(As a side note, in case you have not seen it, I offer for your viewing hilarity a now famous squirrel video from Mark Rober…and there are sequels).
Fortunately, I have timed this project with the fall arrival of fresh celery from Twin Springs Fruit Farm and use the leaves in the stock pot along with a small branch of bay leaves from my long suffering bay bush, very tired carrots from the crisper, and onion leavings (also in the freezer).
At this point, do not wait for the stock to cool, but instead remove the bones and vegetal debris by pouring out the stock through a fine sieve or towel in a colander. Mine fills a large bowl (the one I make my mother in law’s fruitcake in) and let it sit in the refrigerator until the fat and flotsam congeal at the top. This gets scraped off before putting it in a large pan in which you are going to clarify the muddy looking stock. Take 2 egg whites for every quart of stock you have measured out – you can add a bit of water and lemon juice if that helps you to break them up, as shown in the video. Add some lightly crushed egg shells if you have them and mix them until just barely frothy). Fold these into the cold stock – if it has gelled, that is fine, the whites will fold into the stock whether it is cold liquid or has solidified.
Freeze in bags or containers and mark the date. I store mine in freezer bags in about 2-cup increments. Recycled glass jars or plastic containers (both with tight-fitting lids) are fine too, but leave a good two inches of head space. You are now ready to make all sorts of consommes with local mushrooms, for example, or Asian style soups with small strips of chicken, seafood, beef or pork and additional vegetables.This stock makes a divine winter risotto with radicchio and red wine or it can be used to create a delicious sauce. The only thing it does not work for is a dessert.
After owning one of the best cooking stores in the US for 47 years, Nancy Pollard writes a blog about food in all its aspects – recipes, film, books, travel, superior sources and food related issues.
Gelato Concerns One of the things I found to fret about when we moved to…
I am a sucker for farmers markets. When we were first married and rented part…
Ham Histories Since I now reside in one of the reigning ham regions of the…
A Different Party Wars have unintended consequences, as anyone who reads Heather Cox Richardson obsessively…
Defending The Sandwich Someone very close to me took exception to the anecdote in the…
For the life of me, I cannot remember which marvelous food writer (perhaps Waverly Root…
View Comments
Nancy, I always look forward to Wednesday and Kitchen Detail. I often pull up the blog on my phone and must confess that yesterday, I found myself looking for a squirrel in what I could swear was a pile of bones. Eventually I got straight. I have always made stock from my own bones (thank you, Mum) but have never tried the egg raft. The video was great. Thank you, as always, for continuing to inspire my love of cooking and funny moments whether intended or not. Gretchen
Hi Gretchen,
You made my day with your note! What do you use your stock for? I have never done the jellied consomme from it but one reader has.
Nancy