(2 Ingredient!) Ice Cream Bread

Ever had one of those days where you wanted ice cream for breakfast?

Me too, friend.  Me too.

For reasons related to shame and logistics I've never eaten ice cream for breakfast.  It's one of those things on my bucket list -- right after losing those last stubborn 700 pounds.

Personally I buy ice cream about once a year.  It's not that I don't like it... it's that I love it.  The less we have in the house, the better.

If only there were a way to take just a little bit to work for that afternoon slump, or better yet just save a spoonful for yourself and give the rest away, right?  There'd be the reward of getting ice cream as a treat without the guilt of having an entire pint (or -- gasp -- gallon!) in the freezer there to shame you every time you went looking for the frozen okra.

I am here to rescue you from all that.  You can thank me in the comments section.  ;-)

This ice cream bread takes two ingredients: ice cream and flour.  How is that even possible, you ask?  Ice cream is milk and eggs, folks.  (Bonus high-five to anyone who just thought about the Scott Pilgrim movie.)  That's what you'd be putting in your quick breads anyway.  Unless of course milk and eggs aren't your jam.  That's the beauty of this bread.  If you'd rather use a non-dairy soy- or rice-based frozen desserts, go for it.  I personally grew up on Rice Dream so I know where you're coming from.  Or use frozen yogurt.  Whatever.  Really.  This is open to all flavors and denominations.

And it's super easy.  Just for kicks I wanted to see if I could get everything I needed for this recipe into one shot.  Noooo problemo:

One of the best parts of this is that just about anyone could do it.  Kids, people who aren't kitchen-inclined...  if you've got a bread pan, a bowl, a spoon, and the ingredients, you can make this.  The rule is:  1.5 cups of self-rising flour per pint of ice cream, bake at 350(F) for an hour.  That's it!  Let's get started, shall we?

Ice Cream Bread

Step one is to acquire some of your ice cream of choice.  If you're like me this is done through the self-checkout since you are ashamed of being seen buying nothing but two pints of ice cream and a bag of celery on a Friday afternoon.  Again, there are no rules here -- you choose the flavor and the content.  If you want ultra low-fat vanilla frozen greek yogurt, do that.  Me, I kind of also wanted cake (it was that kind of a week):

The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the ice cream to soften.  I put mine on the counter as soon as I got home from the store.  It took about an hour to soften up properly.  What you want is soft, not liquid.  When it's ready, scoop it out into your mixing bowl:

Stir or whisk it up a bit so that it's easy to work with.  If you don't, you're going to end up over-working the dough later when you try to put the flour in.

Ahhhh, that's better.  Now, IF you want to add in other mix-ins, this is the time to do it.  Please know that this is entirely optional.  The red velvet wanted to be more red, I thought, so I added in some food coloring (let me stress again, entirely optional):

About 5 drops is what it took to get a nice vibrant pink:

It then sort of begged for about a quarter cup of mini chocolate chips, also entirely optional (it was a rough week,  you guys):

Let me stress this: mix-ins are welcome, but not necessary.  All you need for this recipe is ice cream and the other main ingredient: self-rising flour.  The ratio for this is 0.75 cups of flour to 1 cup of ice cream.

A pint is two cups, meaning that for one pint of ice cream I needed 1.5 cups of self-rising flour.  That's all it takes to make one loaf.  

Tip:  If all you have is regular all purpose flour, add two teaspoons of baking powder and you're good to go.

Mix them up gently until the flour juuuuust disappears.  Don't go nuts trying to mix this to death.  Treat your ice cream with respect.

Alllllmost there...

Done!

Grease or spray down your bread pan to keep the bread from sticking, then spoon it into the pan.  I found the red velvet batter to be much stickier than the ones I've made in the past.

Doc's had kind of a rough week, too, so I made a loaf with coffee-flavored ice cream just for him:

You can see the difference between the textures there.  The coffee loaf is closer to what usually happens.

Pop your loaf in the oven at 350(F).  Total bake time is an hour, just be sure to rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway (this helps it bake more evenly).

Annnnd we're done!  The smell is heavenly, in case you couldn't guess.

Sixty minutes is what it took for mine.  Test yours with a toothpick to see if it's baked through.  (Note: if yours has chocolate chips just be sure you've gone through the bread and not through a chip -- melted chocolate on the toothpick can make it look like your batter's still runny when in fact it's done.)

