REALCUISINE | Julianne Glatz
The holidays are almost over. As always, I’ve enjoyed the preparation, parties and celebrations, and the copious amounts of food and drink. But usually even before New Year’s, I’m ready for it to end. Right now, nothing sounds so good as a quiet evening at home and a simple meal. That’s why I’m especially glad to have a supply of stock in the freezer. Actually, having good homemade stock, readily available, is one of the most valuable assets any cook can have at any time of the year. It’s easy to do, too.
There are commercial stocks as good as homemade available through gourmet shops and online. But they’re very expensive and not something that most of us can afford on a regular basis. The canned broths and stocks generally available in the grocery stores have gotten better in the last few years, but they’re still weak and have little flavor compared with homemade. There are low sodium versions, too, but the “regular” varieties are almost always overly salty.
When I said making stock was easy, I meant it – especially if you have a slow cooker. Just dump in the ingredients, add water, turn the pot on and let it burble away for two hours or two days. The result is culinary gold that has a thousand uses,
not least of which is as the basis for that most comforting food of all: homemade chicken soup.
Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected]