Garbage Stock

There's nothing like homemade stock. There are good commercial stocks out there, and I use them, but they never are as rich and flavorful as the stock I make myself.

I have spoken before about thrift in cooking. I save old bread, and find recipes for radish and carrot greens I would otherwise throw away. For my stock, I save the vegetable trimmings, rib bones, poultry carcasses, and ham bones.

Whenever I work with vegetables, I save the trimmings in a sealable bag in the freezer. Potato, carrot, turnip, and parsnip peels are obvious. The outer layers from onions, as well as the fibrous part of leeks and green onions adds much flavor. The ends trimmed off of celery, and whole stalks when they go rubbery, go into the bag. The woody ends of mushroom and asparagus stems are particularly good for adding richness to a stock. I like to include bell pepper trimmings as well.

I do not use trimmings from the cabbage family, including broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. They can add a bitter and sulphurous taste and odor. Also I only use peels from white or very pale candy cane beets. While I actually like the flavor added by red beet peels, using them turns the stock pink, which can be a visual turn-off for some people.

Many of the grocery stores in my area have deals on roasted chickens on Monday. It's not unusual for the spouse to pick one up, as it is cheaper than doing it myself, and Monday's I often don't feel like doing elaborate cooking. After removing the bulk of the meat, the carcass gets frozen. If I roast a turkey, the leftover carcass gets the same treatment. Same with the bone from a roast or a ham.

Today I'm making chicken stock. I had three chicken carcasses, and a gallon bag of vegetable trimmings. I use a large stock pot with a strainer. I put the carcasses and trimmings in the strainer, and cover with water. I let it simmer on medium low heat, occasionally adding water to keep , everything covered. I lie to let it go at least three hours, if possible, then remove the strainer. I generally leave the stock unsalted, and add salt to whatever it gets used in.

As I think I have mentioned before, I play in a Medieval and Renaissance re-creation group, the SCA. This is where I learned to value garbage stock. Some friends and I were competing in a cooking contest. The idea was that you were being besieged, and you have scrounged up the last of the food. How good a meal can you make? Well, the people running contest really didn't give us much to work with. One small turnip, a couple of small carrots, one leek, a small onion, and one chicken breast (skin on, bone in, thankfully) were typical of the quantities available. We could not afford to waste edible vegetables to make stock. So, the peels, and inedible parts, plus the chicken skin and bone, made our stock. And you know what, that stock was fabulous. It made a very solid foundation to build a number of dishes on. We ended up winning that contest, and we all felt that the stock was a significant part of that victory.

So, now I never use vegetables I could eat in a stock. I use the parts I otherwise would have thrown away, making a better use of the resources available to me. I highly recommend it.

Happy Eating!

Pasta with Radish Green - Walnut Pesto

 

I love my CSA. It challenges me to make the best use of the ingredients. We had gotten some marvelous radishes, with luxuriant greens. I hate to just throw things out, so I look for ways to use everything. I have previously used the carrot greens we've gotten to good effect.

I had a package of tri-color spinach and cheese tortellini in the freezer. I love tortellini with pesto. I made a pesto of radish greens, walnuts, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Hard to describe the radish greens. They have a rich herbaceous taste, with a little bite and some bitterness. They paired well with the walnuts.

I just prepared the pasta as directed, then drained it and tossed it with the pesto.

To go with, I sauteed some beautiful Savoy cabbage with some strips of green pepper and green onion.

Radish Green - Walnut Pesto

3 cups radish greens
2/3 cup walnut pieces
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 -3 tbsp. olive oil

Place radish leaves, walnuts, salt, and garlic in a food processor. While processor is running, drizzle in olive oil until pesto has a smooth consistency. It may be necessary to stop and scrape down the sides of the processor bowl once or twice.

Home Made Tortilla Chips with Cumin Salt

So, I've determined to 'follow my bliss', as Dharma used to say. For me, this means giving up trying to work in the IT industry, and going back to school for a culinary degree.  For the cost of the program, the Culinary Arts department at Grossmont College is very good, and very popular. As a first semester student, my odds of getting the baseline classes for savory and pastry were slim and none. I did get into an elective course, Wines of the World. It's a fun class. Chef Dave is funny, knowledgeable, and passionate.

We, the students, are encouraged to bring foods to pair with the wines. Last week we did a test tasting, and I brought some nice persian cucumbers from my CSA. This week, Chef Dave rrecommended chips as a good accompaniment to what we are drinking. Tonight is Champagnes of the World.

My Original thought was to make sweet potato, or even mixed root vegetable chips. But then I remembered the left over corn tortillas from the other night's soft tacos. No reason to let those go to waste. We bought a kilo, and barely reduced the pile by a noticible amount.

So, I pulled out the deep fryer, and topped off the oil. Got it heated to it's hottest setting, 375 degrees. This is really important; when deep frying use a high temperture oil, like canola, peanut, or grapeseed, and have it as hot as possible without smoking That will help ensure that foods will not be greasy. I cut the tortillas into 16ths, and fried them in small batches, making sure not to crowd the basket.

I mixed a tablespoon of cumin into a 1/4 cup of salt, and sprinkled the chips with it while they were draining on a paper towel. I think they are very tasty. Hopefully my classmates will agree.

Tortelloni with Carrot Green Pesto



I love when you can use something that many people would throw out, like old bread, or vegetable trimming (but that's a future post). In this case, we are talking carrot tops. They have a wonderful green taste, like a mild parsley. They can be used in salads, but I've found that they make a superlative pesto.

For the side, I sauteed together mushrooms with green and cherry peppers, garlic, and red onion.

I did use a commercial  chicken and cheese tortelloni. Tortelloni are ideal for pesto, as they have lots of nooks and crannies to pick up the pesto.  I boil the pasta, and drain it when it is perfectly al dente. Once drained, I return it to the pot, and toss it with the pesto.

I like to strip the leaves off the stems, as the stems are a little tough. For nuts, I find that toasted pecans work great, although this time I used a mix of hazelnuts, pecans, and almonds, because that is what I had in the house.

Carrot Green Pesto

3 cups carrot fronds, rough chopped
1 cup chopped nuts
1 Tblsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cup olive oil (approximately)

Place all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor.  While food processor is running, drizzle in olive oil, about a teaspoon at a time, until pesto is smooth.

Happy Eating!

Old Bread

So, I have a confession.  I hoard stale bread. I inherited this from my mother.  Any bread; the heels of a loaf, part of  a baguette, leftover biscuits, the last muffin, or cake trimmings from the spouses latest masterpiece, all fair game.  I have a bucket on the counter, where it all goes to dry. 

  It is with good cause, however. When I was first married, the spouse was about to throw out the heels of a loaf of bread (as neither of us likes to eat them), and I told her to save them.  She asked, "why?", thinking I was nuts.  I answered, what I thought was obvious, "for stuffing".  As her mother wasn't much of a cook, she only knew stuffing out of a box.  So, for our first thanksgiving, I made the sage dressing the way my mother and grandmother did, and she learned how right I was.

 Once the bread is thoroughly dried out,it gets cut up in cubes.  I put a collender over a bowl.  When it gets full, it gets shaken, and the pieces big enough to count as cubes get picked out.  Course crumbs collect in the collender, and fine crumbs in the bowl. 

Sweet breads get cut up and stored seperately.

By doing this, I have ready ingredients for stuffing, strata, bread pudding, meatloaf, or breading.  It is frugal, using something otherwise thrown away.

Happy eating!