Your Culinary Salvation (chicken stock, Avgolemono soup)

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.

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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.

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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.

Stock Rant v. 1.0 (Vegetable Stock, Glazed Mushrooms)

This will be a bit of a rant, but aren’t you getting used to that?

For the moment, I’m not naming names.  Last weekend, on one of those NPR Saturday lunchtime food shows, I heard a cook book author talking about being thrifty in the kitchen.  My ears tuned in.  This is an uncommon topic on food shows.  The usual talk is about new, expensive/flashy ingredients that you can cook up at home just like they do at Le Bec Fin.  Most authors go on at length about sturgeon stewed in Châteaux d'Yquem  (a beautiful Sauternes by the way) with morilles and crème fraiche topped with beluga caviar.  I’m an OK cook and I’m unlikely to be doing that.  Last night we had pork neck stewed with cabbage, carrots, turnips and potatoes.  It was great and 1/20 the the cost.

So I hear her say that when preparing food, she always has an eye to making stocks.  Good!  She continued, saying that she has a Tupperware in the fridge where she throws peels to make a stock when there has been a good amount collected.  Also good!  The host asked her what she made the stock from and she said, “ends of celery, onion peels, carrot parings” Unbelievably good!  And then she said, “…and if I peel asparagus or tomatoes or artichokes I throw them into the pot to boil.” 

No, no, or cribbing Darth Vader, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF_lJTGKFP0

Here’s the thing.  If you put a bunch of what is really garbage in a pot and boil it, you really shouldn’t be surprised if what you get as the end product is, well…garbage.  Saving peels is a fine idea.  It is done in every great restaurant and by every Grandma looking to feed the family on a budget.  It just makes sense, there’s flavor in those peels.  What you don’t want to do is toss a bunch of random vegetable scraps in a pot, especially strong tasting stuff like asparagus, tomatoes or artichokes.

At some point, we’ll talk about the dark sin that is boxed chicken stock and the value of shrimp shells, but for now, let’s leave it at that stocks are under rated as flavor enhancers in this country.  They are a cheap and easy way to make dishes that have a special, layered, taste profile that you get if you think about what you are doing at the stove.  A well-made vegetable stock, in comparison to last Saturday’s boiled mess, is light, brightly flavored, versatile and truly a thing of beauty.  And it is not difficult or time-consuming.  It even freezes well, make a big batch.

A vegetable stock recipe follows, along with one for mushrooms sautéed with shallots and herbs, then glazed with the vegetable stock.  The mushroom dish is a variation on butter-braised mushrooms.  God help me, it is actually good for you.  It is the sort of preparation that shows solid technique always wins out over boiling scraps into a murky stew.

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Vegetable Stock

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 large Spanish onion, roughly chopped with the skin

the bottom three inches of a head of celery, cut in half

6 white mushrooms, sliced

sprig of parsley

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

4 black peppercorns

1 gallon cold water

Add one cup of cold water, the carrots, onion, celery and mushrooms to a large, heavy bottomed stock pot on high heat.  When the water boils, lower the heat and simmer these aromatic vegetables until the onions are translucent.

Add the remainder of the water to the pot.  Add the parsley, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns.  Turn the heat to high and bring the stock to a low simmer.  

Reduce the heat to low and simmer the stock uncovered for 30 minutes.  Remove the stock from the heat.  Strain the liquid through a fine strainer, reserve the liquid and throw away the cooked vegetables.

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Vegetable Stock Glazed Mushrooms

1# small button mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed

1 cup vegetable stock

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 small shallot, chopped

2 tbs. parsley, chopped

2 tbs. olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan large enough to hold the mushroom in one layer.  When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and lightly season with salt and pepper. 

Keep the pan on a high heat and continue stirring the mushrooms until they begin to brown.  Add the garlic, shallots and parsley.  Sauté for one minute, then add the vegetable stock.

Continuing on high heat, cook the stock down until it has almost evaporated, glazing the mushrooms.  Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.