Over this weekend, I had the reason to go poking around my freezer(s) looking for stuff. I came up with the usual assortment of things like bags of frozen peas, carrots and corn, some rockfish filets from Ms Cocktail’s cousin, a couple of tubs of mole from the last time I made it, a tub of chipotle chile sauce for fish, a couple of chicken breasts, 2 racks of baby back ribs, 2 bags of shrimp shells and a bag of chicken bones. Now, I know that you are all asking, what the hell are shrimp shells and chicken bones doing in the freezer? Shouldn’t you have thrown them out?
The answer is no, I always save these types of things when I can. You can add to this list beef, pork and fish bones. The reason? I make my own stock from them. Anyone who cooks always has stock around. Go to your cabinet and pull a can or box of stock out and read the list of ingredients. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
For those of you that don’t have any readily available in the house, I’ll give you a little help. Here’s the list of ingredients from a nationally recognizable brand of chicken stock. Chicken Stock, Chicken Flavor (Maltodextrin, Water, Dextrose, Salt, Chicken Flavor [Chicken Stock, Salt, Enzymes] Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Onion Powder, Chicken Fat, Modified Food Starch, Ascorbic Acid, Sugar, Rosemary Extract) Salt, Dextrose, Spice Extract, Carrots, Celery, Flavoring, Onions. Water, Sugar, Sodium Phosphate, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Soy Lecithin, Citric Acid. Now there are three things that should jump out at you right away. Well, two things that should jump out at you and another that should from now on. First, there is an awful lot of chemistry going on here. Things like Maltodextrin, dextrose, modified food starch, and Soy Lecithin while not harmful in and of themselves, they are also not something that you’re going to run to the neighbors to borrow a cup full of either.
The second thing is that they add salt. Not just a little salt either. It is added three times in this ingredients list, Twice as part of chicken flavor (you’ll notice the intricacy of this recipe, they add chicken flavor to chicken flavor because there isn’t enough chicken flavor in their chicken flavor) and then some more thrown in for good measure. For those keeping score at home that amounts to 860mg of sodium per serving. Ouch!
The third and not so visible thing is that there is Autolyzed Yeast Extract listed not once, but twice in this ingredient list. Autolyzed Yeast Extract should concern you because it is yeast that has been broken down by a process (introduction of food grade enzymes) to extract the amino acids from the yeast. These amino acids are also known as free glutamates. Did you make the connection yet? There is specifically no monosodium glutamate (MSG) in this food, but that doesn’t mean that the bad nasty part of it isn’t there for you to ingest. For a more thorough discussion on this topic, you can read Campbells new MSG Select Soup and the Yeast Extract Situation. The article is from 2009 but the information is timeless.
So, the point I’m trying to make is that store bought stocks just aren’t that good for you. But more importantly, they are really simple to make at home. All you need to do is have some time. If you’re going to be around the house anyway, go ahead and make a batch of cooking stock and throw it into the freezer. It’s a lot healthier for you and it can really make a difference in your cooking.
Basic Cooking Stock
1 1/2 to 2 lbs of bones, excess meat and/or shells (Author’s note: If you want to make chicken stock use chicken bones, use shrimp shells for shrimp stock, etc.)
1 medium onion
1 stalk of celery
1 carrot
1 garlic clove
Do not peel the onion or garlic, just cut into quarters. Cut the celery and carrot into several pieces. Place all this into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer at least 4 hours (I usually do it for 8 hours), replenishing the water to make sure everything remains covered. Strain the stock, cool and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. This should make about 1 quart (8 cups) of stock.
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