veggie scraps you’ve saved up, about a gallon ziploc bag’s worth
Salt and pepper (optional)
Water
Directions:
Place the chicken carcass and vegetable scraps to your largest stockpot and fill it with water.
Season with salt and pepper if desired, bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat and leave it for 60-90 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it cool for about half an hour before straining it through a sieve and then pouring into jars, watertight tupperware, or sturdy ziploc bags.
These will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or the freezer for a couple of months.