“Indeed, stock is everything in cooking … Without it, nothing can be done.” – Auguste Escoffier
If The Weekend Project were a digital cookbook, then the post probably should have been our first recipe. Most cookbooks have recipes for stock at the beginning and for good reason. The stocks a chef creates are more than just base recipes for soups and sauces; they describe the chef’s cooking philosophy, the cookbook’s flavor profile, and the building blocks that make up a chef’s palate and cooking methods.
Once I realized this, I started comparing all the stock recipes I found and noticed how often the authors stress the importance of making your own stock. Not only does it improve your cooking, it’s much more economical; it changes your mindset regarding food and waste.
Say you roast a chicken for supper. What do you normally do with the carcass? Prior to this stock epiphany, I just tossed it in the trash. Now I keep all the bones stashed in a bag in the freezer – there is still flavor to be pulled from them. I also rarely buy chicken in pieces now; instead, I buy a whole chicken and break it down myself, storing the inedible backbone in the same freezer bag. When I accumulate enough bones to fill my stockpot, I make a batch of stock and freeze what I won’t use that a week.
Meat stocks can be made two ways: blond or brown. A blond stock can use the leftovers from a roasted bird or a raw carcass; a brown stock requires roasting raw bones in a very hot oven until dark brown. This develops the fond, which is crucial to adding flavor. The recipes below call for chicken, but don’t feel restricted with the bones you choose. In my home, I commonly make venison and pork stocks, and when I’m lucky, I indulge a turkey or duck stocks.
When making a meat stock, don’t toss those vegetable scraps either. You can make fine vegetable stock from the carrot and onion peels; in fact, save all your scrap materials from any vegetables you work with during the week. The tops of carrots, peppers, onions and other vegetables can be stored in a bag in the refrigerator or freezer in the fridge until you’re ready to use them.
Stocks are easy to make; they only require a time commitment, as you’ll they take several hours of gentle, joyful simmering on the stove. No shopping list or game plan for this Weekend Project. You can make each these stocks individually, or go big and do them all together. Just follow these simple instructions and let the ingredients do the work.
Bouquet Garni
To make a blond stock or a brown stock, you will need a bouquet garni, a little green packet that packs plenty of flavor. 
Trim 2 leeks; reserve the white parts for another use. Place 10 to 15 parsley stems, 3 to 4 thyme sprigs and 2 bay leaves inside the curve of 1 green leek top. Cover the herbs with the other green leek top to make an herb-filled packet. Tie each end of the packet closed with kitchen string.
Blond Stock Makes 2 to 3 quarts
2 to 3 cooked chickens carcasses or 5 to 6 raw chicken backbones
2 leeks, white parts only, chopped into 1-inch pieces
3 to 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 onions, peeled and halved
1 bouquet garni (Recipe above.)
Kosher salt, to taste
• If using raw chicken backbones, rinse them in several changes of cold water, then place in a large stockpot. Add the leeks, carrots, onions and bouquet garni and fill the pot with enough water to cover all the ingredients by 2 inches.
• Place the stockpot over high heat and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low so only one or two bubbles appear on the service every second. Simmer on low 6 to 8 hours, skimming any scum that rises to the surface several times during the first 30 minutes.
• Remove the stock from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into another stockpot or large container. Discard the bones and vegetable scraps. Refrigerate the strained stock to cool completely and allow the fat to solidify on the surface. Skim the fat with a large spoon and discard it.
• Return the stock to a simmer over medium heat and add salt to taste.
• Strain the stock again through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Stock will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 1 week and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Brown Stock Makes 2 to 3 quarts
2 to 3 raw chicken carcasses, halved, or 5 to 6 raw chicken backbones
2 leeks, white parts only, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
3 to 4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 onions, peeled and quartered
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 bouquet garni (Recipe above.)
Kosher salt, to taste
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees or as hot as it will allow.
• Place the raw chicken carcasses or backbones in a roasting pan and cook, tossing occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes, until very brown.
• Add the leeks, carrots and onions and roast another 20 to 30 minutes until the vegetables start to brown. Carefully add all the roasted vegetables and bones to a large stockpot. Set aside.
• Place the empty roasting pan on the stove over high heat and add the tomato paste and 1 or 2 splashes of water. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom to release the fond. Add the tomato-fond mixture to the stockpot and fill with enough water to cover by 2 inches. Add the bouquet garni.
• Place the stockpot over high heat and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low so only one or two bubbles appear on the service every second. Simmer on low 6 to 8 hours, skimming any scum that rises to the surface several times during the first 30 minutes.
• Remove the stock from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into another stockpot or large container. Discard the bones and vegetable scraps. Refrigerate the strained stock to cool completely and allow the fat to solidify on the surface. Skim the fat with a large spoon and discard it.
• Return the stock to a simmer over medium heat and add salt to taste.
• Strain the stock again through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Stock will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 1 week and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Vegetable Stock Makes 1 gallon
3 leeks
3 onions
5 to 6 carrots
4 to 5 celery ribs, chopped into 1-inch pieces
10 to 15 parsley stems
2 to 3 sprigs thyme
1 16-oz. can tomato paste
Kosher salt, to taste
• Remove the green tops from 2 leeks. Reserve the white parts for a brown or blond stock or another use. Chop the remaining leek into 1-inch pieces.
• Peel and trim 2 onions. Reserve the peeled onion for a brown or blond stock or another use. Chop the remaining onion with skin and stems intact into 1-inch pieces.
• Peel 3 to 4 carrots. Reserve the peeled carrots for a brown or blond stock or another use. Chop the remaining carrots into 1-inch pieces.
• Place the leek tops, onion skins, carrot peels and chopped vegetables into a stockpot with the celery, parsley stems, thyme and tomato paste. Fill with 5 to 6 quarts of water.
• Place the stockpot over high heat and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and simmer 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove the stock from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into another stockpot or large container. Discard the vegetable scraps. Salt to taste.
• Stock will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 1 week and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
-photos by Michelle Volansky
This article appears in April 2014.