Ok, admit
it, because confession is good for the soul.
You threw away the turkey carcass on Thanksgiving. You probably didn’t even pick the meat off of
it before it went in the trash. There,
didn’t that feel good? You are not off
the hook yet. Redemption only comes
after you show a willingness to change from your previous bad behavior and that’s
what I’m here for, to offer you a chance at culinary salvation.
A continuing
theme in the Fresh Fun Food Blog will be making stocks, soups and sauces
simply. My methods will show you how to
get the most flavor and nutrition out of things that might have been tossed out
in the trash. Onion and carrot peels are
a good example, similarly the turkey carcass mentioned previously. When you learn to think at the stove, you
will have learned to recognize where flavor comes from and how you can best
exploit the ingredients in front of you.
Following is a recipe for chicken stock that can easily be adapted,
using that turkey carcass instead of the chicken bones. Since the turkey has already been cooked,
there is no need to soak it in salted water, simply add it to the pot with the
vegetables.
Chicken stock is one of the most overused ingredients in
American kitchens, particularly when making soups. It has its place, but if you are making a
carrot or broccoli soup, wouldn’t you rather taste the vegetables instead of
reduced broth. Water is cheaper and
makes a cleaner tasting, brighter flavored soup. With that rant out of the way, you really should
make your own stock. Used properly, it
makes a big difference in your cooking. A
Greek Avgolemono soup
recipe is included. The technique of
tempering eggs is a little tricky, but the result is worth the effort. Since you have made a nice stock, why not
show it off with an egg and lemon enrichment.
_____
Chicken
Stock
2 pounds of
chicken necks and backs
2 large
carrots, roughly chopped
1 large
Spanish onion, roughly chopped with the skin
the bottom
three inches of a head of celery, washed, cut in half
sprig of
parsley
sprig of
fresh thyme or ½ tsp. dried
2 cloves of
garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
4 black
peppercorns
1 ½ gallons
cold water
1 tbs.
kosher salt
In a large
basin, soak the chicken bones in cold salted water for one hour, in order to
draw out any remaining blood, which would cloud the stock. Drain the water and rinse the bones with cold
water after soaking.
Add the bones, the carrots, onion, celery and water to a
large, heavy bottomed stock pot. Turn on
high heat. When the water boils, skim
any scum that rises to the top, lower the heat.
Add the parsley, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring the stock to a low simmer. Simmer the stock for 90 minutes. It will have reduced by 1/3.
Remove the stock from the heat. Strain the liquid through a fine strainer,
reserve the liquid and throw away the remainder.
_____
Avgolemono Soup
1 quart
chicken stock
2 egg yolks
the juice of
1 lemon
salt and
pepper
½ cup cooked
white rice, cooled
Combine the
egg yolks and lemon juice in a stainless steel mixing bowl. Heat the chicken stock to boiling, season
with salt and pepper.
With a
whisk, mix the eggs and lemon juice.
Using a ladle, slowly add 1/2 cup of the chicken stock to the egg/lemon
mix, stirring constantly to temper the eggs, cooking them by bringing them
slowly up to temperature. Continue to
ladle the stock into the eggs and lemon.
It will thicken slightly.
When
approximately ½ half of the stock has been enriched, stir the egg mixture into
the rest of the stock. Return to the heat,
but take care not to boil the soup. The
eggs will scramble in the soup. Add the
rice and serve immediately.
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