by Chef John Panza, Owner, BiGA
Most healthy diets and lifestyles start with eating at home, mainly because you can control what’s going into your body. Also, there is an economic value to eating at home.
One easy way to start a healthy and economic eating lifestyle at home is to make your own stocks.
A simple stock consists of vegetables and sometimes meat scraps or bones that are simmered for a long period of time to create a flavorful broth. They can be used to create soups, sauces and/or gravies or to cook grains, vegetables and rice.
The main purpose is to add more flavor in a healthy way. By slowly simmering vegetables and bones, you can extract nutrients with little to no fat.
At BiGA, we make a few different stocks by saving vegetable ends and using the scraps of fish, chicken or beef, which we then turn into sauces or soups. At home, we make what we call “Sunday Stock,” which is strictly made from all vegetable ends, skins, tops and scraps that we used throughout the week. This can include leek tops, fennel ends, onion skins, carrot peelings, celery trimmings, garlic skins and even lettuce ends. Pretty much any vegetable leftovers we can save.
Give these a try.
Ingredients:
- 5 lbs Chicken bones/ beef bones or beef scraps/ vegetable scraps (John’s Sunday stock)
- 2 tbs Olive oil
- 2 lbs Onions
- 1 lb Carrots
- 1 lb Celery
- 2 cups White Wine
- Water
Preparation:
If using bones, roast in oven at 300 degrees until bones are browned, this helps create more flavor. In a large pot, sauté your stock vegetables with oil until browned, add bones or meat scraps and continue to brown. Deglaze with a wine or alcohol of your choice, add enough water to cover all ingredients and let simmer for 12 to 24 hours (the longer the better). Once done, strain liquid into a container and cool in your fridge until ready to use.