Soup stock recipes

Stocks are the basis for most soups and sauces and are one of the most important basics in food preparation. Most home cooks these days purchase stocks prepared. However, gourmet chefs often want stocks that are made fresh and to perfection. Some recipes even require homemade stocks. This article reviews the general types of stocks and gives basic steps for how to prepare them.

White stock is made from unbrowned meat and bones of beef, veal, or poultry. It has a full, rich flavor with little or no color.

Fish stock is made by poaching a mild-flavored fish or fish bones. Fish stock must be carefully prepared so that the fish bones don’t cloud the stock. Sweat the bones before adding the liquid. Sweating is coating the food in a small amount of fat and cooking it over a low heat until the food is softened and releases moisture.

Court bouillon is made with vegetables sautéed in water. It is often used for poaching fish or cooking vegetables. It may include wine or vinegar. It is also known as vegetable or neutral stock.

Glace is a reduced stock that becomes jellylike or syrupy. The flavor is highly concentrated, and is often used as a base to bolster other foods.

Remouillage is made from bones that have been used once to make stock. Remouillage is sometimes called a “second stock” and is less strong than other stocks. It is sometimes used to make other stocks.

Bouillon is also called broth. It is the liquid that is left over after simmering meats. It can be the base of another soup or stew.

When preparing any type of stock, gather the equipment and materials you will need. Some of the materials you may need to prepare stocks, are the recipe, a steam-jacketed kettle or large stock pot, butcher twine, cheesecloth, a band saw, knives, a sanitary cutting board, a towel or a rubber mat, pans, a skimmer, storage containers, a marker, a strainer, a spoon, and blocks or a trivet.

Sometimes stocks are prepared from prepackaged bases. In these cases, you need to follow the directions on the package. Otherwise, begin by preparing the ingredients. Gather all the ingredients called for in the recipe. Cut bones into three-inch lengths if necessary. Use a band saw for heavy bones. Do not use a cleaver as it can cause bones to splinter.

You may need to rinse the bones in cold water and blanch them. However, some cooks say bones should never be washed before clarifying as it reduces the flavor. Other cooks say washing and blanching bones will reduce cloudiness.

Prepare the vegetables according to the recipe. Then dampen a clean square of cheesecloth. In the center of the cheesecloth, place the herbs and spices called for in the recipe. Gather the sides of the cheesecloth together to form a bag and tie it at the top with butcher twine. Placing the herbs and spices in a cheesecloth will keep them from passing through the strainer when you strain the stock.

The time needed to make a good stock will depend on the type of bones you are using. Large, hard bones from beef usually need four to six hours of cooking time. Veal and chicken bones need two to four hours and fish bones need only about 45 minutes. Place all the ingredients except the cheesecloth bag in an appropriate-size stock pot or steam-jacketed kettle. Add enough cold water to cover the ingredients. Place the cheesecloth holding the herbs and spices in the liquid. Tie the butcher twine to the pot handle so it can be removed easily.

Place the pot or kettle slightly off-center of an appropriate-size burner. Turn on the burner and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for the time stated in the recipe. Cooking the stock too long can make it bitter and cloudy. Use a skimmer to periodically remove fat and froth that forms on the top of the stock.

Bones and vegetables hold in heat and make it very difficult to cool the stock, so use a large strainer to remove all bones, vegetables, and other items from the stock. Remove the cheesecloth bag. Place the stock pot on blocks on a trivet in the sink. Pour ice around the outside of the pot up to the level of the stock. Then run cold water until it reaches the top of the ice. Loosely cover the pot. Stir it occasionally so that the stock cools evenly and completely. Refrigerate it as soon as it reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius). Make sure it reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit within four hours to prevent harmful bacteria growth. If you must refrigerate the stock before it reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit, pour the stock into shallow pans. Place the pans into the refrigerator so that the stock will chill quickly without heating up the inside of your refrigerator.

Any natural animal fats that have cooked out of the meat and bones will solidify on the top of the chilled liquid. Use a skimmer to remove solidified fat from the top of the chilled stock before storing.

Clarification is a way to remove particles from stock to make it as clear as possible. If the recipe directs you to clarify the stock, start by placing the cold stock in a stock pot with a spigot near the bottom. Mix clearmeat according to the recipe. Clearmeat is a mixture of lean ground meat, egg whites, vegetables, and seasonings. Add it to the chilled stock and stir.

Place the stock pot on a burner and bring it to a slow simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the clearmeat from burning or sticking. After the contents simmer, do not stir them or cover the pot.

Clearmeat causes the tiny particles that cloud stock to collect into a raft. Removing the raft is easier than skimming individual particles. Do not disturb or break up the raft after it begins to set, or the collected particles will scatter back into the broth. Instead, drain the stock through the spigot into a strainer lined with several layers of clean cheesecloth to see if it is done. Continue testing the stock until particles start appearing in the draining stock.

Quickly reheat any stock to the boiling point before using it.