Tips For Making Homemade Soup

This time of year a nice hearty soup or stew hits the spot after a long day; soups by nature are soothing and comforting. At the heart of a good soup is the stock and believe it or not stocks are fairly simple to make. They will, however, take a little more time than opening pre-made or store bought stocks. A good stock or broth requires quality ingredients, seasonings and a little bit of time.

You will need a few hours of cooking time and some undivided attention from time to time during the process for the stock to be at its best, but it is not hard. A stock should be made from the parts left over or Thrown out to be such as bones, shells, lettuce, vegetable scraps and even cut off the fat of meat if you are not concerned with the fat intake. Essentially you will be cooking out the flavor in all of these ingredients slowly for a few hours. The amount of ingredients will determine how much water to use and if you are just following a recipe using the instructions provided the first time you use the recipe and then change it to your liking.

Let's say we are making a chicken / turkey stock which is fairly common as far as stocks go. A good idea would be to save the scraps of chicken and turkey, or any fowl for that matter, for a matter of weeks, use the freezer if necessary. When you are ready thaw out the bones and scraps and the gathering as well as vegetable scraps and any seasonings you will want to include. Place the above mentioned ingredients into a stock pot and fill with water until the water is about ½ inch above the top of the food. Put every piece of animal bone and scrap into the pot to cook, the more the merrier in this case.

For added flavor consider Slicing onions, celery and mincing a small amount of garlic to the mix. For best results wait until about half way through to add the garlic, this will make the garlic flavor stand out more. Start by bringing the mixture to a boil and then back off on the heat and allow it to simmer. You will need to remove the foam from the top of the pot as it starts to boil and just do you know this is completely normal. If you so desire partially roast some chicken breasts or wings and add them into the mixture. This will add loads of flavor and a little more substance to your stock.

As the mixture cooks down you will want to add the seasonings to your tastes, perhaps just a bit of salt and pepper or some oregano and basil. Remember, adding the spices and seasonings will diminished their flavor early in the stock as the heat and cooking process will remove the natural flavors over time. Season over should you add too much salt or add a whole peeled potato and simmer for approximately 15 minutes, the potato will absorb the excess salt. To reduce the fat content to prepare the stock a day or two ahead of time and chill over night. This will allow the fats to rise to the top where it can be spooned off.

Following these tips and simple steps anyone can create a homemade stock for soup. After the stock is completed you can use it for any number of recipes, even those that are not soups or stews. Stocks can be used for adding moisture to left-overs, recipes calling for the addition of water or chicken meal to another all together.