What's cooking? part 4

we'll we're vegetarian, so when a recipe calls for chicken stock i just make a vegetable stock and tailor spices/herbs/vegetables to accommodate the recipe. figure what is really important is just the added depth of flavor rather then specifically a chicken flavor. sometimes i'll also use bean broth as a chicken stock substitute. white beans and chickpeas approximate the color of chicken broth very nicely and are very flavorful

There are some decent store-boughts and some terrible ones. I like Kitchen Basics. Check the label--you don't want liquid stock made from concentrate, otherwise you might as well use cubes/powder.

That said veg broth is just gonna give a different taste. I love the flavor of good chicken stock so I tend to go with that instead of veg, even if homemade.

I keep Tone's Chicken Base on hand, a paste that I get at Sam's, but the quality has gone way down over the years. Lately I've just been using veg stock in its place.

http://www.seasonedwithlove.com/chickenbouillon.jpg

It was ranked as Cook's Illustrated's best chicken broth in a recent test, it's inexpensive, and it lasts forever. It is salty, though, so you have to adjust your salt otherwise.

That said, once you get your chicken carcasses, if you have a slow cooker, you can really easily make a big bunch of homemade stock and freeze it in quart-sized freezer bags, then supplement with the chicken base as needed.

justin3 I believe is a big fan of Better Than Bouillon for vegetable stock, too.

yes! i really like the vegan beef and chicken versions too - they definitely have a very similar taste to the real stuff.

Grabbed some BTB organic chicken base and lamb shanks - gonna do this in my pressure cooker tonight, I think:
http://nomnompaleo.com/post/36962406393/pressure-cooker-lamb-shanks

My #1 pro-tip is the lower-sodium BTB; not only is it delicious and cheap and lasts forever but it has about as much sodium as regular chicken broths (the regular BTB is extra-salty, moreso than prepared broth)

def get the LS BTB if you can track it down; I make special trips to get it when I run out.

Just found and purchased the low sodium stuff. Thanks! I previously would buy store brand carton stuff that is pretty much oily water.

i get kirkland chicken broth. i like it.

i'm making rick bayless red chile chicken and rice w/ black beans

do not like whole foods 365 broth. it's slightly more flavorful than water.

Ooooo good I will look for the low sodium version.

Consumer Reports liked the actual Swanson's Chicken Stock (not the broth) too. Not sure how much I trust CR's culinary expertise, though.

love the BTB chicken stock & the Kirkland's Signature
esp love Better Than Bullion ham stock for getting that hammy flavor in soups & beans
ham shanks are fucking expensive imo

also protip c/o serious eats – adding 2 packets of unflavored gelatin to store-bought stocks for body – makes up for the collagen & whatever you woulda boiled outta the chicken corpses

i'm all about waste not, want not, but boiling a bunch of bones & c all day, in the desert, is not something i want to fuck with anymore

I have been going craaazy with gelatin! Above poster otm ^^^

ham shanks are fucking expensive imo

Smoked turkey legs have been a big revelation for me lately in delivering a smoky/hammy flavor on the cheap. Tons of meat, too, and easy to pick off the bone.

tell me what u have made with them, i want ideas

I have used smoked turkey legs to flavor various dried beans and collards and soups.

i'm making rick bayless red chile chicken and rice w/ black beans

― computer champion (harbl), Saturday, February 28, 2015 4:51 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i have made this, it's good!

also going to check out btb after seeing how many fans it has here, i suck at finishing entire broth cartons before they get uncomfortably old.

new go-to lazy meal after tonight: chicken thighs, some BTB 'stock,' harissa sauce + seasoning, electric pressure cooker for 35-40 minutes for kind of spicy shredded chicken (could use more spice). I need to do this once a week for nights when I don't have time to cook

damn i want a pressure cooker

tell me what u have made with them, i want ideas

― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl),

What Carl said -- beans, greens, soups. I've made ya-ka-mein stock twice now with fresh pork neckbones and smoked turkey legs and the usual aromatics. Picking the meat off the neckbones can take a long time, but the stock is amazing. The smoky turkey meat is a great addition to an Americanized pho with rice noodles or even spaghetti. Smoked turkey tacos are great too. Threw a bit of it into an omelet once with mushrooms and onions, that was quite all right.

