Happy new year! The start of every new year is an adventure in and of itself. You make resolutions you only halfway intend to keep. Maybe you are about to start a family. You may get a new job, or a new house. Or you may have a new gluten free, restricting, and completely overwhelming diet take over. Anyone who has issues with gluten has been there.
Suddenly you find yourself trying to make grandma's famous pot roast that calls for "cream of whatever" and you can't find any gluten free condensed "cream of" soups. Macaroni and hot dog night seems like a chore and spaghetti just isn't the same made with those gluten free noodles that either taste like corn or fall apart. In the beginning a gluten free diet can seem bleak. I am so sorry.
Here's the good news. Gluten free food can be DELICIOUS. You can have cookies that don't crumble into dust. You CAN have chicken pot pie, and even grandma's famous roast. You may have to tweak a smidge though.
So break out the apron, and buy yourself some new wooden spoons (please don't use old ones, they are so contaminated!), we are going to learn how to cook this year. No more frozen rice bread. No more missing out on chili dog night. No more weird cookies when you just want chocolate chip!! This year it's 52 weeks of kitchen favorites. Everything from your basics, to ketchup, to lasagna, to corned beef and cabbage. We can cook it all.
So lets start the year off right. There is no recipe more basic and more useful than a classic stock. Stock is incredibly easy to make. Yes, you can buy it in the cartons in the store. Yes, they usually have gluten free options. Yes, this tastes 10 thousand times better.
To make an okay stock you need two things. Water and bones. That's it. If you have water and bones, you boil them down and you have stock. But water and bones does not make fantastic stock.
You'll need:
1 medium onion cut into quarters, you can leave the peel it adds nice color
3 good size carrots, peels and all
The leaves and heart from one bunch of celery
Your favorite herbs
A generous pinch of kosher salt
enough water to cover everything
When making chicken stock I generally use a whole chicken and save the cooked meat for later. I don't do any pre-roasting for chicken stock. Even when I use a carcass. It doesn't change the flavor all that much for me. My favorite herbs to use in chicken stock are bay leaf, thyme, sage, and marjoram. I use somewhere between a pinch and a teaspoon of each. Trust your nose. Put everything in the crock pot on low heat for 8-10 hours. When it's all cooked strain out your stock and let it cool to room temperature. (Toss all the wilted veggies, if you have meat on your chicken pick it off. It's tasty!) At this point you can remove the solid fats from the top and store in your choice of container. It will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
For beef stock buy some nice meaty bones with a good amount of marrow in them. Lay out your bones and veggies on a sheet pan, sprinkle with a little olive oil, and roast it at 400° for 20 minutes or so. You want everything to have a caramelized outside. Then put it all in your crock or stock pot. Add in some crushed garlic, thyme, parsley, and oregano. Then cook down for hours and hours. Let cool, strain, remove fat, store.
You can do this with any meat your want or with a whole heap of veggies. This is a great base for soups, gravies, and sauces. Adjust it all to your families taste and health needs. Remember that peels and other castoffs are great for stock because you don't eat the bulk of what goes into it. You get some great flavor and nutrients this way.
Happy eating!
Tori
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