I have a confession to make. I am a lazy cook. You never could tell from the name of this blog, but it’s true. This isn’t to say that my mantra for life is “I don’t feel like cooking tonight, let’s order pizza.” Trust me, I’m a starving artist (aka: writer), lazy nights of fast food don’t happen around here, and I’m personally not much of a fan anyway.
But I am a lazy cook. I am also a food snob. I don’t see why I should cough up good money for something I can make for myself (for next to nothing) that will taste better anyway. Soup stocks fall under this category for me anyway. I don’t keep cans or cardboard cartons of the stuff in the house. Rather, I make my own, freeze it and grab as needed.
Now before you browse on to other food blogs, allow me to remind you, I started off with the claim that I am lazy. I would rather be reading, writing or possibly clipping my pug’s nails than babysitting a simmering pot of stock. Yes, I know in high scale restaurants, you simmer it slowly, skimming the scum off and keeping it at a gentle bubble blah blah blah. And if dancing attendance on stock is your thing, more power to you. For me, I have the home cook’s solution to great soup with minimal money or effort.
Start with your crockpot. If you don’t have one, you should. You can get a serviceable slow cooker for around $19. When you compare that to dropping $3 to $4 a pop for the stuff sold in the store, my method will pay off for you in five to six batches of stock.
Next, grab the chicken carcass from Sunday dinner. Or the rotisserie chicken you bought from the grocery store on the way home to work. Whatever you have on hand. Point is, get the meat off the bird and keep the carcass. If you bought a whole bird, keep the neck and giblets. Into the pot goes the chicken bones and spare parts you found crammed inside when you bought it.
Then, reach into your fridge’s vegetable drawer. You’ve got carrots and celery running around in there that you’ve forgotten about, right? They’re pretty limp and embarrassing to show people. Yeah, those, that’s right, grab them. Toss a few of them into the pot with the chicken. Couple of carrots, couple of celery stalks, and you’re gold. These veggies aren’t necessary, but they do add a beautiful color and rich flavor to the stock. And admit it, you were going to trash them anyway. While you’re at it, if you have a stray onion running around, toss that in too. Just cut it into quarters and into the pot it goes. Don’t bother taking the skin off. It adds more color to the stock too.
Cover the contents of your crockpot with water. Tap water is fine, we’re food snobs here, not elitists. Put the lid on, and turn the setting to low. If yours is programmable, set it for the longest setting possible. If it’s not, leave it to simmer on its own overnight, while you’re at work, or 12 hours. When you’re done sleeping/working/ playing/cleaning/dog nail trimming/gaming you’ll find your house smells a bit funny, but your crockpot has worked its magic and produced this magical elixir of yumminess that just made your dinner prep easier.
The easiest way to store it is to strain out the solids, then freeze the liquid in Ziplock bags. For the easiest freezer storage and the fastest defrosting, lay the bags flat in the freezer. Once they’re hard, they can be stacked, or lined up upright. When defrosting, make sure to leave the bag on a plate or some other container. Sometimes the bumping and shuffling of freezer contents will put a gouge in the bag, causing the liquid to leak.
Bon appetite!
