A Lil' Bit Saucy Lesson 1

Stocks and Sauces Part 1

A good  basic sauce can be a game changer in your cooking. Flavor, color and texture can be brought the table in simple sauce and stocks.

Both Stocks and sauces are important to success in the kitchen. They are used in many recipes.  Today in part 1 and we will cover  5 essential stocks used in most cooking.

5 Essential Stocks

1.     White Stock: Made with simmering chicken, veal or beef bones in water with    

        vegetables and seasonings.  This stock should be relatively clear.

2.     Brown Stock: made from chicken, veil, beef, or game bones and  

        vegetables.  All of which are caramelized first before simmered in water and    

        seasonings.  This stock should be rich and dark in color.

3.     Fish stock: slowly cooking fish bones or the shells of shellfish with vegetables 

        make both without coloring. Then simmered with water and seasonings    

        for a short amount of time. Both stocks will be relatively colorless.

4.     The Fumet: wine or lemon juice is added during the simmering of the fish stock.

5.     Court bouillon/Vegetable Stock: This stock is made by simmering vegetables             in water seasonings and acidic liquid (e.g. vinegar or wine). Main uses of this             stock is to poach fish.

Vegetables to be used in these stocks can vary, but most used are onion, celery, and carrot. These will be combined in a ratio of 50% onion, 25% carrot, and 25% celery. Be careful when using vegetables which have a lot of sugar such as carrots and bell peppers, as these will cause your sauce to become sweet.

Steps to make your sauce:

1. When making stock, start with cold water, add your bones and slowly bring to boil.     As the water cooks to below the level of the bones add more water.

2. Bring back to boil, reduce heat to 185 degrees F. When kept at a simmer the  liquid will remain clear.

3. The stock will then be skimmed with a fine mesh sieve to remove fat and    impurities that have risen to the top during cooking.

4. Once stock is finished cooking strain liquid from the solids, trying not to disturb   sediment at the bottom.

5.  Cool stock quickly using a sink or bucket with ice water in constant circulation.

6.  Store in an airtight container. I like to make a lot of stock at one time and store   in the freezer.

7.  Optional: De-grease by cooling in refrigerator and skimming fat off the top.

Remember, sauces can take your plain dish into a totally different boost of flavor.

Hope you enjoyed our saucy little blog. Our next lesson will continue with sauces Part 2.
Enjoy.
Darcy