How to Clarify Soup Stock

To clarify stock for clear soup: In order to remove solid flecks that are too small to be strained out with cheesecloth, combine 1/4 cup cold water, 1 egg white, and 1 crushed eggshell. Add to strained stock. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Strain again through a sieve lined with cheesecloth.

Vegetable Stock

This is easy to make because you don’t have to watch it and it can be made with vegetables you normally have on hand.

Ingredients

2 - 3 cooking onions, roughly chopped

1- 2 stalks celery, including leaves

2 - 3 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped, optional

6 cloves garlic, peeled, optional

10 sprigs fresh parsley

7 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

8 pepper corns

8 allspice

A little curry, optional

1 dried jalapeño pepper, optional

If you happen to have, mushrooms, eggplant, asparagus (butt ends), corn cobs, fennel (stalks and trimmings), bell peppers, pea pods, chard (stems and leaves), celery root parings, marjoram (stems and leaves), basil, or potato parings, you can throw them in.

10 cups water

Salt to taste

Can use some wine for flavor if available, optional

Add all ingredients to water, bring to a simmer. Partially cover so steam can escape.  Simmer until vegetables lose their flavor.  Strain through sieve and discard solids.

Can use immediately and freeze what’s left over.

Note:  Good for any soup, including fish soup. 

Basic Fish Stock

Note:  If I have no fish stock, I use dry white wine with a little water. 

Making fish stock is simple. Avoid oily fish. For example Salmon is an oily fish. You can also use fish heads, and any parts of fish that you have available or in your freezer. 

Ingredients

 3 T. olive oil

 3 lb. fish spines, fins and heads

 1/2 of a large parsnip root, sliced into rounds

 1 leek, thinly sliced

 2 stalks celery, sliced

 1 carrot, sliced into rounds

 trimmings from a fennel bulb

 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

 1/2 bunch parsley

 A 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

 2 bay leaves

 1 garlic clove, crushed

 1 sprig of fresh thyme or 1 t. dried

 1 cup dry white wine

 Cold water

 Salt

1. Wash bones and heads well under cold water. If the gills are still attached, remove them. They give a bitter flavor.

2. Heat a large pan for 2 minutes on high heat, then add the oil.  Turn the heat down to medium and add the fish bones. Don't let them brown, only get a little color. Cook and stir, for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

3. In a tall stockpot, add the wine and reduce it by half under high heat. Once this is done, add the fish bones and turn off the heat for now.

4. In the pan you heated the fish bones in, add the vegetables and cook until the leeks are translucent. Stir from time to time. When they are cooked but not much browned, add them to the stockpot. Add the herbs to the stockpot, stir everything to combine, and add enough cold water to cover it all by an inch. Bring the stock up to a simmer. But absolutely do not let it boil because it turns the stock cloudy. Look for a shimmer on the surface. Simmer for approx 40 minutes, skimming.

5. After 40 minutes, strain the stock through a mesh strainer with cheesecloth inside. Clean the stockpot and then return the stock to the now-clean pot. Salt to taste.

Freeze in appropriate containers.

Beef Broth or Stock

Cook Time: About six hours

Ingredients

6 pounds beef soup bones

1 - 2 large cooking onions

3 large carrots

2 stalks celery, including some leaves

1 large tomato

1/2 cup chopped parsnip

8 whole black peppercorns

8 allspice

6 sprigs fresh parsley

1 - 2 bay leaf

2 teaspoons dried thyme

3 cloves garlic

14 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Slice onion. Chop scrubbed celery and carrots into 1-inch chunks. In a large shallow roasting pan place soup bones, onion, and carrots. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until the bones are well browned, turning occasionally.

 2. Drain off fat. Place the browned bones, onion, and carrots in a large soup pot. Scrape drippings into soup pot. Add celery, tomato, parsnips, peppercorns, parsley, bay leaf, salt, thyme, and garlic. Add the 14 cups water.

 3. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 5.5 hours. Strain stock. Discard meat, vegetables, and seasonings.

Chicken Broth or Stock

No soup deserves to be called excellent unless it's made with chicken stock or other stock. Therefore, I don’t even start a soup unless I have stock handy. I make stock whenever I happen to have the ingredients, such as a leftover chicken or turkey carcass with some meat on it. Then I freeze it in plastic containers so that I always have a supply ready when I want to make soup. Chicken cubes don’t begin to make the grade with their additives and preservatives and salt. Here is my recipe for chicken stock, also good on its own or with ice cubes in hot weather.

Ingredients

2-1/2 pounds bony chicken pieces (can use turkey, rabbit, and leftover cooked chicken)

2 celery ribs with leaves, cut into chunks

2 medium carrots, cut into chunks (more if you like)

2-3 medium cooking onions, quartered

3-4 garlic cloves (optional)

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

8 to 10 whole peppercorns

8 to 10 allspice 

A little curry powder (optional)

2 quarts cold water

    * Place all ingredients in a large soup kettle or Dutch oven. Slowly bring to a boil; reduce heat. Skim foam. Cover and simmer for 2-6 hours.

    * Set chicken aside until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones. Discard bones; save meat for another use. Strain broth, discarding vegetables and seasonings. Refrigerate overnight. Skim fat from surface. Yield: about 6 cups.

NOTE: This recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc. I always make a big batch and freeze what I don’t use for the next soup.