Let it cool on the rack for 20 minutes before trying to cut this.  That'll save you tears and crumbles, not to mention a burnt tongue.

A Few Words on Flavors:  In the past I've had a lot of success with vanilla bean gelato, butter pecan frozen yogurt, and banana-flavored ice cream (similar to this recipe here).  The sky is the limit.  That said, some flavors just don't seem to shine through all that well.  For example, the red velvet one became rather bland but the coffee one worked really well.  If your first loaf is blah try a different flavor or brand.  The one caveat here is that these aren't super sweet and they're going to have a milder flavor than whatever ice cream you pick.  This definitely isn't your grandma's prized zucchini bread recipe.  But it is quick and it is easy, and for me it's just enough of a treat that it hits the spot when I'm having a lazy day.

Ice Cream Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 pint ice cream (or frozen dessert) of your choice
• 1.5 cups self-rising flour
• can sub: 1.5 cups self-rising flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Optional mix-ins:
• 1/4 cup nuts
• 1/4 cup chocolate or other flavored candy chips (e.g. cinnamon, butterscotch)
• crushed chocolate bar pieces
• 1/4 cup fruit

Directions:

1. Allow ice cream to soften at room temperature for 30-60 minutes or until it can be easily worked with a spoon.
2. Stir ice cream with a spoon (or on low using mixer) for 60 seconds to loosen it up.  If using mix-ins, add at this stage.
3. Add flour to the ice cream, mixing slowly and gently until the flour is no longer visible.  Be careful not to over-mix.
4. Spread batter into a greased bread pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (no wet batter).  Rotate pan 180 degrees at the 30-minute mark to help bread bake evenly.
6. Cool 20 minutes on cooling rack before attempting to cut or remove from pan.

Lemon Cashew Rice

Doc and I are about as different as two people could be.  It's something we're constantly made aware of, both in terms of culture/upbringing as well as personality.  He likes sports.  I like Doctor Who.  I read about one book a week.  He reads about one a year.  He's competitive at most things but easygoing about chores.  I'm cooperative in most situations but exacting when it comes to cleanliness.  His intelligence is based on rote memorization, mine on problem-solving.  He likes chips, I like crudités.

And, to get to the point at last, he prefers bread whereas I could eat rice forever.  I can, and have, eaten it for every meal for years at a time.

We try to share with each other what we can and politely (sometimes tersely) overlook the rest.  We could teach the world a lot about peace.


If you're wondering why I haven't delivered on my promise of scones and white chocolate popcorn, over the weekend I had grand plans to make them but in the end just didn't feel like having more junk food in the house.  Perhaps next weekend.  I hadn't posted in a while and I wanted to give you something new before then, so I started brainstorming.  We've been eating a lot of freezer meals lately (lentils, for example) and I haven't had anything new to post.  Then I figured, why not post one of the side dishes I make to go with the freezer meals?  So here's some rice for you.

In the interest of fairness I'll post a flatbread recipe one of these days, too.  Just not today.

[Concise recipe at the bottom, as always.]

Lemon Cashew Rice

Total Real Time:  30-60 min for rice presoak, 20 minutes for mix-ins (while rice soaks), 60 minutes in the rice cooker.
Weirdest spice: curry leaves.

A few days ago Doc and I tried a new Indian place.  The food tasted excellent but ended up making me rather sick before we'd even left the place.  (Tip: always read the online reviews first, question your choice of establishment if half of them mention food poisoning.  Lesson learned.)

Anyway, one of the things they had on their menu was lemon rice.  That caught my interest.  Lemon?  In the rice?  Since you now know my love for all things rice, you can guess why I had to give it a go within the week.  I'm pleased with how this came out.

Step one was to put the rice in to soak in warm water for at least half an hour.  We've already talked about why that's a good idea, right?  Right.

While the rice soaked I started with the skillet on medium-high heat.  When the pan was hot I added a splash of oil (about 1-2 tsp).  When the oil started to shimmer I added 1 tsp of mustard seeds.

Remember our discussion about how mustard seeds and mustard powder are different?  If you don't have mustard seeds, just leave them out.  Don't substitute mustard powder or you're going to get some weird rice.

Like cumin seeds, mustard seeds only take about 30-60 seconds or so until they start to make a sizzling, crackling noise.  When that happens add in 1 to 1.5 cups of diced onions.  I used frozen but you can use fresh if you've got them.

