A simmering pot of – STOCK!

So, whenever I plan to cook something new, before I begin I call my mum to confirm the ingredients and to ask for the method. One morning I thought to cook Daal (yellow lentils), so as usual I called my mum and she told me what I would need and how to make it but she missed out on one very important step, she didn’t tell me I had to wait for the daal to cook through. So, I cheerfully mixed my spices and stirred the mixture a couple of times, tasted the curry (which tasted alright) and turned off the stove, glowing that my dish was ready in such a short time and I wouldn’t be late to work. For dinner, when all were seated at the table and I served rice, roti and the curry, I eagerly awaited the praises (confident for once that I hadn’t done anything wrong) and you should have seen their faces when they started chewing and hearing the crunch of the hard, raw daal. I wish I could cook raw daal once again just to see those expressions once again!
You must be thinking about the title above, stock and wondering what I must be up to thinking up of such a mundane topic as a stock. It is after all a very common item in everyone’s kitchen, stock. But as a definition, stock is the liquid leftover from simmering or boiling of vegetables or meat (beef, mutton, chicken, fish etc.)
There are several other terms similar to stock such as broth, bouillon (pronounced as bool yone) and soup which you may have come across. Firstly, broth and bouillon are one and the same thing. If the broth or bouillon is served as a dish then it is called soup. Simple!
Broth is traditionally liquid in which vegetable and meat has been simmered but it is usually seasoned whereas stock is made from liquid used to cook bones and it is not seasoned.
Usually stock is not considered a finished product and is used as a base for gravies, sauces, soups and plenty of other dishes. For us home cooks, I think broth, soup, stock and bouillon all boil down to mean the same thing.
There are stock cubes for beef and chicken readily available in grocery stores and supermarkets when a recipe calls for one. Although once I realized what stock really is and how extensively it can be used, I quit using the store-bought cubes
and always keep frozen chicken stock or rather broth in my freezer. (I tend to
season the water when I put vegetables or meat to boil)
When intending to use the stock as a base for gravies and sauces, avoid adding salt
to the water at the beginning to prevent the dish from becoming too salty.
Have you ever tried adding half a cup or so of chicken or meat stock to your white
sauce? I tried it once, when I was short of milk and had a pot of aromatic chicken
stock besides me on the stove., it takes your usual (ordinary) white sauce to a
completely new level.
My one year old only used to eat plain White rice. His, breakfast, lunch and dinner
would consist of just plain White rice. He would reject the rice if I added gravy or
vegetables or even yogurt to it. It actually pained me as I used to feel he is not
getting enough nutrients and vitamins essential for his growth.
Then I had a brainwave! I started cooking his rice from stock leftover from boiling
meat and vegetables. This, thankfully my son did not reject as the rice appeared to
be plain White and were still packed with nutrients. I hope you find this a cool tip
if your child is fussy like mine is.
One very easy and nutrients-packed meal I used to give my elder children for lunch
regularly was vegetable stew (which is also more or less the same as broth except
that broth is a thin kind of soup and stew has chunks of meat or vegetables in it
and can be thicker). All I did was put diced carrots, onions, tomatoes, peas, sweet
corn into a pressure cooker with stock leftover from boiling chicken either fresh
or frozen. After the vegetables got soft I would add salt and pepper to taste.
Sometimes I would add spaghetti or macaroni to the stew to give it more variety.
Adding oats also makes it tastier and adds more to their nutrition in-take. You
could add soya sauce, vinegar or other herbs and spices of your taste. Adding
something new everyone in a while keeps this meal new. My kids used to love it
when they were small and I used to feel eternally grateful for the healthy meal
they just had.
Sometimes the simplest of things can make such an impact. I just shared with you
three ways “stock” influenced my kitchen and the diet of my children. I am sure,
there is something or the other in your lives that influenced you into doing
something differently whether in the kitchen or elsewhere.