Stock...Chicken, Beef or Veggie... 101

This is the food of the week... HOMEMADE STOCK.

Yes... you CAN make it yourself.. I promise.  It'll taste better, look better and feed  you better than anything from a can or box... I PROMISE!!!

The great thing about homemade stock is the control of salt, and all the vitamins and minerals that you DRINK from all the veggies you cook in it..

I like to make stock fresh each week... with whatever I have on hand... veggies, beef bones, chicken bones... fish bones... what ever you have...

Also, I like to use REMNANTS of veggies, and not waste an entire, good, perfect veggie I could eat whole, if the ends and peels will do just fine anyway...

What I mean is... when I do my prep each week... I will not discard the tops and bottoms of the onions, or zucchini, or the outer leaves of cabbage... I will wash them up and add them to my stock to boil down until it is no longer recognizable.

Here's how I make Stock...

NUMBER ONE RULE...

DO NOT PUT SALT IN YOUR STOCK...AT ALL...

Salt comes in when you USE the stock in a recipe, so you have total control.

8-10 quart stock pot

fresh water

carrot tops, or 4 carrots chopped into 2 inch pieces

5 stalks celery, the leaves are perfect for stock

1 quartered onion or the peels and tops of onions

10 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

Any veggies you have that are on their way out... or that you love...

 (except eggplant, it does NOT make for good stock when boiled... trust me)

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Now.. the above is veggie stock... if  you want beef stock, add a nice beef bone or a few small bones, same for chicken, or fish... just add the bones.

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COOK THAT SUCKER FOR HOURS AND HOURS with the lid on... until all the veggies are soft and have nothing left to give..

Cool it, strain it, and place it in an airtight container in your fridge for a week... use it for soups, cous cous, water for rice, anything!!!

Add salt when making the recipes it is used in...

ENJOY!!!