Favorite non-obvious uses for stock

[btbyrd]

Help me use this:

 

 

Winter is prime stock making season in my house. A foot of snow on the ground totally eliminates the need for an ice water bath to cool finished stock down to storage temperatures so I go crazy and make more than I can use. I've started to compulsively buy up prime stock-making ingredients at the grocery when they go on sale... whenever there are markdowns on short ribs, oxtail, spare ribs, pork neck bones, chicken wings, etc.I buy a bundle of them, roast them off, and move them to the pressure cooker. Then I stick it outside until it's ice cold, skim off the fat (which I also save) and then seal it up in my chamber vacuum. As a result, my freezer is full of vacuum sealed bags of nice gelatinous stock. This is awesome. But I'm not quite sure what to do with all of it. First world problems.

 

I usually use it for three, somewhat obvious purposes. The first is to make soup, which I can produce without even blinking. Meat/bone broths are something I've mastered over the past few years, with my wife remarking that I can make a chicken soup that would make grandmothers weep. My pho and ramen game is as good as any of my local shops. And my French onion soup? To die for. I love a good soup when it's cold out, but I can't make enough to use my supply. The second purpose to which I put my stock supply is the making of sauces. Reduce a stock down, infuse some herbs, add some acid and some fat (and maybe some starch) and spoon it over a quality piece of meat. What's not to like? Finally, I use stock as the foundation for braising liquid when cooking tough cuts, stews, or pot roasts.

 

Those are the main purposes for which I use stock. There are other side uses... glazing vegetables, cooking rice or risotto, etc. But what else should I be doing with it? Or should I just eat more soup?

Edited February 27, 2015 by btbyrd (log)

[jmacnaughtan]

Use a few of those packets for a really tasty pot au feu.

 

Failing that, Michael Ruhlman talked about making veal stock salt (although the site seems to be down).

[gfweb]

There's something to be said for having enough stock to use it profligately. It doesn't need to be hoarded, use the shit out of it!

[AAQuesada]

Double stocks and base liquid for a natural Jus

[pazzaglia]

Use it in place of water when cooking rice and grains to serve with those braised meats - also, stock is a great base for polenta and gnocchi alla romana (made with semolina mush).

 

Ciao,

 

L

Edited February 27, 2015 by pazzaglia (log)

[longroper]

Consommé.  Aspic.  Glace de viande.  Chaudfroid.  The first two assume a very-carefully-attended-to stock.  The latter two not so much. 

 

Head cheese.  Scrapple. 

[ChrisTaylor]

Using them in places where you'd typically use water (if they're really intense stocks, you might want to cut them with some water) like, say, curries. The bases for sauces. Some of those classic French sauces, both in their classical and modern (i.e. 11 Madison Park/Daniel Humm) forms, gobble up vast amounts of stock.

[pazzaglia]

Chris's post reminds me... also to use stock as cooking liquid for beans.  YUM!!

[ChrisTaylor]

Oh, yeah. Throw that in when making red beans and rice and similar dishes. It's not like smoky pork hocks will  say no to pork stock, right?

[jmacnaughtan]

Consommé.  Aspic.  Glace de viande.  Chaudfroid.  The first two assume a very-carefully-attended-to stock.  The latter two not so much. 

 

Head cheese.  Scrapple. 

 

As the stocks were made in a pressure cooker, I'd say that the first two options are out.  Unless you want to clarify the stocks, that is.

[huiray]

Stir-fries.  The variations and ingredients are infinite.  Vegetable stir-fries.  Meat + Veg stir fires.  Meat + aromatics stir-fries. Noodle + etc etc etc stir-fries.

 

Yes, make more soups too.  :-)  Mind you with various soups I prefer to use plain water rather than stock for what is called a more "ching" (clear/clean/pure) taste and texture.

 

Pazzaglia mentioned making rice with stock.  Don't forget congees!!

 

Sipping broth alone is nice - one does not need to make it into "soup".  Witness the current furor over drinking stock in the US of late, treated like the Newest Discovery, heh.  (Something that has been done in some non-Western cuisines for a very long time)  The broth does not need to be clear.  In fact, having some "chewiness" to them is nice.