Stir it up with the oil and mustard seeds, add a tiny dash of salt (helps them to cook faster -- don't use your total final amount of salt just yet), and stir occasionally over the next 10ish minutes.  Frozen takes a little longer, as you might imagine.  I probably sauteed mine for about 15 minutes or so.

Next up is flavorings.  I added a handful of cashews:

Followed by the zest of half a lemon (dried lemon zest would also work -- try starting maybe around 1/4 tsp, taste it, and add a little more if that's not lemony enough for you):

Followed by 1.5 tsp chili powder (optional, adjust to taste), 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, and 2 tsp garlic paste or minced garlic.  

I wanted a very light amount of spices compared to the lemon flavor.  If you want things with more spice heft you could as much as double the turmeric and coriander.

I stirred all this up and let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Don't worry about getting thing too browned up since we're about to toss it in to cook alongside the rice.  Speaking of which, now's a good time to rinse it and toss it into your pot.  I prefer my rice cooker to using the stovetop.  You may need to make some adjustments for amount of liquid and cooking time depending on your equipment.  When it comes to deciding the rice:liquid ration, always default to the cooking instructions on:  (a) your own rice cooker; or, if using the stovetop, (b) the container the rice came in.  For example, my bag of rice says 1.75 cups of liquid for 1 cup of basmati rice, but my rice cooker says 2 cups of liquid for 1.25 cups of white rice.  I default to the cooker's instructions.  If I were cooking the rice in a pan on the stove, I'd use the rice bag's instructions.  Either way, here's what you do:

1. Squeeze out one lemon into a measuring cup; then,
2. Add the remainder of the liquid on top of that.

For example, I needed 2 total cups of liquid for my 1.25 cups of basmati rice.  First I squeezed out the lemon into my measuring cup:

And since it was an enormous lemon I got about 1/4 cup of lemon juice.  I then measured out the rest of the cup by topping it off with water:

See what I mean?  In other words, I counted the lemon juice as part of the total liquid I was adding to the rice, rather than measuring out two cups of water and then adding the lemon juice on top.  A quarter cup was just about perfect for a mild lemony flavor.  As for the rest of the liquid you could use water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock.  If using canned broth or stock, just keep in mind that they're usually pretty salty and you'll want to taste everything at the end before adding extra salt.

Okay, so into the cooker went the rice, the liquid (water + lemon juice, in my case), followed by the onion & cashew mix, a cup of green peas just for color, and 2 teaspoons of curry leaves (you can omit these if you don't have them, or substitute a bay leaf).

I closed it up, switched it to the setting for "mixed rice" (I have a fancy cooker and have found this is the best way to handle any rice-with-bits-of-stuff that I make), and let it do its thing.  If you're using a stovetop method, again, just add in the onion mix, peas, and curry leaves and then follow the directions that came with the rice.

Sixty minutes later the timer went off.  I prefer to let it sit for another 5-10 minutes after it goes off.  For some reason that seems to keep the rice from getting gummy, but that might just be a quirk of my cooker.  After the waiting period I fluffed the rice with a fork and dished it out.  Keep in mind that turmeric can and will stain absolutely any wood, fabric, people, or plastic it touches so I'd recommend serving this with a metal spoon rather than a rice paddle.

As I mentioned above, this has got a really mild lemon flavor and goes light on the spices.  That makes it an unobtrusive side to something with more kick or personality.  If you wanted to give it more of a center stage you might swap out the peas for edamame (yay, extra protein!), add some green chillies, and crank up the lemon and spices.  Or not.  Whatever makes ya happy!

Lemon Cashew Rice

Ingredients:

