*This recipe is adapted from The Prudhomme Family Cookbook: Old Louisiana Recipes. This is a basic stock with a few additional preferences thrown in.
Veggies: If you are using a vegetable stock, I suggest using porcini powder as flavor. Porcini mushrooms are excellent for their rich, near meaty flavor. If you use porcini mushrooms, I suggest buying them dried and then grinding them in a coffee bean grinder until they are small dusty granules. This “porcini powder” is my secret ingredient for many dishes and always adds a gorgeous, rich flavor that echoes the richness of a chicken or beef stock mixed with wine or fino. It is altogether vegan friendly and absolutely delicious.
Prep Time
About 8 hours (4 if you are running late, 30 minutes if you are running very, very late. See quick tips below for suggestions on making your quick stock with more flavor.)
Yields
About 2 gallons
Ingredients
- About 2 1/2 gallons cold water
- 5 pounds of bones and necks from the turkey, add chicken wings, backs, drumsticks (whatever you might have in your freezer from previous recipes or what you can pick up at the grocers. Even a rotisserie chicken carcass will work.)
- 3 medium onions, unpeeled and quartered
- 1/2 stalk celery, separated into ribs
- 1/2 head garlic, unpeeled and coarsely chopped
- Sprigs of fresh rosemary (Be careful with how much rosemary you use. Fresh rosemary can have an overpowering aroma. I would 1 sprig of rosemary to 2 thyme and 2 tarragon. If you have cheesecloth in your kitchen, it will help make straining easier to tie the sprigs of herbs in cheesecloth.)
- Sprigs of fresh thyme
- Sprigs of fresh tarragon
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (Or to preference. I use dry white wine in just about every sauce or stock I make. It gives the flavor a crispness that I like.)
Steps
- Place all ingredients in a large stockpot. (If you don’t have a large enough pot, cut your ingredients in half and cook in shifts or two pots, etc.)
- Bring to a boil over high heat then simmer at least 4 hours, preferably 8 hours, replenishing water as needed to keep about 2 gallons in the pot at all times.
- Strain, cool and refrigerate until ready to use.
*If you are short on time, using a stock simmered for half an hour is better than using plain water in any recipe. You can also use Knorrs chicken stock, which is a favorite of mine, but there is nothing like making your own stock. Another quick trick is to add Knorrs chicken stock cubes into the mixture above and simmer as long as you have time to do so.