dragonlady7 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dragonlady7) wrote2019-09-04 11:48 am
dragonlady7) wrote2019-09-04 11:48 am
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bag of bones
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I keep a gallon Ziploc bag in my freezer. Every time I cook meat at home, the bones go in it. Every time I chop vegetables, the ends go in it. Sometimes the pan drippings from roasted meat go in it, if I didn’t eat those. The leaves of celery. The tops of carrots, and the root tip ends. The ends of onions, and that layer you have to peel off, that’s juicy but still papery sometimes? that goes in there. And the other day I made a braised Swiss chard and chicken dish, and there was the tiniest bit left over of the braising liquid and some extra stem bits, and I threw that in the baggie with the chicken bones.
When the bag’s full enough, I get out the instant pot and throw the contents of the bag into it, and almost enough water to cover, and then pressure cook it for like 10 minutes on high. The meat’s already cooked, I probably don’t even need that much. I used to just boil it in a pot on the stove for an hour and then let it cool enough to put away. (Health Department says you should cool all soups to 40F within some crazy short amount of time, and one of the farm customers explained he uses an ice bath for this when he makes his chicken stock because he is the Perfect HouseHusband, and I don’t blame him one bit, but I also don’t do that and haven’t died yet, so, take it under advisement.)
I freeze it in Ball jars, or plastic Tupperwares– I try to make it be some reasonable amount, two cups or four cups or whatever. Then when I’ve got groceries for a dish that calls for stock (pilaf, risotto, soup, all kinds of stuff) I take one of the appropriately-sized jars out of the fridge and let it defrost for a day or so. (Though last night I realized as I was beginning the recipe that I’d defrosted too small a jar, and the second little jar took seven minutes in the microwave on the defrost setting, so.)
The other thing I did that makes me feel virtuous is that I had a big bunch of celery from the farm, and some carrots and a couple of onions, and here’s the thing about farm celery– I encourage you, if you’ve got a farmer’s market near you, to go and buy celery there, because the kind of celery they grow on a farm is not the same kind as is produced commercially that can sit in your fridge for two months and still be tasteless and go in soups as a matter of formula– the stuff you get fresh is much skinnier stalks and bushier leaves and it tastes totally different and also wilts in a week. So I diced the whole bunch of celery, and mixed it with the carrots and the onions in little diced pieces on a baking sheet that I stuck in the freezer for a couple of hours, and then I poured the frozen little pieces into a couple of Ziploc baggies so I can use it by the cupful instead of the whole bag in one frozen chunk. Mirepoix!
We’ll see how it comes out, but I know frozen farm celery works fine in recipes so I figure the whole shebang will be nice. And then I get to have farm stuff in the winter.
(I’ve done a ton of freezing at the farm but not so much here, so it’s nice to occasionally get a moment to do it for *me*.)
I keep a gallon Ziploc bag in my freezer. Every time I cook meat at home, the bones go in it. Every time I chop vegetables, the ends go in it. Sometimes the pan drippings from roasted meat go in it, if I didn’t eat those. The leaves of celery. The tops of carrots, and the root tip ends. The ends of onions, and that layer you have to peel off, that’s juicy but still papery sometimes? that goes in there. And the other day I made a braised Swiss chard and chicken dish, and there was the tiniest bit left over of the braising liquid and some extra stem bits, and I threw that in the baggie with the chicken bones.
When the bag’s full enough, I get out the instant pot and throw the contents of the bag into it, and almost enough water to cover, and then pressure cook it for like 10 minutes on high. The meat’s already cooked, I probably don’t even need that much. I used to just boil it in a pot on the stove for an hour and then let it cool enough to put away. (Health Department says you should cool all soups to 40F within some crazy short amount of time, and one of the farm customers explained he uses an ice bath for this when he makes his chicken stock because he is the Perfect HouseHusband, and I don’t blame him one bit, but I also don’t do that and haven’t died yet, so, take it under advisement.)
I freeze it in Ball jars, or plastic Tupperwares– I try to make it be some reasonable amount, two cups or four cups or whatever. Then when I’ve got groceries for a dish that calls for stock (pilaf, risotto, soup, all kinds of stuff) I take one of the appropriately-sized jars out of the fridge and let it defrost for a day or so. (Though last night I realized as I was beginning the recipe that I’d defrosted too small a jar, and the second little jar took seven minutes in the microwave on the defrost setting, so.)
The other thing I did that makes me feel virtuous is that I had a big bunch of celery from the farm, and some carrots and a couple of onions, and here’s the thing about farm celery– I encourage you, if you’ve got a farmer’s market near you, to go and buy celery there, because the kind of celery they grow on a farm is not the same kind as is produced commercially that can sit in your fridge for two months and still be tasteless and go in soups as a matter of formula– the stuff you get fresh is much skinnier stalks and bushier leaves and it tastes totally different and also wilts in a week. So I diced the whole bunch of celery, and mixed it with the carrots and the onions in little diced pieces on a baking sheet that I stuck in the freezer for a couple of hours, and then I poured the frozen little pieces into a couple of Ziploc baggies so I can use it by the cupful instead of the whole bag in one frozen chunk. Mirepoix!
We’ll see how it comes out, but I know frozen farm celery works fine in recipes so I figure the whole shebang will be nice. And then I get to have farm stuff in the winter.
(I’ve done a ton of freezing at the farm but not so much here, so it’s nice to occasionally get a moment to do it for *me*.)
no subject
Yes, indeed. And also, carrots! Farmer's market carrots are ENTIRELY different from store carrots - it's incredible.
no subject
Such good carrots though. Like, crazy good.
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I actually did both tonight, used up the last of my old stock to make risotto, and then after dinner, rinsed out the pot and made the stock while I had the thing out.
All the other Oh It'll Change Your Life things about the Instant Pot I kind of... tried and they're okay but my old technique was also fine so whatever.
I still have a baggie of turkey feet I have to do this to. One of these days I'll get to it.