Simple Homemade Stock Recipes

Making your own cooking stock is easy, inexpensive, resourceful and I personally find it to be very fulfilling. The boxed stocks you find in the grocery store can be expensive (especially if you buy organic), loaded with salt and like any other pre-packaged item is unnecessarily wasteful . So, once I realized how easy it was to make my own stock I have never looked back! Below are simple and yummy base recipes that you can customize based on your taste and preference.
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VEGETABLE STOCK RECIPE:

• Roughly chop up some celery, carrots, onion, and garlic into chunks.  I'm not specific about the amount of each kind of vegetable because I really just use what I have around the house and eyeball it based on my preference. Some other ingredients to consider adding would be green peppers, mushrooms, kale, leeks, scallions, peas, corn, etc...really anything you have laying around in your fridge.  Making stock is a really good way of using up the random leftover vegetables that you may normally just discard.
• Saute' the chopped vegetable with olive oil in a large stock pot and add any fresh (or dried) herbs you have laying around (ex. thyme, parsley, bay leaves, chives, oregano, rosemary, sage, etc.).  Saute' for approx. 5-10 minutes - stirring frequently.  Note you can also make a sachet for your herbs by tying whatever herbs you are using into a cheesecloth.  If you decide to do this, don't saute the herbs, instead add the herb sachet into the pot when you add your water in the next step. 
• Add 5 cups of cold water to your pot and slowly bring to a simmer.  Add salt and pepper to taste and continue to slowly simmer anywhere from 45 min. - 2 hrs, stirring occasionally.
• Strain the stock removing all of the vegetables and herbs.  Most recipes call for you to just discard the vegetables, but you could also put them in a blender with a little bit of your stock and use it as a thickening agent for other recipes.  Another option is to compost the vegetables.

CHICKEN STOCK:

• Follow the recipe above for making Vegetable Stock and just add your leftover chicken carcass and bones when you add the water. Add more water if necessary; you want to make sure all the bones and carcass are covered by an inch or two.
• It is also important to simmer all the ingredients together longer than you do when making vegetable stock.  I would suggest simmering for at least 2 hours, preferably closer to 4 hrs. if you have the time.
• Another good and flavorful tip for making chicken stock is if you are going to make your chicken broth using a chicken that you just roasted yourself, use the roasting pan as your cooking vessel instead of a stock pot.  This will let you soak up all the extra flavors from the pan the chicken was roasting in. ( I just did this over the weekend and the stock turned out fabulous!)

BEEF & PORK STOCK:

• I have never personally made beef or pork stock as I don't eat a lot of pork on the bone or beef in general.  A standard recipe looks as though you roast the beef or pork bones in the oven first until brown and then follow pretty similar instructions to the chicken stock recipe.
• Do you have a Beef or Pork Stock recipe that you like?  I would love to try your recipe and post about it here.

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MORE STOCK TIPS AND IDEAS: 

• Freeze any leftover stock.  Make sure when freezing stock to label what it is with the date.  Frozen stock stays good for 4-6 months.  Also don't fill your freezer container all the way to the top, be sure to leave 1/2"-1" of room for it to expand.
• You can also freeze your stock in an ice cube tray so that you have smaller serving sizes at your disposal  and don't have to thaw out a huge container if you aren't going to use it all.  This allows for quick defrosting and individual size portions that are perfect for everyday cooking.
• When making chicken stock, don't use just the bare bones, leave a little meat on the bones to give your stock a little more flavor.





• Don't just use your stock for soups and stews, you can also use it to pump up the flavor when making rice, risotto, couscous, polenta, gravy, sauces, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, etc. What is your favorite unexpected recipe to use stock in?