I cleaned out the fridge last week and a lot of good stuff went into the stockpot to make a rich broth. The recipe I used for baking my Thanksgiving ham suggested keeping the ham bone for making soup. It always feels so good when I'm able to use something and avoid throwing it away.
The house smelled like home cookin' when I had this simmering on the stovetop. That night we had a delicious risotto for dinner, enhanced by all the flavors from this stock. And there was quite a lot of stock leftover, so that has been frozen into small batches in the freezer for adding flavor to future dinners.
Is it too early for resolutions? I won't make any official proclamations... but, I do want to make a promise to myself to make more of our meals from scratch using whole food ingredients. Here are some of my favorite cookbooks including both editions of the Gourmet cookbooks and The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. The morning I spent preparing this stock was so satisfying on several levels. I was using up all the vegetables that would have otherwise gone out with the trash, I was cooking the base for a delicious dinner and, as with everything I make, build or create, I had the satisfaction of making something from almost nothing. (Like Stone Soup!) Maybe next week I'll have to try making a batch of Corn Chowder with this rich, almost smoky (from that ham bone), stock. Mmmmmmm!
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