This winter everyone seems to be talking about stocks and bone broths. While sipping on a cup of hearty and soothing broth sounds especially satisfying this week while we are shivering our way between snowstorms, I think it’s kind of funny that it has become such a trend right now. For us, broths and stocks are such a foundation of our cooking and in so many cultures and cuisines, they have always been the most important component of a dish. Substantial and well developed broths are most obviously key components of dishes like ramen, phos, and noodle soups, but they are also an important ingredient in sauces and less obviously soupy dishes.
Stocks and broths are also a great sustainable way to cook. They are an easy way to use vegetable scraps and to extract flavor from leftover roasts and bones, ultimately creating far less food waste. It’s a great way to become a better home cook, since dishes made with homemade stock are immediately elevated and have a greater depth of flavor. I for one have these following stocks in my freezer right now:
- Duck Pho Stock
- Turkey Stock
- Garlic Paprika Chicken Stock
- Smoked Eel Dashi
- Fish Stock
Everyday there is a different stock simmering on our range or in the kettle at PRINT. The general rule for our stocks is 20% vegetable scraps to 80% roasted bones, add some peppercorns and bay leaves, then cover with water and set to cook.
We use a large stock kettle to make our chicken stock, which we cook for 5-6 hours, and use mostly for soups. For veal stock, first we roast the bones in the oven with tomato paste, then add the water and cook for 24 hours. The veal bones make for a thicker viscous gelatinous stock, and we use this as the base of many of our savory sauces: the bordelaise sauce on our rib eye steak, in the braising red wine sauce for beef short ribs, as the base for our rosemary rabbit jus, and the braising sauce for lamb shoulder.
We also make small batches of duck stock, lobster stock, and vegetable stock.
