I can imagine many of you who read the last post about homemade chicken stock were probably thinking, “What’s the point?”
You were probably thinking that in far less time and with far fewer dirty dishes, you could just buy a carton of the boxed stuff, squeeze it into your braise or your soup and be done with it. And though I’d urge you, if you insist on using pre-packaged stock, to follow Michael Ruhlman’s advice to use water instead, I have a compelling dish for you to try on the day you do finally make your own chicken stock; that dish is risotto.
Risotto, more than any other dish (except maybe soup), becomes an entirely different entity when you use homemade stock. The Arborio rice acts like a sponge and sucks up all the wholesome goodness of your stock; the resulting risotto is richer and way more intense than any risotto you could make with a boxed stock. So do this: make your own stock, whenever you get the chance, and then make my citrus risotto with seared scallops. It’s a really simple process: just cook an onion (I used a red onion this time) in butter, add the rice for a minute and then start ladling in stock. At the very end you add the supremed fruit, its zest and its juices. This time, as you can see in the picture above, I had a beautiful result using two Meyer lemons and–this was the kicker–two blood oranges.
Make stock then make risotto and I guarantee you’ll never make risotto with a boxed stock again.
Eek, I made risotto with boxed stock just last night. I had a craving, so I picked up the stock on the way home from work. As I was pouring it into the rice bit by bit, I cringed every time I glimpsed at the ingredients list and saw that msg was 4th on the list. You have blogged some sense into me; I’m gong to put in the extra effort and use my own stock from now on!
Eek, I made risotto with boxed stock just last night. I had a craving, so I picked up the stock on the way home from work. As I was pouring it into the rice bit by bit, I cringed every time I glimpsed at the ingredients list and saw that msg was 4th on the list. You have blogged some sense into me; I’m gong to put in the extra effort and use my own stock from now on!
A great reason to make our own stock.
Oh adam, I just clicked on the original post you linked to with the recipe and guffawed at the horse castration line. thank you for that.
Agreed! I feel like I’m wasting homemade stock unless it’s for risotto.
I’ve always wondered what scallops taste like. I am always afraid to order it when dining out for fear that I won’t like it. Someone please tell me, what do they taste like?
Well put about making your own stock. I have never had a citrus risotto, but have been wanting to try it for some time. Yum for the blood oranges. Names like that make me think I should only cook with them when enraged. I’ll see if my boyfriend can piss me off enough so we can try them out.
I would probably like broth based soups better if I made them with homemade stock. I think I just had a revelation.
Ahh Citrus risotto… I love it with some Goat Cheese…
Ahh Citrus risotto… I love it with some Goat Cheese…
Put some green herbs on your dish before you photograph…it will make it definitely more appealing.
As for Ina, we’ve talked about this before: We both really like her, but she can be very excessive. Ina has money…lots of it…and she probably write off on her taxes everything she cooks…including that new barn of hers. She really doesn’t take the average person in consideration…especially in this economy.
I will try your stock recipe, though.
I still can’t get over that previous chicken dish you did.
Put some green herbs on your dish before you photograph…it will make it definitely more appealing.
As for Ina, we’ve talked about this before: We both really like her, but she can be very excessive. Ina has money…lots of it…and she probably write off on her taxes everything she cooks…including that new barn of hers. She really doesn’t take the average person in consideration…especially in this economy.
I will try your stock recipe, though.
I still can’t get over that previous chicken dish you did.
looks absolutely gorgeous.
i do have to say that i find the “imagine” brand organic broth, particularly the “no chicken broth” (which is vegetarian), is really delicious and tastes quite close to home made. i feel perfectly okay with making risotto using that one!
Yes! I have been thinking I need to update my risotto and was wondering how citrus would go with the parmasan cheese. Thanks for this post.
Risotto, such a perfect winter dish.
How long does homemade stock keep in the fridge? How about the freezer? If it keeps for a while, why doesn’t a company make high quality stock and sell it fresh like milk or even frozen? I understand homemade almost always tastes better, but if I’m just going to put it in the fridge for a week then what is the difference?
Homemade stock is so cheap to make!!! I make a huge batch every year after thanksgiving (because what else do you do with the turkey carcass?) and it’s totally free!! Then, I freeze it in batches. Every time I boil or steam veggies, I drain the liquid off into the frozen stock, thus adding to the volume. This stock, when I keep adding to it, lasts me a good 6 months. Any meat bones I have get made into stock, so I have a never ending and FREE supply of stock.
risotto is one of those dishes, like pizza
simple, and delicious. but mostly a way to show off other things.
you need to use high quality rice/crust. but if you add crap ingredients (stock/cheese) then the result will be junk.
risotto helps you show off the subtleties and natural goodness of your stock. like blanching fresh picked, home grown vegetables- it prepares them for eating, sure. but that’s all it does, it doesn’t strip away the subtle nuances that the growing process adds!
Just a question: how do you think that a jar of organic chicken base compares to real stock? The ingredients say it’s made with real chicken. It definitely tastes better than the boxed stuff in my opinion. Please let me know what you think…