Dabbling in Stocks

Stocks are simple, really. Pick a good one and, if things work as they should, a modest investment up front will yield generous dividends for a long time. This applies to investments, and doubly so to soup stocks. This site doesn’t have much to say about financial planning, though, which leaves only one topic, a savory one, to discuss.

Actually, soup stocks are an investment too, as a stockpot bubbling away contentedly on the stove one day will lead to all manner of satisfying soups, heartwarming stews and luscious sauces over the coming year. All it takes is several key ingredients and minimal preparation, and the stove does the rest. Give the happy task a day, and you’ll luxuriate for a year. Why not start today? Look out the window:

Great day to be warm and cozy, inside in a steamy, fragrant kitchen, isn’t it?

Exactly, and what better opportunity to present a trio of stocks, and one broth, all building to later culinary delights? Three of the four have served admirably for years, and the original recipes were lost long ago. There are enough tweaks and personal touches to give each its own identity, anyway. A progress you’ll continue when you try them yourself.

The simplest, and most recent, addition is dashi, a Japanese kitchen essential consisting of water infused with seaweed (kombu) and bonito tuna flakes (katsuobushi). The recipe appeared on the Kitchn website, and credit most definitely is due, as there have been no subsequent riffs. How could there be? There are only three ingredients, one of which is water. Another is kombu, dried seaweed. Here are a couple pieces just as they begin to flavor the water and before they were removed:

Supremely evocative of the sea. Another one nearly as reminiscent is shrimp stock. While not quite as “instant” as is dashi, which is ready in ten minutes, shrimp stock is good to go after just an hour. It uses that time to soak up all the complex flavors seen here and described in the recipe that follows:

Finally, it’s time for the two superstars, oxtail and chicken stocks, which simmer away for the better part of a day, and which require a filtration that continues through to the next morning. This effort and, more significantly, time, pays off exponentially, as the flavors are beautifully deep, complex and are ready to enrich all kinds of soups and dishes in the year ahead.

Oh, splashes of wine add sparkling sophistication and bring out the best of the assembled flavors. A different concoction for each, sherry, rioja and chardonnay work their magic for shrimp, oxtail and chicken stocks, respectively:

Spain 2, France 1.  That’s a surprising, and impressive, accomplishment, España!

As for the stock ingredients, those supplementing the chicken variety are pictured in this week’s feature photo.  The oxtail components are shown below, just after the oxtail was browned lightly, and before the water went in to pull maximum flavor from everything, and then some:

What’s the purpose of all this excellence? Why, it’s to turn the freezer into a vault, holding liquid gold in one-quart containers. From there they’re selected with care, called into service only when the cook requires something transformative, something epic. Here’s this morning’s bullion deposit, just before going into the safe (freezer):

Here’s an investment that’ll pay extraordinary dividends for the foreseeable future. Sure, you could hit the jackpot with the other kind of stock, letting you buy a boat or a Beemer, and thrill quickly would fade. Not so with these gems. Spend a day luxuriating in the warmth and in the beguiling aromas, and you’ll dine like a queen (or a king) through the calendar. Come on, this is the kind of stock that needs to be traded on Wall Street. Buy! Buy! Buy!

*****

Dashi

(Japanese Seaweed and Bonito Broth)

• 2 cups water (*1)
• 2-inch piece of kombu
• 1/2 cup loosely packed katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)

Combine the water and the kombu in a one-quart saucepan and set it over medium heat.

Remove the kombu from the water just before it comes to a full boil. Add the bonito flakes and let the water return to a rapid simmer. Continue cooking thus for a minute.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the bonito steep in the broth for another five minutes. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer, which will filter out the bonito flakes.

NOTES:

1 – I doubled the recipe to yield a full quart of broth, enough for one freezer container, as pictured above.

*****

Shrimp Stock

• shells from two pounds of shrimp
• one tablespoon canola or other neutral oil
• 1/2 gallon (eight cups) water
• two lemons, each cut in half
• one tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• one tablespoon whole coriander seeds
• two bay leaves
• one bulb of garlic, cut in half horizontally
• 1/2 tablespoon salt, or to taste
• four small shallots, halved horizontally (*2)
• two stalks celery, each halved crosswise
• 1/4 cup sherry, optional (*3)

Place a small stockpot over a medium flame. Pour in the oil and when it shimmers, add the shrimp shells. Cook, stirring constantly, until the shrimp shells turn pink, about two minutes. Add the water.

Increase flame to medium-high and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce flame to maintain a low simmer. Cook thus, stirring occasionally, for twenty minutes.

Remove stockpot from heat and let cool until it’s just warm, about half an hour. Pour liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into freezer containers. (*4)

NOTES:

2 – Don’t bother peeling the shallots. Their skin adds a nice color to the finished product (Look at the picture above. Don’t you agree?) and it’s among those ingredients the strainer removes anyway.

3 – Sherry is an option, but it’s a good one. The alcohol evaporates nearly instantly, and the wine left behind amplifies the other flavors.

4 – Remember tenth-grade physics: water expands when it freezes. In anticipation, fill the containers at least an inch short of capacity.

*****

Oxtail Stock

• four pounds beef oxtail (*5)
• two tablespoons canola, or other neutral oil
• one gallon (16 cups) water, plus more for topping off the broth as it evaporates (*6)
• two tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• three bay leaves
• one bulb of garlic, halved horizontally
• one tablespoon of salt, or to taste
• eight small shallots, halved horizontally
• four stalks of celery, each halved crosswise
• two carrots, each halved crosswise
• 1/2 cup Rioja, or other red wine, optional (*7)

Place a large stockpot over a medium flame. Pour in the oil, and when it shimmers, add the oxtail. Cook, agitating frequently, until the beef is browned on all sides, about ten minutes. Pour in the gallon of water and fill another vessel, such as a large glass or a four-cup measure, with water and place it within reach of the stove.

