The Stock Market

by Mark R. Vogel

One of the first lessons of any cooking course is learning how to make stocks. Stocks form the basis of most sauces and soups.

A stock is basically the liquid that eventuates from simmering bones and/or meat with vegetables, herbs, & seasonings. Types of stock include beef, veal, chicken, fish, and vegetable. Let's peruse the stock making procedure.

Virtually all stock recipes instruct you to start with bones. I prefer a mix of actual meat and bones. I find the meat/bone combo to yield a deeper flavor. For a beef stock I use cubed chuck steak.

Never use tender cuts of meat such as the rib or loin. They do not lend themselves to moist cooking methods and the flavor will be undesirable. For chicken stock I use an entire chicken cut up into the standard anatomical pieces. The standard ratio of bones and/or meat to water is eight pounds to six quarts.

Most recipes recommend you roast the bones and vegetables in the oven before placing them in the water. Roasting deepens the flavor and color of the stock. If your goal is to make a brown sauce from the stock, you'll want to roast first.

Even chicken can be roasted first to make a "brown" chicken stock. However, I like the flavor of a stock made from unroasted meat as well. Try it both ways and select your own favorite.

If you're going to roast, place the bones in a roasting pan, add a little olive oil if you'd like, and roast for a half hour at 375 degrees. Then add the chopped vegetables, (six ounces of tomato paste if making a beef stock), and continue roasting until the vegetables are browned.

Place everything in the stockpot, deglaze the pan with some wine and then add that to the stockpot as well. Fish stock is generally not roasted first.

The vegetable mixture used in making stock is the classic mirepoix, namely carrots, celery & onions. Use eight ounces of onion and four ounces each of carrots and celery for six quarts of water.

I also add a few garlic cloves. If you're making a vegetable stock you will need to increase these amounts and/or the number of vegetables. Turnips, leeks, cabbage, and tomatoes are common additions.

Returning to meat based stocks, some chefs advise adding the vegetables one hour before the stock is done cooking. They argue that doing so earlier overcooks them and deteriorates the flavor.

If you wish to follow this course of action you will need to roast the vegetables separately while the stock is simmering and then add them during the final hour.

Finally, herbs and seasoning are added, one half hour before the stock is done for the same reason as the vegetables. The traditional bouquet garni consists of a few sprigs of parsley and thyme, and one or two bay leaves.

I also add celery leaves and numerous twists of the pepper mill. (If I'm making a spicy Mexican soup I'll include either fresh hot peppers with the mirepoix or crushed dried ones with the herbs.)

Do not add salt to the stock. Its natural salinity will increase as it reduces. You can always add salt to the final soup or sauce if need be.