Monday again... likely my most hated day of the week, but certainly nothing some kitchen time can't remedy. It's also Memorial Day; a time where people get outside to cook and drink in both celebration of the men and women who came home, and also remembering those who didn't. Whether it's a day you celebrate or not, I say to each their own. Let's just get right down to the cooking. Today we're making some chicken and beef stock to replenish the supply we topped off with our last meal. Not the most extravagant cooking but a very necessary one. We'll be jarring and freezing them when it's all said a done, and possibly make a little chicken soup with that frozen dough waiting to be used.
Posting live from the kitchen.
The beverage of choice today is some Longboard Island Lager from Kona Brewing.
It's not something I drink often but my buddy tossed me a few after a BBQ we had on Sunday.
Nothing says Monday like a little 11:30am drinking.
We'll be using a 12 quart stock pot for the chicken, and a smaller 10 quart for the beef.
>>7729664
that shits worse than fucking keystone
>>7729675
It's not a favorite of mine, but it's in the house to drink, so we're gonna drink.
We're going to start by prepping the leek. Reason being is that we're going to use the leaves to prep our bouquet garni which will consist of thyme, rosemary and parsley.
Don't forget to wash your leek to rid them of any possible grit.
Now to find 2 of the best leaves and get them all washed up.
Don't forget to save a third. If you're like me and out of cooking twine to wrap them up, we can cut long strands of the leaf off and use them as a natural cordage.
Into our leaves we're going to put the parsley, thyme and rosemary.
Now that our boquet is all tied up we can get started on prepping the carrots and celery. First however I'm going to turn the oven on at 375F to preheat. We're going to roast our beef bones until they brown so it adds more flavor to the stock.
Oh look I found a "gourmet" carrot in the bunch...
We're also going to add the carrot tops to the chicken stock. Same method of tying; grab a long strand and use it as cordage.
Halve and prep your carrots for the mirepoix
Carrots done, celery done
Onion done. That's it for the prep.
Let's get these bones in the oven with some mirepoix, and the chicken in the pot.
>>7729654
i just made chicken stock OP
gonna do beef stock next week, never made that before
In go the bones.
I'm actually going to add the mirepoix about 15 minutes after these go in. They're still a little frosted over and will need a little time to warm before they begin to brown.
>>7729838
Beef stock is pretty fun to cook. Just need to make sure everything's roasted before you begin to simmer it all.
For the chicken stock we're using 4 thighs, about 3/4 of the mirepoix we just made, and our boquet garni. I'm going to fill it to about 10 quarts on high heat. Depending on how much stock you want, or how rich you want it, you may want to reduce it down to about 2-3 quarts. I cook in large quantities so I'm not going to reduce quite that much.
Ah, almost forgot.
2 unpealed cloves of garlic and a handful of peppercorns.
The chicken stock is underway. The only time we want to touch it is when the chicken is cooked. Because I think I'm going to make some chicken soup after the stock is done I don't want to boil it to death. When the chicken is done well remove it, take the meat off and throw the bones back in. Well get some flavor back into the chicken when it comes time to make the soup.
>>7729865
unpealed for any particular reason OP?
>>7729857
How long would you expect it would take to get it down to 2-3 qt?
>>7729878
For the fact that I just want the essence of the garlic taste and not have it overwhelm the stock. I've found it can be too strong of pealed or chopped. This way I'm still extracting some flavor but not by too much.
In about 15 more minutes I'll add the rest of that mirepoix to the roasting beef bones and let them do their thing. When they're golden roasted I'll put the bones in our second stock pot. The roasted mirepoix, I'll add some tomato paste to and get it all mixed up before adding it all to the pot (beforehand simply for ease). Then the beef will be good to go.
We're probably looking at about a 3 hour cook time in each. I'm really only looking to make about 2-3 jars of beef stock and 5-6 of chicken stock. That should get me through another month, month and a half.
>>7729883
To reduce it from around 10 quarts to around 3 quarts, I'd figure around 4-5 hours on a hot simmer. I'm trying to finish with about 6-8 quarts so it won't be nearly as long.
Mirepoix in. Come back in 10-15 minutes to inspect.
Well give the beef bones another 10 minutes
And it's time to skim some of that scum off the top of the chicken stock
Alright the beef bones are ready. The marrow was starting to melt out so that's when you know it's perfect. Let's put the bones in our other pot and then mix some tomato paste into the mirepoix.
Now that everything is coated and mixed well, well toss it back into the pot, fill it with water, add our boquet, unpealed garlic and peppercorns, and let it go to town.
That already looks amazing. Smells coming out of this kitchen are fantastic.
You'll notice I didn't add salt into either stock. I don't salt my stocks because when they reduce it can concentrate and become too much. I only salt them when I intend to actually cook with them.
And there they both go.
The chicken I'll probably debone and save the meat in another hour or so. Then an hour or two later we'll get all this stock jarred. Just noticed the backup celery and carrots I was going to use for the chicken soup I wanted to make don't exist. Guess I'll have to think of something else in the next couple hours to do with the chicken meat.
This looks great Kawell
>>7729996
are you a dog? what kind of retard cooks bones for dinner
Just finished up. End batch yielded 5 chicken and 2.5-ish beef. The heat from the stock will create a natural seal with the jars. Just leave them piping hot on the counter until they come down to room temp then toss them in the freezer.
Fun but tiring times. Gonna grab a beer and mellow out somewhere.
Nice thread op, looks like some tasty stock.
What did you end up using the chicken meat on? I toss it on some bread with buffalo sauce on it/mix in it.
>>7731229
Didn't get any pictures but I ended up pulling it apart, slathering it with some BBQ sauce and make some pulled chicken sandwiches out of them. Working on some cookies--chocolate chip walnut--right now, just got the first batch in the oven.
Batter
>>7729725
Why bother? Dont you strain the broth when done?
>>7730604
why not bother canning them properly? Save freezer space that way
And right out of the oven
Maybe could have used some baking powder along with the baking soda to prevent spreading like that, but it still works.
>>7731294
Yeah but it's easier on clean up. Plus the fine mesh won't get clogged as frequently from more fine particulars which require straining.
>>7731295
Due to space restrictions, mostly. My apartment is pretty small and my cabinets are full, I wouldn't have a place to store a pressure cooker. This is still fine, I have a ton of freezer space left given I don't freeze too many things since I cook fresh more often than not. When i get a bigger place I'll probably look into a pressure cooker.
Second batch was spaced much better. One more batch to finish.
Think that will hold my sweet tooth off for a while.
