don't waste the cooking water! stock in the making... © Catseye Productions 2009-2010
Having packed over 250 recipes into the recipe chapters, over 45 produce profiles in the A to Z, an Essentials section and lots of photographs into tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen, I’ve run out of room for anything more. So I decided to list some extras here on the website, including the following three stock recipes. Stock is not something I make to an exact recipe, but it can be handy to give a general idea of times and flavours to include, so here they are:
VEGETABLE STOCK
4 litres water
3 roughly chopped onions
3 roughly chopped carrots
2 roughly chopped celery stalks
hard base of cabbage, roughly chopped
a few parsley stalks
6 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons flaky salt
12 peppercorns
2 star anise
Place water and all ingredients into a large stockpot, bring to the boil then reduce to a high simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain and use or pour into storage containers and freeze or keep in fridge for a few days.
FISH STOCK
2 ½ to 3 litres water
2kg bones of white fleshed fish such as snapper (no eyes or gills)
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
1 carrot
1 celery heart or stick
6 black peppercorns
bay leaf
a few parsley stalks
1 star anise
salt to taste
Bring all ingredients to the boil then reduce to a high simmer for 30 minutes. Strain then use or decant into storage containers and freeze or keep in the fridge for a day or two maximum before using.
PRAWN STOCK
This makes an intensely flavoured stock that is best frozen in small amounts (about 1cup/250ml). It is great to use in pungently flavoured Asian dishes, such as Thai noodle dishes, seafood curries, laksa, etcetera. Use it in smaller amounts than normal stock, or dilute 1 part stock to up to 3 parts water, otherwise it can overpower a dish.
1 kg prawn shells & heads
4 litres water
mild olive oil
2 onions, quartered
1 celery stick, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 cabbage base, chopped
2 garlic cloves
3-4 sprigs each of basil, tarragon, oregano & thyme, tied together
1 lemongrass based, split in half
Sweat onion, celery, carrot, cabbage and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium heat until softening but not browned. Remove from pan. Add another 2 tablespoons olive oil, heat then add prawn shells and cook high for a few minutes until shells are red, stirring frequently. Add water, sweated vegetables and herbs and bring to the boil, then reduce to a high simmer for 30 minutes. Strain stock in batches through a sieve and either freeze once cooled, or keep in the fridge for up to a day before using.
© Clare Richards 2010
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