Don't toss out your peelings and bones!
I took a very valuable class in high school that has taught me all about living on a budget. In addition to learning about managing money and learning about insurance and whatever else (I remember less about those portions), we spent a good chunk of the class cooking. My favorite part of the class was when we learned to make homemade stock.
In the class, we worked primarily with turkey carcasses, since it was about Thanksgiving when I took the class. Most people forget how much meat a carcass still carries, including the neck - which most people don't eat optionally because of the number of bones. We spent a good portion of the class sifting through the last of the bones and pulling away the fork-tender meat once we'd boiled the broth down from a gallon to a quart and intensified the stock.
This doesn't just apply to a turkey carcass, though; almost any bones will do. Dry roasting the bare bones in a 450°F oven for 90 minutes will help bring out the flavors. This is referred to as Fond brun, and once in the stock pot with water it will need to be simmered for at least 3-4 hours along with your preferred vegetables.
But here's the trick: in both cases, you do not need to buy fresh bones or fresh veggies. As you eat your bone-in steaks or Super Bowl chicken wings and peel your vegetables (carrot skins, celery tops/bottoms, onion skins, potato peelings), save them! Get a 1-gallon freezer bag and fill them each with either bones or peelings - just make sure to label what bones are in what bags. KFC chicken bones are also just as good as the bones from a roaster you made yourself, but use them in a mixture of other bones, as the salt content may be overwhelming if they are used as your primary source of stock.
I saw a Japanese cooking show called Dotch Cooking! that clued me in on saving the peelings, as I'd already been saving bones. In fact, the chef didn't boil the veggie peelings but put them in a bowl filled with water, a bit of dry white wine, and stuck the bowl with its contents in a steamer for two hours. This is a much gentler heat than sticking everything into a stock pot and going from there, and I can definitely see the appeal.
Stock is one of those things that takes time and patience, but the end result is so wonderful and delicious. On a day when you plan to be home, doing homework or babysitting, or whatever else is keeping you from going out, take the time to grab your two freezer bags and go to town. Roast your bones (and any fresh veg you have at the 45 minute mark), put your peelings and bones in a pot, fill with water to cover, add your choice seasonings (fresh is best, but dried is also nice), bring to a boil, then reduce to simmering and simmer away for the rest of the day. The longer it reduces through simmering, the better the finishing product. It can later be frozen into ice-cubes and used to add flavor almost anything.
In the class, we worked primarily with turkey carcasses, since it was about Thanksgiving when I took the class. Most people forget how much meat a carcass still carries, including the neck - which most people don't eat optionally because of the number of bones. We spent a good portion of the class sifting through the last of the bones and pulling away the fork-tender meat once we'd boiled the broth down from a gallon to a quart and intensified the stock.
This doesn't just apply to a turkey carcass, though; almost any bones will do. Dry roasting the bare bones in a 450°F oven for 90 minutes will help bring out the flavors. This is referred to as Fond brun, and once in the stock pot with water it will need to be simmered for at least 3-4 hours along with your preferred vegetables.
But here's the trick: in both cases, you do not need to buy fresh bones or fresh veggies. As you eat your bone-in steaks or Super Bowl chicken wings and peel your vegetables (carrot skins, celery tops/bottoms, onion skins, potato peelings), save them! Get a 1-gallon freezer bag and fill them each with either bones or peelings - just make sure to label what bones are in what bags. KFC chicken bones are also just as good as the bones from a roaster you made yourself, but use them in a mixture of other bones, as the salt content may be overwhelming if they are used as your primary source of stock.
I saw a Japanese cooking show called Dotch Cooking! that clued me in on saving the peelings, as I'd already been saving bones. In fact, the chef didn't boil the veggie peelings but put them in a bowl filled with water, a bit of dry white wine, and stuck the bowl with its contents in a steamer for two hours. This is a much gentler heat than sticking everything into a stock pot and going from there, and I can definitely see the appeal.
Stock is one of those things that takes time and patience, but the end result is so wonderful and delicious. On a day when you plan to be home, doing homework or babysitting, or whatever else is keeping you from going out, take the time to grab your two freezer bags and go to town. Roast your bones (and any fresh veg you have at the 45 minute mark), put your peelings and bones in a pot, fill with water to cover, add your choice seasonings (fresh is best, but dried is also nice), bring to a boil, then reduce to simmering and simmer away for the rest of the day. The longer it reduces through simmering, the better the finishing product. It can later be frozen into ice-cubes and used to add flavor almost anything.
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