Stocks of All Sorts

Vegetable, Lobster, Chicken, Shrimp, you name it, it’s likely in my freezer or pantry. They add so much flavor to your cooking and they cut down on food waste. Plus, they’ll drive your dog nuts while it simmers all afternoon.

Vegetable: When I peel vegetables or cut the ends off of celery, onions, carrots and herbs, I throw them all in a gallon bag and stick them in the freezer. When there is a full bag I add them to the stock pot, cover with water and add spices. If you like your vegetable stock to have a robust more meaty flavor, try adding dried prunes. I learned that trick from Ottolenghi’s Plenty. If it seems low on plant scraps with texture, I sometimes add a couple of dehydrated mushrooms as well.

Lobster or Shrimp: About twice a year we treat ourselves to a lobster dinner or lobster rolls. I always put a huge waste bowl on the table so that we make sure all of the delicious lobster shells and guts end up in the stockpot and not the garbage. Then I cover everything with water, add some bay leaves, whole pepper corns, lemon hulls, onions, garlic, celery and salt and bring it to a boil. Then I lower the temperature and let it simmer for awhile.

Chicken, Turkey, other Poultry: All roasted birds eventually become stock in my house. I use chicken stock a lot in my cooking, so aside from the fact that if you make your own it tastes better, it also afford the opportunity to control the salt level more easily. Again, I typically leave the spice base rather mild as that can be adjusted whenever I know what the stock will be used for, but when in doubt with poultry, think Scarborough Fair: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.