• 1.25 cups of basmati rice + 2 cups of liquid (includes juice of one lemon)
• NOTE: Follow the directions on your rice cooker or rice bag to get appropriate rice : liquid ratio.  1.25 : 2 is specific to my cooker and may not produce ideal results for yours.
• Be sure to count lemon juice (roughly 1/4 cup) as part of the cooking liquid.  Water or stock/broth can be used for the remaining liquid.
• splash of oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 - 1.5 cups diced onion
• handful of cashews
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tsp garlic paste or minced garlic
• 1.5 tsp chili powder (optional, to taste)
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cup green peas (optional, can sub edamame)
• 2 tsp curry leaves (optional, can sub 1 bay leaf)
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Cover rice with warm water and set aside to soak.
2. Heat skillet on medium-high.  Add oil, and then add mustard seeds when oil is hot enough to start shimmering.  Cook mustard seeds 30-60 seconds or until sizzling.
3. Add onions and a dash of salt.  Saute, stirring occasionally, for roughly 10 minutes or until onions are softened and translucent.
4. Add cashews, lemon zest, garlic, chili powder, and turmeric.  (If using green chillies, add them at this time.)  Saute for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Drain rice and rinse until water runs clear.  Add to rice cooker with liquid.
6. Place onion mix, peas, and curry leaves on top.  Do not stir.
7. Set rice to cook for one cycle.  (NOTE: if using stovetop to cook the rice, mix in onions, peas, and curry leaves, then follow directions on the rice package.)
8. Once cooker cycle is done, allow to sit 10 minutes without opening the lid.  
9. Fluff with fork and serve.

Never-Fried "Refried" Beans

Food is such a social thing, isn't it?  We love to share it.  We love to build memories around it.  Want to see a cook light up?  Ask them for an old family recipe, or a favorite meal they shared with a friend.  We've all got those stories.  These are Grandma's lemon bars, this is my old roommate's famous kielbasa pizza, that is the little cafe we all went to after the night shift ended.

Sometimes it's just a flicker.  For example, every time I see refried beans I remember standing on tiptoe  to peek over the kitchen counter one day as Gram told me how "refried" was a mistranslation.  For the rest of my childhood I wondered just how many times they were really fried since they're supposed to be so bad for you.

And then one day I decided to look it up, and wow was I surprised.  Technically refried beans never have to be fried at all, although they might as well be.  I must've looked at about two dozen different recipes, and the majority used either lard or bacon fat in terrifying quantities.  The prize-winner had 1/2 cup of lard for 2 cups of beans, meaning that 20% of the total recipe was lard.  Now, clearly I'm not a girl who shies away from experimenting with new and interesting fats, but YIKES.  Double yikes.  Doesn't that make you a bit nervous for your arteries?  Surely, I thought, I could improve upon that a little.

That, plus the unsettling way that canned refried beans slorp out in a single can-shaped mass into the frying pan, convinced me that I'd be making them from scratch from now on.  And as it turns out, it couldn't be easier.

If you want the quick, picture/commentary-free version of the recipe, scroll to the bottom.

Never-Fried Frijoles Refritos

When you get right down to the nitty-gritty, making refried beans is pretty much the same process as making hummus:  cook beans until they're soft, add some flavorings, blend until smooth.  Easy-peasy, right?

I started with 2 cups of pinto beans.  Pinto beans are the standard for making refried beans (let's just call them that for argument's sake), though if you have other beans on hand then I say go for it.  This was never going to be a purist's recipe anyhow.

I've also been known to add pumpkin or beets to my hummus, so clearly I have no regard for the rules.

I boiled up my own dried beans.  If you're using canned or frozen (watch out for added flavors/MSG/salt), then you can skip down to the blending bit.

I covered the beans with warm water -- about 3-4 inches over the top of the beans to give them room to grow -- and let them sit overnight.  As we mentioned with the Hoppin' John recipe, you can quick soak them in about an hour instead if you're in more of a hurry.

Twelve-ish hours later I rinsed and drained them, then put them in a pan.  These were covered with fresh water, again about 4ish inches over the top of the beans.  (Don't you just love how precise this all is?)

 When making refried beans the regular way, the beans are boiled up by themselves and then the flavorings are fried and added along with the lard after the beans are cooked.  Since I wanted to remove oil from the recipe altogether, I put my garlic, onion, and sweet red pepper in to boil.  I figured that'd get them all mushy enough to puree up.  If you wanted a little more fresh veg crunch in your refried beans then you could just add them raw, assuming whatever you're using to blend this all up can handle raw onion.  It's up to you.  More on this in a second.

I used about 5 cloves of garlic, 1/2 of the onion, and one red pepper.  The pepper I used was not spicy at all, but if you wanted to use a jalepeno or something with some kick, just please remember to use gloves when dicing/de-seeding.  I've given the agony spiel before, right?  Agony.

You don't have to be all that neat when chopping these up since they're going to be pureed later anyway.  Toss 'em in with the beans and put 'em on to boil.