 

jmacnaughtan commented that consommé and aspic were out because the stocks were not made classically (and very very clear, I presume)  IMO I don't see why aspic, for one, can't be made with these stocks.  OK so it wouldn't be a Classical French dish but it does not need to be a Classical French aspic.  I've certainly made aspics with stocks that would make Escoffier turn over in his grave but, uh, I'm not making French aspics for one and certainly not old-school Classical French aspics at that.

[Scophthalmus maximus]

Blanching garlic.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

As the stocks were made in a pressure cooker, I'd say that the first two options are out.  Unless you want to clarify the stocks, that is.

 

Pressure cooker stocks should be quite clear because the liquid hardly boils.  If yours are not you may be doing something wrong.

[SeanDirty]

My background is fine dining and as many culinary graduates go, there seldom is such as thing as churning out fast meals...  Usually because of all he components... But over the years I have found ways to cut corners, sometimes completely circumventing the corners alltogether... 

 

But in terms of uses for stock... I too use it for sauce... However this is a quick sauce...   If you have your stock nicely packeted like our thread starter just empty out about 1/2 a cup of stock to make enough sauce for one steak, into a searing hot pan.  Have any other liquids you would like to add thrown into the pan with the stock as it should quickly boil/reduce (eg, fish sauce, soy sauce, mirin, whatever.  But save your vinegars for last) As the liquid reduces to almost a glace shut the flame off, and grab a knob of cold butter...  about a Tablespoon, tip the pan to one side so all the liquid pools together, and start mounting/stiring the butter with the liquid at a brisk pace.  The sauce should emulsify into a buttery, meaty, silken, sauce that you probably have to be careful not to finish right then and there... 

 

now add any chopped herbs, acids, lastly salt and pepper to taste.

[longroper]

Pressure cooker stocks should be quite clear because the liquid hardly boils.  If yours are not you may be doing something wrong.

Yeah, this.  I missed the part in the OP mentioning the pressure cooker.  You still have to clarify it to make consomme, but the point of doing it in the pressure cooker (aside from speed) is that there's no boiling and hence little opportunity for fat to emulsify. 

 

You can't make a consomme out of emulsified stock.  I've tried. 

[FeChef]

probably mentioned but you could also use them as brines and marinades. I sometimes use beef stock to brine beef roasts.

[torolover]

How about reducing the stock and putting it into dumplings to make xiao long bao?  Xiao long boa are dumplings where when you bite into them, they squirt with lots of juice.  The juice is from the gelatin that's put into the meat.

 

How about reducing the stock and adding soy sauce, mirin, sugar, to make a really good teriyaki sauce?

Edited February 28, 2015 by torolover (log)

[djyee100]

Some vegs take well to braising in stock, like spinach, escarole, and leeks. I like to briefly saute cabbage with some butter and onion, then braise it in chicken stock with a little ham. For another fave, a Shaker recipe, I braise carrots in chicken stock with some honey.

 

Any gratin or casserole requires a little liquid somewhere, and that's where stock comes in handy. Savory bread puddings usually require stock for some liquid too.

 

You can thin out canned spaghetti sauce with leftover stock you have around--it's better than water. A glug of wine doesn't hurt the sauce, either.

 

You can make a tasty polenta with stock, and rice pilaf.

 

Savory custards are made with stock, like the Japanese chawan mushi. Here:
http://www.twolazygourmets.com/2013/03/magical-chawan-mushi-japanese-savory-egg-custard/

 

A couple soups come to mind that use up lots of stock and can be a meal in themselves: Asian wonton soup, embellished with chicken slices, shrimp, water chestnuts, bok choy, snow peas, green onion; and Tuscan ribollita, a bread-vegetable soup that layers potatoes, beans, bread, leafy greens and herbs with broth. Your question sent me to a recipe for ribollita that I saw recently, and now I'm thinking of making it myself. Here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=RWSOVYWK2WoC&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71&dq=johns+cucina+povera+ribollita+recipe&source=bl&ots=m__PVwHu_v&sig=h35BpeLTKYu1HLkZg7-5MhmUrCo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Dy7wVPTQO5DWoASn34LoBg&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=johns%20cucina%20povera%20ribollita%20recipe&f=false

 

Do you bake? You can experiment with stock as a savory liquid in some baked goods, like biscuits.