The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

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The weather outside brings to mind the need for a hot bowl of soup to warm you from the inside out. Homemade soup left to simmer in a slow cooker all day makes the house smell good when the family gets home at night after a busy day at work and school.

Homemade stocks are easy to do and freeze to keep on hand. Homemade meat or vegetable stock can add flavor to many recipes. While it takes time, it is not difficult to prepare. The basic ingredients are meat, poultry or fish bones (if making meat stock), aromatic vegetables, hers, and cold water. Use a large pot to lessen evaporation.

Bones with lots of joints and tendons contain more collagen. This produces a gelatin. For brown stock, roast the bones in the oven at 400 degrees until a deep brown, turning the bones often. Roasting onions with the bones adds more roasted flavor.

Choose aromatic vegetables such as onion, leeks, celery, carrots and garlic. This is a good way to clean out older riper vegetables. The soft cell walls will leach out more flavors.

Start the pot of stock with cold water. Cold water tends to give a deeper color and more intense flavor by bringing out the flavors in the food. It also slows the coagulation of meat proteins. These proteins will clump and float to the top. To reduce cloudiness, skim off the foam.

Simmer the stock instead of boil. Boiling tends to produce a greasy stock. Do not stir the mixture. Stirring will tend to emulsify the fat and water which will remain in the stock. Chicken stock usually simmers for 3-5 hours, beef stock for 8-12 hours, fish stock for 30 minutes. This time depends on the size of bones and amount of collagen. Chill the finished stock immediately after cooking. After chilling, remove the fat layer on top and store in the refrigerator or freezer. Stock will keep 5 - 7 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. Always reboil stock before using it in any recipe. If bubbles form in the refrigerated stock, it has fermented. Do not use!

Along with homemade stock here are a couple of dry soup mixes that will help you save money on your grocery bill. These are easy to keep on hand and use when you don’t have a can of soup.

Dry Cream Soup Mix

Makes the equivalent of 7 cans of soup

(This dry soup mix has only 149 calories to 314 calories in one serving of canned mushroom soup, and only .2g of fat in the dry mix to 23.1 fat g in the canned mushroom soup, Sodium is significantly less in the dry mix also, 111.0 mg in one serving, to 2110.6 mg sodium in 1 serving in canned mushroom soup.)

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup sodium free dry chicken bouillon

2 tablespoons dried minced onion flakes

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Place in a storage container with a tight fitting lid. Seal tightly. Store in a cool, dry place for up to six months. Stir or shake well before each use. To use as a substitute for one can condensed soup, mix 1/3 cup dry mix and 1-1/2 cup cups water. Cook and stir with whisk until thickened. (Microwave Using a large microwave safe bowl, cook on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring with whisk every 30 seconds, until thick.

Dried Onion Soup Mix

Makes the equivalent of 3 (1.25 ounce) packages of soup mix

(This dry mix has only 5.7 mg sodium to 3560.0 mg of purchased dry onion mix)

3/4 cup dried minced onion

1/3 cup sodium free beef bouillon granules

4 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Place in a storage container with a tight-fitting lid. Seal tightly. Store in a cool, dry place for up to six months. Stir or shake will before each use. Measure about 1/3 cup dry mix to use as a substitute for one 1.25 ounce package for purchased dry onion soup mix.