Once the water's boiling, turn it down to a simmer and cover it.  How long it takes the beans to get mushy enough depends entirely on things you can't control, like how old and how dry the beans were when you started.  Check 'em at about an hour, and maybe every 15 thereafter.  They're done when you can smoosh them easily with the back of a spoon.

Mmmmm, squishy.

When you drain them, be mindful to save some of the liquid that you cooked the beans in.  This is going to be used in just a second.  You don't have to save it all.  In the ballpark of 1/2 cup of liquid per cup of beans should be way more than plenty.  So for this recipe that's about a cup of liquid.  Although we definitely won't use all that, better safe than sorry.

I usually just set a bowl under the strainer.

How you blend up your beans depends on what you have to work with.  I used my food processor.  You might use an immersion blender or even a potato masher if that's what you've got.   Whatever you use, just be sure to move the beans to a regular bowl first -- don't puree them in the sieve.  Sounds obvious, but I've done some pretty ditzy things in my life.

If you didn't already add the garlic, pepper, and onion, go ahead and do that now.  Or you could even use garlic paste, if you want.  If you're blending with a potato masher or immersion blender you'll definitely want to boil the veggies first or they'll never blend in with the beans.  The other thing you could do is to stir-fry them on the stovetop until soft.  I'd recommend olive oil if going that route.  With a food processor it doesn't matter so much whether you toss raw veggies in, which is probably what I'll do next time.

To help things along, add a teaspoon or two of the reserved cooking liquid (bean juice?).  A little goes a long way.  The less you use, the thicker your refried beans will be.  If you like a thick paste, then err on the side of very little water.  You can even start with none and see if that works for you.

A little splash'll do ya.  You can always add more later.  I probably added too much, to be honest.

Puree that bad boy up.  Next we add spices.  Since I used a sweet pepper I loaded up on the chili powder.  I went with 1 tsp chili powder (optional, adjust to taste), 1/2 tsp cumin powder, and 1 tsp coriander powder.  If I'd though of it sooner I might've tried throwing in fresh cilantro rather than the coriander.  Whatever, it all came together just fine.

Give it another pulse to work in the spices and you're good to go!

I got to use my cute little salsa bowl set.  Yay!

What I loved about this is that it tasted so... not full of lard.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love bacon as much as the next gal and there's a time and a place for using fats of all kinds in cooking.  I won't claim that this tastes truly authentic.  Doc noticed right away that this was missing a kind of savory, fatty something that he was used to.  That said, he also ate just about the whole bowl himself, particularly after I explained why it was different from what we'd get at a restaurant.  I've wondered if maybe next time adding corn might not give it the extra something.  If any brave souls out there try it, be sure to let me know if it worked.

I loved that this dish is so much more than a side. So far I've used it on nachos (blended with some jalepenos and tomatoes), as a hummus-style dip for raw veggies, and tomorrow I'll use up the rest in beef & bean enchiladas.  It's super filling, too (protein + fiber = happy tummy).  As long as you've blended out all the lumps it'd even been an option for people who eat purees.

I hope this will hold you for healthy recipes for a week or so, 'cause this weekend I'm going to be making scones and white chocolate popcorn.  But then we'll get back to the good stuff, I promise.

Never-Fried Frijoles Refritos

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried pinto beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
• Can sub: 1 can of pinto beans, rinsed & soaked.  If using canned, skip the steps for boiling the beans.
• 4-5 whole cloves of garlic (optional, to taste)
• 1/2 onion, cut into large chunks
• 1 red pepper, cut into large chunks
• Can sub: 1-2 jalepeno peppers, to taste
• 1 tsp chili powder (optional, to taste)
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• Can sub: 1 small handful chopped fresh cilantro
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Soak dry beans overnight in water that covers beans by 3-4 inches.
2. Drain & rinse beans well.
3. Place beans in stock pot with enough fresh water to cover the beans by 3-4 inches.  Add onion, garlic, and pepper and bring to a boil.
4. When water reaches a boil, turn down to a simmer, cover, and let cook until beans can be easily mashed with the back of a spoon.
5. Drain beans, reserving about a cup of the cooking liquid.
6. Place beans in a separate bowl (if using immersion blender or potato masher) or in a food processor.  Mash until smooth, adding small amounts (max around 1 tbsp) of the cooking liquid if needed.
7. Add spices and stir until blended.  
8. Salt to taste.