because I have no food creativity, I made shrimp creole tonight bc of this thread. It was a super easy slow cooker thing, but it was the first time I've cooked for other people and everyone liked it. So that was awesome.

pressure cookers are awesome btw - quick way to make stocks/stews, and that's the only way I make hard boiled eggs now. a dozen eggs, regardless how fresh, pressure steamed for 4 minutes with a natural release - they peel so easily!

i'm making rick bayless red chile chicken and rice w/ black beans

― computer champion (harbl), Saturday, February 28, 2015 4:51 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i have made this, it's good!

also going to check out btb after seeing how many fans it has here, i suck at finishing entire broth cartons before they get uncomfortably old.

― call all destroyer,

i'm gonna make this every week now i think. so easy & substantial.

I have chicken stock, chicken thighs, celery, carrot, garlic, onion, and lots of thyme.

What's the trick to making soup without the rice or noodles turning to mush?

make them separately
store them separately
works for me

Yep.

Shortcrust pie with pheasant, chestnuts and carrots served with dauphinoise potatoes and a blackberry and red onion quick chutney.

lol alright Ina

That sounds good as fuck though

whoa

Out here in the country we get so many free pheasants during the season you have to get creative in switching the flavours up.

Unless I'm mistaken it was these gentlemen and ladies:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8632/16066930473_b15feb491a.jpg

i have never had pheasant, would like to try it

I would like to try what aldo did with pheasants, that is for sure.

Yum, pheasant. I got the slow cooker out for a beef and root vegetable hotpot with sliced potatoes on top which went all lovely and fondanty.

Yotam Ottolenghi beef vermicelli chickpea casserole for dinner hooooooly shitballs so good

Recipe: (sorry kinda long)

Vermicelli, beef and chickpea casserole

4 tbsp olive oil
400g piece stewing beef
Beef bones (or 1 cube beef stock)
15 cloves garlic, peeled
200g vermicelli pasta
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled, cut into 1cm dice
200g celery, cut into 1cm dice
1½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground allspice
10 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 tbsp tomato paste
240g cooked chickpeas
Shaved skin of 1 lemon
½ tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 green chilli, finely chopped
20g parsley, finely chopped
200g Greek yoghurt
Salt

Put a large sauté pan on high heat, add a tablespoon of oil and brown the beef and bones (if using). Add two litres of water, bring to a boil, skim and simmer gently for two hours until the meat is very tender. After an hour and a half, add the garlic; and ensure the meat is always immersed, so add water as needed.

Remove the meat and garlic and measure the liquid: you need 650ml, so discard or add water as necessary; add the stock cube, if using. Cut the meat into bite-size chunks and put back in the pan with the garlic.

Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Break the pasta into 2-3cm pieces, lay on an oven tray, and bake until toasted (three to five minutes).

Heat the remaining oil in a large pan, add the diced veg and sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring. Add the spices, tomato paste, chickpeas, lemon skin, sugar and a teaspoon of salt, cook for five minutes, then tip into the beef pan. Add the noodles and lemon juice, stir and bring to a boil. Turn the heat very low, cover with a tight lid, and simmer gently for eight minutes, until the noodles absorb the liquid.

Leave to rest for a few minutes, stir through the chilli and parsley and serve with yoghurt on the side.

q: how did you interpret "shaved lemon skin?"

yeah that threw me at first

i ended up just going with zest, bc who wants to ever use the pith as well blech

yeah i was thinking microplaned zest but its a phrasing i'm not familiar with

i know weird right

I read that as larger pieces taken off using a potato peeler. Like you can shave parmesan.

i thought abt that afterwards! could be good for color but idk abt strips of lemon peel to eat

i might try it next time

this recipe sounds really good, but it is also kinda blowing my mind to see chickpeas and vermicelli together. I guess the closest thing to this that I've eaten would be skyline chili and beans over spaghetti, though.

uh, and pasta e fagioli of course