The Great Stockpot

Certainly everyone knows that the foundation to good cooking is in a good stock. I absolutely recommend learning to make and taking the time to make a brown veal stock, a brown chicken stock (or use turkey necks, which are great), a white veal stock, a white chicken stock, and a fish stock. It is really easy, yields a product far superior to anything you can buy, and makes your food much better.

One thing that I have gradually started to do is to make stocks with unusual bones and odds and ends. For example: last week I barbecued Portuguese pork steaks, chicken, and lamb. All of the bones from these went into the stock pot. The stock stays in the refrigerator for a week and whatever is not drawn for use is used in the next week's stock, which becomes a double extraction stock (very yummy). So this week I added some lamb and beef bones.

Stock lasts forever, provided that it is brought to a simmer or boil and held there for a minute or two. That kind of heat kills anything. What it won't do is bring a spoiled stock back to life. Once it stinks or has even a hint of stink, throw it out and start over. Also (now this might gross some of you out), because of the high heat, I will sometimes use bones from plates, so long as they weren't slobbered on or gnawed on in such a way as to put an unpleasant image in my head.

I have a friend who insists that Keilholtz is a Scottish name, mostly because I find it almost physically painful to pay for parking, but also because I can't bear to throw anything away that I can's still extract some good flavor from.

Anyway, this melange stock is not good for some dishes that require a specific meat flavor, but for general risotto use or to add oomph to a ragu, it is perfect. If you do not want to have to boil it every four days, you can reduce it to a syrup and freeze it. But I do recommend that the next time you have a barbecue, save the bones for the stock pot. The smoky flavor is quite interesting, and goes quite will in rich, meaty risotti.