Taking Stock

Ever get stuck in conversation with someone who insists on explaining every tiny detail to you -- even after you've made it clear you already understand the topic?  I don't know about you, but this trait drives me bonkers.  I run into it especially at my physician's office, where no amount of reassurance seems to convince them that I don't need basic terms explained to me in a babysitting tone.  Since the number one rule of my day job (and by extension the rest of my life) is to always presume competence in others, I suppose I'm more sensitive to it than I would be otherwise.

At the same time, I also hate when I'm trying to learn something new and the instructions list some step that sounds like it should be the most obvious thing in the world and yet I have no idea what it entails. Nothing makes me lose faith in myself and my abilities faster than when, as a beginner, I'm made to feel like there's something I "should" know but don't.

When speaking to any kind of an audience it can be difficult to find that middle ground.  I'm certain I screw it up sometimes.

So if making your own stock is something you've got a handle on, go ahead and take a lap.  We'll see you in the next post, no hard feelings.  For those that are wondering what I mean when I say I usually have chicken/vegetable/beef stock on hand and whether it's something that can be made at home, this post is for you.

First off, let's get a handle on the wording.  Many times, without really meaning to, I use the words "stock" and "broth" interchangeably.  Broadly speaking this is probably fine, since both are the result of boiling down stuff you've got left over around the kitchen.  On the other hand, if we're being nitty-gritty about details there is a difference:

• Stock is the "heavier" of the two.  Stock is used as a flavoring.  It can be used to add some oomph to things like rice, curry, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, etc. When making stock, the idea is that it's not usually flavored and it's definitely not salted.  There are a lot of different definitions out there -- some say that stock uses bones whereas broth is runoff juices from whatever you're cooking, others say the difference is in length of cooking or in whether or not you use herbs.  But when you get right down to it, the difference is intent: if you're using it as a flavoring, then you naturally want a strong flavor without added salt, and that's a stock.  
• Broth, by comparison, is lighter and is the end product in itself.  Broth is used to make soup or something else where you want to taste the broth as the end-product, meaning it's lighter than stock and it's usually salted/flavored.  You can make broth out of stock by watering it down and adding flavorings.  Making stock from broth, however, means adding meat or veg to it and boiling them down; in essence starting over, like making strong coffee out of weaker coffee.  If your grocery store has both for sale at a similar price, buy the stock since it's a greater value for your money.  You can always water it down yourself if you're making soup.

Now, if you use the words without distinction or if you use broth to make risotto instead of stock, you are doing nothing wrong.  Really.  It's okay.  The only reason I took a moment to discuss the difference here is so that you'll know why what we're making has such a super strong flavor and why, if you're going to use it for soup later, you might find yourself adding water.

Okay, all that background out of the way, I'm about to throw at you the single easiest (and most useful!) thing you've ever made.  Seriously.  I use stock in place of water in almost every recipe I have.

Added bonus:  we're gonna use the slow cooker for this.

Making Stock in the Slow Cooker

Okay, here's what you need to know:  kitchen scraps + water + 8 hours on low.

Seriously, that's the recipe.  Let's step through it, shall we?  You can make this with anything you have lying around.  Beef, chicken, and veg are the most common, although seafood stock is good for chowdah if you've got fish scraps lying around.  I even made duck stock once.  It's all about what you have on hand.

My butcher has beef bones for sale most weeks.  Many grocery stores do, though you might have to hunt for them or ask.  I got six bones for two bucks.  That was probably way more than I needed.  If you roast a turkey or chicken, the leftover carcass will work.  Or if you're vegetarian/vegan, just stick to veggies.  It's cool, the process remains the same:  kitchen scraps + water + boiling long enough to leech all the flavor and nutrition into the water.

Some people, if they buy raw beef bones, will roast them first.  Since I'm about to boil these for the better part of a day I'm not really interested in drawing the process out, though it would result it a different flavor.  It's an option, anyway, if you feel like it.

Next: water.

I added as much as I could fit in the pot, though if I were smarter I'd have added the veggies first and the water later.  It all worked out in the end.

