Stocks 101, Part 2 - Chicken and Vegetable

We've covered brown stock and the resulting brown sauce, let's move on to chicken stock and the vegetable stock I used for the Mushroom Stroganoff. Stocks are classified as "white" or "brown". Anything can be used for either type. If the bones and mirepoix I used for the brown beef stock had not been roasted first, the stock would be called "white beef stock". Chicken stock is almost always a "white" stock, and vegetable stock is also usually "white". The vegetable stock I made was to be used expressly for a vegetarian stroganoff, so I made it brown by roasting the vegetables first.

This is how that went:


The correct mise en place for vegetable stock is the veggies above and the sachet shown, which is slightly different than a standard sachet. A teaspoon of fennel seed and a few whole cloves were added. The veggies are: 1 large carrot, 2 stalks celery, 1 medium onion, 2 medium leeks, 1 medium turnip, 1/2 small cabbage, 1/2 cup fresh parsley, 1/4 cup tomato paste and 3 garlic cloves.


The veggies are roasted like the beef bones; in a 350 degree F oven for about 1 hour. These are the roasted veggies in the stockpot. Cover with 1 gallon of water and add the sachet before bringing to a boil and turning down to a simmer.

This is the vegetable stock simmering - about 1 hour should do it.

This is the finished brown vegetable stock.

Strain as for other stocks and use in place of brown beef stock to make brown sauce vegetarian-style.

This is a basic chicken stock--not as detailed in photos as the others:

Mise en place for chicken stock - add a standard sachet as shown in my previous post. This is 4 chicken backs and 4 wings. Ideally necks and backs are used, but my butcher only had these parts. The mirepoix is one pound and one gallon of water, or enough to cover the bones, is added before simmering just the bones for one hour.


After the bones have simmered for one hour, add the mirepoix and sachet. Simmer for another hour.


A double thickness of cheesecloth in a colander is the easiest way to strain the stock.


The finished chicken stock.

You may wonder why salt was not mentioned here for the stocks or the brown sauce. Salt is always added to the finished dish, not the base. Salt is only there to enhance the flavor, not to create it. The stock should be very flavorful on it's own.