Chicken Stock
Vegetables
Meat and bones
Herbs and bouquet
Salt
VEGETABLES
Always twice as much onion as carrot
And an equal amount of carrot to celery
That way nothing dominated
The vegetables are the bed
On which you rest the bones
BONES/MEAT
Stock is not ‘bone water’
It includes bones and meat
So, for 1 chicken
1 onion
½ carrot
½ celery rib
BOUQUET/HERBS
12 parsley stems
1 branch thyme
1 bay leaf
(I usually tied them together with
A branch of celery, cut in half)
A pinch of salt
Because some proteins only render in the
Presence of salt, which makes the stock richer
However, not too much salt, or if and when
You reduce the stock, it becomes salty
WATER
When you build your stock/broth
You put the vegetables in first
Put the meat/bones on top
Toss in the bouquet garni
Hold everything in place with your hand
And cover your hand with water
You do not fill the pot with water
And, the reason you put your hands over the bones
When adding water, is to prevent them from floating
And diluting the stock/broth
When the ratio of water to bones, meat vegetables is right
When you refrigerate the stock, it jells
Once the water is in the pot
Add a pinch of salt (1/2 teaspoon per 6 cups)
Bring the water to a boil
Skim off the foam and discard it
Turn the heat to a simmer
And let the broth/stock simmer for 1-1/2 hours
After an hour and a half of gentle simmering shut the heat off
Let it cool
Strain it
Toss away the solids
Let the liquid cool to room temp
Then refrigerate overnight
In the morning the fats will have risen to the top
And solidified
Lift the fat off
Throw it away (or if you’re jewish, use it to cook)
Measure the liquid into 1 quart zip lock bags
And freeze if you can
Otherwise, squeeze air out, and refrigerate
Double bag if necessary
Try not to keep this more than 1 week if refrigerated
It keeps indefinitely if frozen
Reboil if necessary
Be mindful that stock is the perfect medium for attracting bacteria
So don’t leave it at room temp
Re-boil if in doubt
And, if there is the slightest hint of ‘sourness’ toss it
It’s fragile and susceptible
Otherwise it’s delicious
And it’s the basis of your soups
Pumpkin Soup for Company
Serves 8
½ cup onion in a small dice
½ cup leeks in a small dice
1/3 cup carrot in a small dice
1/3 cup celery in a small dice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small pumpkin 1 to 1-1/2 pounds
roasted in a 400 degree oven
until it goes soft – 30 minutes
2 cups good chicken stock
2 cups water, at a boil (more as needed)
Sea Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Garnish:
Goat cheese & herbs, or
Gruyere and whipped cream, or
Olive oil & persillade or,
Foie gras on toast, or
Chicken liver spread on toast, or
A compliment of your own invention
Set the pumpkin to roast first on a baking sheet in a 375oF oven for about an hour, until it collapses. While the pumpkin roasts get everything in place, select a heavy casserole large enough to contain our soup, assemble ingredients and cut vegetables.
Prepare the vegetables in a small dice. Melt the butter in the casserole. When the butter is hot enough it foams, and usually the foam recedes.
Add the mix of vegetables, and give it a pinch of salt.
Put the cover in place securely so that no steam can escape. Turn the heat to low-ish and let the vegetables ‘sweat,’ or cook slowly 10-15 minutes. Check the pot from time to time to make sure that the vegetables aren’t browning. At the same time don’t work the pot lid so much that all the liquid evaporates, because without water collecting on the bottom of the pan you will burn the vegetables. If the whole process makes you nervous, add a half a cup or so of stock and let the vegetables cook in that.
Vegetables, particularly the fibrous ones, onion, leeks, and celery, need to be cooked through. Because onion is fiber, if it doesn’t break down by cooking, it becomes tough to digest, i.e. you make something indigestible. The best test of doneness is to taste. If the onions are sweet, have no resistance, no crunch, then you are ready to go on to the next step. Give a tiny pinch of salt and proceed to the pumpkin and lock in the flavor of the cooked mirepoix.
When the pumpkin has softened, cut it in half, peel the skin away, scoop out the seeds and discard them. Add the cooked pumpkin flesh to the base of the mirepoix. Add the chicken stock and the water, turn the heat up and bring it to a point where it almost boils; then turn it to a simmer and allow the flavor to steep for 5 minutes.
Liquefy the soup in a blender. Have more boiling water or stock on reserve so that you can thin the soup out as needed to achieve the texture of liquid heavy cream. Season the soup by batches. When the soup has been liquefied and flavored, return it to a clean bowl or pot and keep it warm.
Present the soup in a flat soup bowl. Add the garnish of choice directly into each bowl. Give a final grinding of pepper and serve the soup at once.
Select a red or white wine; the soup will love it. It’s meant to be festive, so it might be great for a holiday.