When it comes to veggies, the "trim," or scraps, are the easiest and cheapest way to go.  That is, things like the root end of the onion that you cut off, or the stem top of a pepper, the ends of a carrot, the bottom or the leafy bits of a celery stalk, the bottom bit of lettuce that is too tough to put in a salad.  That kind of stuff.  Just make sure it's clean.  As it turns out I had a number of whole veggies that were just about to go bad, but please please please don't think that you have to go out and spend money on fresh veg just to boil it to death.  The idea of stock is that it's cheap, easy, and is the cooking equivalent of recycling.

I've made the mistake of using fruit before (e.g. lemon peel in a chicken stock).  I'd advise against it, if only because stock is used in savory dishes and 9 times out of 10 fruit or citrus notes can ruin the dish.  Just imagine your mashed potatoes tasting like oranges and you'll see what I'm getting at.

I also threw in some thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, and peppercorns.  Not necessary, and if we're going by a purist's definition of stock then I've just ruined everything.  As long as you don't add salt (it'll make your dishes run the risk of being too salty later) you're doing just fine, I'd say.

Put the cover on, turn the pot to low and leave it to do its thing.  8 hours is the minimum, let's say.  It'd be nearly impossible to overcook it since that's pretty much the point anyhow.

The other big advantage to using a slow cooker -- other than the ease of use -- is that very little of the liquid evaporates off.  When making stock on the stovetop I always find I lose quite a bit of liquid since it's boiling for several hours.  

I came back to mine 12 hours later.  Gorgeous, eh?

But let me warn you: we are not done yet!  We're going to put this aside for a few hours to cool to room temperature, then put it in the fridge.  DO NOT put the hot pot directly in the fridge -- you'll risk shattering either the pot or your fridge shelves due to the sudden change in temperature.  And if there's anything you don't want, it's a few quarts of boiling hot liquid and shattered ceramic/glass all over you and the inside of your fridge.

Once it's room temp put it in your fridge and let it sit for at least 8 hours.

Here's why we go to this extra step:

See all that white stuff?  That's fat.  And if we didn't go to this extra trouble, all that would be ending up in your arteries.  If you're just making vegetable broth you could probably skip this step, but for anything animal-based you definitely want to do this.

Happily, it comes off usually pretty easily.  I peeled it off the top with a spoon.

That took care of most, but not all of the little fat chunks:

Next step is to strain it.  I use a fine mesh strainer.  Be sure to put a bowl underneath to catch the broth.  It'd be heart-breaking to get this far into the process only to dump the stock straight down the drain... not that I'd know or anything...

And then just carefully pour the cold contents of the pot through the strainer.  Make sure your pot underneath is big enough to hold all the broth.

Now, if you've used scraps you probably are willing to just toss out this stuff at this point.  Since I used whole veggies I fished out some to use in soup and in stir-fry later.  It's totally up to you.

Let it sit for a few minutes to let the liquid drip out of the scraps.

Not a bad looking stock, eh?

But there's still some stuff floating around in it, can you see?  Bits of fat and bone marrow and spice and what have you.  (Sorry for the reflection, it was an especially overcast day and I was fighting with lighting.)

So here's how we handle the last little floaties, if you want.  Do you have to?  No.  I just like to because then I don't have to think about it when I go to use the broth for cooking.

I take an old flour sack towel (anything without fuzz will work, even a clean old tee-shirt) and lay it over a sieve.  Again, with a bowl underneath to catch the broth (do not forget!!):

I find stock doesn't really stain the cloth too badly, though obviously you don't want to use your good towels for this.  Any time I'm at the dollar store I'll pick up a pack of flour sack towels just because they're so handy.

It'll strain through slowly, like coffee through a paper filter, so just pour a little at a time and wait for it to strain through before doing the next splash.  It took about 2-3 minutes for me.

Here's what's not ending up in the stock:

Yummmmm.

And that's it!  Again, just to recap, what we did was take kitchen scraps, add some water, boil it for a good long while, and strain it.  Try to stick to one type of meat at a time, don't pick any veggies with a really strong flavor or... pungent... chemical properties (broccoli, brussels sprouts, and asparagus are a few examples).  No.  Salt.  Do not salt.  Just say no.  Everything else is up to your tastes!

I like to freeze mine in 1-2 cup portions.  One batch in my slow cooker produces about 8 cups of stock, give or take.  If you make more than one kind of stock, just be sure to label properly so that you can tell the difference when you go to use it:

Next up:  Never-Fried Beans.