Basic Stock for Soup

To get my sons to eat vegetables...I make a chicken/vegetable soup. When I have a carcass, chicken or turkey, I'll start by goiling it. My standard stock will start with onion, garlic, black pepper and Italian seasoning. Celery and carrot if I have them. I will add at least a half dosen vegies. Cabbage, peas, stewed tomatoes, limas, green beans, zuchini,squash, mushrooms.....chicken. Potatoe, rice or pasta.
There is no recipe and the only mistake is simply too much of any one ingredient.

TIP: when adding water, I use about 3/4t of chicken bullion per cup instead of 1t. I have found to make a richer chicken stock I will substitute about 25% of the chicken bullion with BEEF BASE. It adds a little color and another layer of flavor.

What soup tips or favorites do you have?

Steve,

I do basically the same thing you do. Boil the carcass and add various veggies. Only difference is that when I have leftover veggies, rice, or pasta, I freeze them in a “soup starter” container and then when I want to make the soup, I add the frozen leftovers.

Also – when I am sometimes rushed, I will simply boil the carcass with a few herbs and onions added, then strain the stock and freeze it as a future “soup starter”.

BTW, did you ever get the fenugreek seeds?

Ray

Ray, I confess I haven't...I did make Kevin's sauce tho. I have been using Wild Willy's and the No Onion, No Garlic rubs. Made a large batch of each. The freezer options make sense.
Try that beef sub. for chicken @ about 25%. It works well.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> What soup tips or favorites do you have? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

For stock: if you have the time, roast your central ingredients first. Chop the carcass (or pull it apart the best you can) into large pieces. [In lieu of beef bouillon, you can add a few beef bones here, saved or purchased.] Cut a large onion or two in quarters, and a carrot or two scrubbed and halved, ditto with a couple celery stalks. Toss the vegs (with the broken up carcass and beef bones, if using) in a little oil in a large roasting pan. Roast at 400, stirring occasionally, and adding a splash of water, if needed, to keep the the released juices from scorching. When all is pretty well caramelized (after about an hour or so), dump the contents of the pan into your stock pot. De-glaze the roasting pan with a splash of dry white wine, scraping up the flavorful bits stuck to the pan; add to the stock pot with a sprig of thyme, a bunch of peppercorns, and a few sprigs of parsley. Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium heat, skimming the foam/scum off the surface as it accumulates. Simmer an hour or two. Strain; cool; freeze as a soup base, or strain, return to the pot and continue making soup, or strain, return to the pot and reduce till extremely concentrated. Cool in fridge, scrape off the fat layer that has congealed on the surface, then freeze the concentrate in ice cube trays (removing the cubes to a Ziploc when frozen) for use in sauces, soups. If you go this route, skip the salt or bouillon as it would make the demi-glace too salty.

I often saute some of the aromatics (onion, shallots, garlic (if using)) separately before adding them to the soup pot. I'm looking for the onions and/or shallots to start browning; this adds a deeper, sweeter flavor. I skip it if time (or an available burner) is an issue.

Serving stuff: A drizzle of really flavorful e.v. olive oil on the top of each bowl of soup can really be a nice touch especially if the soup contains beans and/or cabbage. Similarly, a drizzle of balsamic 'syrup' is nice on 'sweet' soups, like those that contain caramelized vegs and/or those that were made with a stock based on roasted vegs/bones. For a syrup, reduce balsamic over medium-high heat by 2/3 to 3/4 or so. (Drops of this syrup on fresh strawberries is really good too.)

Kevin, you always have that something extra to add a layer or two of flavor. I like the the roasting and deglazing steps.
Will a reduction of the costco balsamic v. work in this application or do you recommend the better stuff?

The roasting and browning of the bones is for a brown stock, if you don't roast the bones you can make a white stock. Additionally, you can paint the bones with some tomatoe puree to enrich the flavour. A little slab of pork belly is commonly used for the brown stock, as well.

Great tips! Thanks to all!!!

Great tips Kevin. Never thought about roasting the carcass but I sure will do that in the future. I can already imagine the added flavor! Mmmmmm!

Ray

Ray--Alternatively you can brown the bones on top of the stove but you have to be attentive; I find roasting easier with just an occasional stir needed.

Morgan--Correct. It is pretty rare I need a white stock, but it comes up on occasion. (I remember the old days of making gallons of blanc de veau....) Especially for hearty soups, I like the additional intensity of brown stocks.

Steve--Actually the cheaper balsamics usually work best for reduction as a drizzle. You can, if you wish, deglaze your roasting pan with vinegar instead of wine (unreduced, it will reduce during deglazing), using red or white balsamic, white wine, rice, sherry, apple--whatever you have on hand--though wine is my first choice.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">For stock: if you have the time, roast your central ingredients first. Chop the carcass (or pull it apart the best you can) into large pieces. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Kevin,

Just finished making a stock per your post. Roasted a turkey carcass with veggies, simmered in pot for 3 hours, strained the liquid and reduced the stock to about 1 cup to use as a demi-glace. I did not add bouillon or salt, but the resulting demi-glas I got is very salty (it did not taste salty at 2 cups worth of liquid). Anything I can do to remove the saltiness? Or should I just dilute it again and use in a future soup?

BTW, the flavor is superb!

Ray

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Anything I can do to remove the saltiness? Or should I just dilute it again and use in a future soup? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That happens sometimes depending on how much was used in the original cook. You can't remove the saltiness directly but you can use it to your advantage (or yes, you can use it in your next soup). What I do is freeze it in ice cube trays--if it's salty I only fill each cube section maybe a quarter to a third of the way--then use them to flavor and finish simple sauces or cooked vegs. For instance, a nice sauce for leftover smoked turkey (or freshly roasted chicken): Sauté a few T of minced shallot in a little butter till soft, add a pinch of thyme and toss in a small handful of dried cherries; whisk in a T of Dijon and add a 3/4 c of wine (dry or off-dry white or a fruity red). Bring to a boil, cover, then simmer a few min till the cherries plump a bit; remove the cover and reduce by half. Over low heat, melt in a cube of your demi (or a half cube, or smaller, depending on saltiness), taste, add more if necessary, then, off-heat, whisk in a T of unsalted butter, gently so that it emulsifies. A turn or two of your white peppermill--done.

[Can you tell I'm hungry?]

Or, nice with grilled or sautéed b/s chicken breasts: Same as above but replace the cherries with 3/4 of a lemon, thinly sliced, and 2 T of capers; use dry white and, since there's nothing to plump up, reduce it directly. Add a T or two of minced parsley along with your demi cube(s), mount with butter, as above, and squeeze in a few drops of lemon from your leftover lemon quarter. Of course you can make changes to the liquids, add other herbs, use different aromatics, but you get the idea.

For a simple veg finish you can simply add a cube (or a piece) to steamed vegs, like green beans or broccoli, along with the unsalted butter or evoo you'd normally use.

Or, ash-roast some sweet potatoes in charcoal till tender. Split them, scoop out the flesh, add a cube (or two) of demi with some unsalted butter, a tiny drizzle of maple or sorghum syrup, or honey, a squeeze of lime, and freshly ground pepper (a tiny splash of bourbon works well here too). Serve as is, or top with crumbled bacon and/or toasted chopped pecans.

Thanks Kevin. Your ideas are great. As I said, the stock was wonderfully flavored. I used red wine to de=glaze the pan and it produced a richly reddish-brown demi-glace.
I think I will use it to add flavor to other sauces in the future.

Thanks again,

Ray