EAT

What is stock? Basically it is flavored water.

That's it! Except that it is also the number one magical ingredient that any good chef would not be caught dead without.

A well-made stock is the single most important com­ponent of any successful dish where a main protein is fea­tured - poultry, beef, pork, fish and game all benefit from good stock and the best part about stock IS their simplicity! Bones, herbs and vegetables are all you need.

Do not be fooled - sauces made from packets, bottles and bouillon cubes do not even come close to the fresh, rich and clean flavors and textures that good stocks provide.

Stocks are really easy to make and to do it right you need to remember only four rules: 1. Always start with all ingredients in cold water; 2. Never EVER boil your stock; 3. Regularly skim the impurities that float to the surface; and 4. NEVER add salt!

Oh - and be patient! A good stock takes patience. Some can be made very quickly (like fish stock) while others, like veal stock are a weekend project.

Ok, so it takes a bit of time and some prep to make a batch of classic veal stock but not as much as you might think and with a little bit of planning not only do you get a great base for making many of your favorite recipes better, but one large batch of stock will last you a good while so you don't have to make it over and over again.

The most common stocks are fish stock, fond blanc (white stock), fond brun (brown stock), veal stock, chicken stock and vegetable stock. If you have these six (plus one more superman of a byproduct, demi-glace) in your freezer, then you too can cook like a pro.

You can find a lot of recipes for stocks in books and on the internet and most of them are flawed in two crucial ways -they are too busy with too many ingredients, and almost to a rule they add salt! FAIL!

Proper stocks are subtle and are used in place of water. Because heat and evaporation concentrate flavors if you start with flavors that are really intense and salty - those will only amplify as the stock reduces further. Since you will normally use salt to season a main recipe leave the salt out of your stocks!

To make larger batches of stocks and have them available on a regular basis you will need a freezer and some kind of storage method - sealable jars, sealable plastic storage con­tainers, or even ice cube trays (we'll get to that in a moment) all work great. You will also need a large stock pot (ever wonder why they are called that?) I like the 25 gallon size - in fact I recommend two of them. This is a great weekend project and here are the details for making a perfect veal stock and its superman byproduct demi-glace:

Call your local butcher - Tucannon Meats, McQuary's or Blue Valley Meats - and pre-order 20 pounds of trimmed veal bones (can be beef bones too but veal bones provide a more delicate and subtle flavor). Bones are cheap! Then make sure you have your mirepoix (pronounced meer- PWAH) which is simply even amounts of celery (no leaves), onions and carrots (skin on), uniformly chopped. 1 pound of each works perfectly for 20 lbs of bones. You'll also need to put a tea strainer together of 1 teaspoon thyme, 4 bay leaves, 2 teaspoons flat leaf parsley and 1 tablespoon of un-cracked black peppercorns. This is called a bouquet garni. It is nor­mally a tied-up bundle in cheesecloth, but I find a tea strainer works perfectly.

Rub the cleaned and dried bones with a little canola oil and put in the oven at 400 degrees to roast for an hour and a half. When done, bring the bones out of the oven and let cool. They should have a nice rich golden brown patina on them now.

When the bones are room temperature place them into your stock pot. Fill pot with cold water 3 inches above the top of the bones. Turn burner to medium-high and let the water come up to temperature. Remember that you will NEVER let your stock boil, so monitor this closely as it gets hotter and adjust the temperature to a slow low simmer. Cover and simmer for one hour. (When you cover the pot it concentrates the energy so be careful to adjust temperature accordingly.)

After an hour, skim off any impurities that float to the surface and only then add in your mirepoix and tea strainer of herbs and pepper. Add more cold water if necessary and then it's time for the long slow simmer. I recommend 12 hours with skimming every 30 minutes. Once done turn the heat off and let cool to room temperature naturally.

Next you'll want to skim off any fat and other solids that have collected on the surface. though that should be at a minimum by this point. Now strain your stock and discard all solids (bones and veggies). I recommend restraining the liquid about a dozen times through as fine a strainer as you have. You now have a perfect veal stock that can be used for braising, the base of many sauces and so much more.

Now here's the superman ingredient! Take a 1/2 gallon of the stock and put into a sauce pan. Turn heat on medium to medium-low and reduce, reduce, reduce! By slow simmer­ing the stock until it becomes thick enough to coat and stay on a spoon, you wind up with a magical ingredient called demi-glace! This stuff is rare and a tiny bit goes a long way in any sauce AND in the freezer it lasts for a year.

At this point it's time to think about how to store your stock and demi. I like to use small pint-sized containers - you can get bulk re-useable plastic ones at any big box store or online. Split up all your stock and freeze. For the demi, I use the ice cube trays (you'll need a few) to freeze this valu­able stuff into useable portions that you can pull out any time you want to make an incredible sauce for that roast or steak! Once frozen, pop them out, wrap each little cube of wonder with plastic wrap and put into a big ziplock.

Bonus points - if you make a large batch of stock and demi-glace and package it up nicely it makes an incredible gift for anyone who loves to cook! Sante.