Add the remaining ingredients and make a mental note of the water level. You’ll want to add water (from the vessel you just filled) as necessary to replace liquid that evaporates.

Increase the flame to medium-high and bring contents to a strong boil. Then back off the flame to maintain a low simmer. Cook thus, stirring occasionally, for at least two hours. This will yield a rather anemic stock. Longer, of course, and ideally all day, for a deeper, more persuasive flavor.

Once you’ve turned off the flame, let the stock sit for an hour. You want it to be cool enough to handle safely, but hot enough still to prevent the fat from coagulating. An hour should do the trick. Using a ladle, spoon the broth through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth, and into freezer containers. Discard the solids.

Let the broth sit for another half-hour, until it’s completely cool. Lid the containers and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, get out a clean container and lid, and extract the stock you refrigerated. Pour the contents of one of the refrigerated containers through a fine-mesh strainer (but without the cheesecloth this time!) into the clean container. There should be quite a bit of fat remaining behind in the old container and in the strainer. Wash both (the old container and the strainer), and repeat the above until you’ve filtered all the stock. (*8)

You likely will have removed enough fat in the process, the new stock level will be an inch or so shy of capacity. If it isn’t, make it so. Remember, water expands when it freezes, and you want to give it room. Lid and label the containers and put them in the freezer.

NOTES:

5 – If you can’t find oxtail, any cut of meat with bones and exposed marrow will do. Though oxtail is the ideal cut for the job, beef shanks or ribs will work too.

6 – Obviously, the longer you simmer the stock, the better. This means you’ll need to top off the water quite a few times, likely requiring you to replenish the vessel several times. Check the water levels every half-hour or so, as that water does evaporate.

7 – The stock probably will be fine without the wine, but why risk it?

8 – Naturally, anyone like me, who’s both a stock fanatic and a food nerd, has plenty of freezer containers. Therefore, I set out not just one clean container, but four, equal to the total quantity of stock containers. This allowed me to filter all the stock at once, instead of running back-and-forth between the sink and the counter.

Of course, even if you have just one extra container, the process still will work. It just will take more time.

*****

Chicken Stock

• one whole fryer chicken, four to five pounds (*9)
• three tablespoons canola, or other neutral oil
• two gallons (32 cups) water, plus more for topping off the broth as it evaporates (*10)
• three tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• four bay leaves
• one bulb of garlic, halved horizontally
• two tablespoons of salt, or to taste
• ten small shallots, halved horizontally
• four stalks of celery, each halved crosswise
• two carrots, each halved crosswise
• three sprigs fresh thyme
• two sprigs fresh rosemary
• one sprig fresh sage
• one cup chardonnay, or other white wine, optional (*11)

Using a cleaver or a butcher’s knife, break down the chicken into five or six pieces. (*9) Place a large stockpot over a medium flame. Pour in the oil, and when it shimmers, add the chicken. Cook, agitating frequently, until the chicken is golden on all sides, about ten minutes. Pour in the two gallons of water and fill another vessel, such as a large glass or a four-cup measure, with water and place it within reach of the stove.

Add the remaining ingredients and make a mental note of the water level. You’ll want to add water (from the vessel you just filled) as necessary to replace liquid that evaporates.

Increase the flame to medium-high and bring contents to a strong boil. Then back off the flame to maintain a low simmer. Cook thus, stirring occasionally, for at least two hours. This will yield a rather anemic stock. Longer, of course, and ideally all day, for a deeper, more persuasive flavor.

Once you’ve turned off the flame, let the stock sit for an hour. You want it to be cool enough to handle safely, but hot enough still to prevent the fat from coagulating. An hour should do the trick. Using a ladle, spoon the broth through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth, and into freezer containers. Discard the solids.

Let the broth sit for another half-hour, until it’s completely cool. Lid the containers and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, get out a clean container and lid, and extract the stock you refrigerated. Pour the contents of one of the refrigerated containers through a fine-mesh strainer (but without the cheesecloth this time!) into the clean container. There should be quite a bit of fat remaining behind in the old container and in the strainer. Wash both (the old container and the strainer), and repeat the above until you’ve filtered all the stock. (*12)

You likely will have removed enough fat in the process, the new stock level will be an inch or so shy of capacity. If it isn’t, make it so. Remember, water expands when it freezes, and you want to give it room. Lid and label the containers and put them in the freezer.

NOTES:

9 – If you’re disinclined to break down the chicken yourself, or if you’re just not confident in your knife skills, that’s fine. A pre-packaged “Pick of the Chix,” or other similar product, will be nearly as good.

10 – Obviously, the longer you simmer the stock, the better. This means you’ll need to top off the water quite a few times, likely requiring you to replenish the vessel several times. Check the water levels every half-hour or so, as that water does evaporate.

11 – The stock probably will be fine without the wine, but why risk it?

12 – Naturally, anyone like me, who’s both a stock fanatic and a food nerd, has plenty of freezer containers. Therefore, I set out not just one clean container, but eight, equal to the total quantity of stock containers. This allowed me to filter all the stock at once, instead of running back-and-forth between the sink and the counter.

Of course, even if you have just one extra container, the process still will work. It just will take more time.

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