quote:

Originally posted by Matt G.:

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
Making the stock separately just seems like a needless extra step to me when you're not making something fancy.

When making soup from a fowl carcass with lots of small pieces (and sometimes even smaller bones), you kind of have to make the stock separately. With a big ham bone you can easily fish it out of the pot. When you've been simmering wings, necks, and backs of a chicken for a couple of hours, "fishing" gets a whole lot more difficult!

Granted. I don't often do it that way. I'll use a still-intact turkey or chicken carcass much the same way I use a ham bone, although I don't put anything in with it but the onion, in case it falls apart and I have to go on a fishing expedition.

The only time I do much with just small pieces like the neck and giblets is when I do the Thanksgiving turkey. I'll put those things with the chopped up aromatics and some water in a small pot. I have to do the fishing expedition thing, but it's just one neck, one heart, one gizzard, and one liver and they're big enough to find. Once they're out, I throw the broth with the aromatics still in it right into the dressing.

Because I guess I'm just a teeny bit lazy...

The all in one method is more typical because it saves time. The downside is that by the time you simmer long enough to get the flavor out of the ham bone the meat is flavorless and should be discarded. That said, I’ve had plenty of delicious split pea and bean soups made that way. Some start the ham bone early and the beans go in later. Some have you ignore the meat from the bone and have you add fresh ham at the end.

This veg soup wouldn’t work that way. The ham stock goes for 2-4 hours (which is why I want to try an instant pot adaptation) and the veg don’t take much time at all.

I think it’s worth the time. It’s not a standard ham and beans soup and it’s really good. I cheated and put grated cheese on top of it after serving.

On to try ham and limas, and/or the more colorful description of the same dish brought to you by the US Army. Mrs. Miller refuses to eat limas, even when I re-christen them butter beans, which means I am free to make it any way I want.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt G.:

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
Making the stock separately just seems like a needless extra step to me when you're not making something fancy.

When making soup from a fowl carcass with lots of small pieces (and sometimes even smaller bones), you kind of have to make the stock separately. With a big ham bone you can easily fish it out of the pot. When you've been simmering wings, necks, and backs of a chicken for a couple of hours, "fishing" gets a whole lot more difficult!

This, and I have started saving (freezing) things like carrot peelings, onion skins and leek tops to make stock. No reason really - I can make stock out of fresh ingredients - other than I like reproducing the recipes my family used to save $. A lot of what my Mom did was the result of dealing with rationing during WW2. I recently learned to include onion skins in my stock for a nice dark color.

All this means the stock has to be strained at some point. Upside is that the IP makes the whole deal take about an hour.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Matt G.:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mary Anna: I don't put anything in with it but the onion, in case it falls apart and I have to go on a fishing expedition

Just onion? Interesting. There is much controversy on the internet having to do with whether stock may contain anything more that meat, bones and onion. People fight to the death over additions like celery, carrots and/or garlic.

To quote the song, “Which side are you on?”

Nobody in my immediate circle eats celery, so it's not an issue. I find that fresh garlic overcooks, so I add it later, when I'm assembling the soup.

Carrots? I put them in with the ham bone or chicken carcass, because I like their flavor in the broth. If I were doing it Cousin Matt's way, with small pieces that would require the stock to be strained, I'd hold off on the carrots because I want them in the eventual soup and so I wouldn't want to lose them.

This all sounds very complicated, with a lot of decision points. When I'm actually doing it, it's more of a throw-it-together-with-what-you've-got affair. The "recipe" is more in the order and timing of putting in the ingredients.

You cannot have stock, gravy, soup, or anything else stewed up without celery, carrots and onion. They *make* the flavor.

I'll throw a vote in for leeks in lieu of (or in addition to) the onions.

The only stock I routinely make is for chicken soup. I use the whole chicken, fling it in there with onions, celery (sprigs) and dill.

It's easy to fish out everything but the onion, which is mush after the stock has been boiled into oblivion. But I've found that I can get most of it out with a slotted spoon and finally a small wire sieve. Then I take the meat, chop it, add it back in and put it in the fridge overnight. This makes it oh so easy to essentially pop off the fat from the top. (I *HATE* chicken fat on the surface of soup.)

Yeah, kind of a pain, but not really.

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
You cannot have stock, gravy, soup, or anything else stewed up without celery, carrots and onion. They *make* the flavor.

PLUS:
Peppercorns, whole cloves stuck in the onions, bit of thyme and parsley (discretionary) but most de rigueur - a few bayleaves.

I remember reading about wartime neighborliness at holidays in the UK when they'd share the bayleaves. Don't know how they'd decide who started with it, but the bayleaves would be passed around (an unknown number of) neighbors for that crucial added stock flavor.

Apropos, Forget where I read that bayleaves are among THE most common causes of choking in the US, so DO strain.

(I am definitely of the pro-garlic school. Didn't know there was any controversy about it.)
Oh, and am I the only one to add salt?! "To taste", of course.

PS WTG Love your new signature!

Yesterday: Split pea soup in the instant pot, with the ham bone from a Sportsball party I attended on Sunday. Yum.

Today: Jai. A stew full of fungi for Chinese New Year!

Wishing y’all a year of health and prosperity!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Rainy day here, cold day elsewhere. Still a good day to stay in and cook something.

I made the stock on the stove even though the IP is faster. I wanted the smell of it cooking in the house and I got that.

I've made Coq au Vin but never in the IP. If you decide to make it please let me know how you liked it.

Finally made it tonight. Delicious, but get skin on boneless thighs. Hard to find but not impossible.

It's still cold and dreary, very good weather for cooking. My new CSA membership comes with more eggs than I've been eating, so I decided to make some quiche tonight.

Local, free-range eggs from the CSA.
Organic whole milk.
Shredded cheese.
Organic kale from the CSA, sauteed with canned artichoke hearts and heirloom cherry tomatoes.
A homemade pat-in almond flour crust.

Good Lord, it was good. Health-wise, it wasn't low-fat, but it was high protein with a lot of nutrients, so call it okay. Plus, I took a private yoga lesson this afternoon.

The only problem was that it was so good I ate a second piece.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Rainy day here, cold day elsewhere. Still a good day to stay in and cook something.

I made the stock on the stove even though the IP is faster. I wanted the smell of it cooking in the house and I got that.

I've made Coq au Vin but never in the IP. If you decide to make it please let me know how you liked it.

Finally made it tonight. Delicious, but get skin on boneless thighs. Hard to find but not impossible.

Boneless sounds like a great idea. The last Coq au Vin I had was so full of little bones I could hardly eat it.

Yes. Bones are a pain.

Twas even better for lunch today. I deboned the chicken before I ate it. Much easier.