So What Do You Do With Leftover Bones? Make Stock of Course

Stock, or broth, is simply made with bones and vegetables that are cooked in water for hours.  The bones and vegetable leech their flavors and nutrients into the liquid giving you this lovely liquid gold.  You can buy it of course (just watch for the salt because some of them have quite a lot in them) but it is easy to make and fairly inexpensive.

This is a picture of my turkey stock that I am making for Thanksgiving.
In my crock pot is the turkey bones leftover from when I took the legs, wings, thighs, and breasts off my turkey, the drumsticks (because we don't like them unless they are in soup), a red onion, 8 stems and leaves of sage, 4 garlic cloves, ground black pepper, because that is what I had and enough water to cover.   Now to let in cook on low for 12 hours or so.

First you need bones any flavor will do, as long as they are the same kind.  And it doesn't matter if the bones have been cooked or not.  Bones can also be roasted before putting in a stock to add flavor and color (as in a roasted chicken stock or a beef stock). If the bones are roasted ahead of time it is considered a dark stock.  If they are not, it is considered a white stock.  You can also make a vegetable stock, just skip this part.

Next you will need vegetables. Traditionally, most stocks have mire poix, or onions, carrots, and celery, in them.  (Mushroom stock, for example, is one of those that does not.) The proportions of the onions, carrots, and celery are 50% onion, 25% celery, 25% carrot. Other vegetables can be added to give flavor and dimension to a stock (or to get rid of old scraps).  The vegetables to avoid adding are cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, or any thing that will take over the flavor.  I generally stick to celery, carrots, mushrooms, onions, tomato scraps, asparagus, leeks, or parsnips.  Sometimes I don't add any.  It really depends on how much room I have in pot, actually.  Sometimes there are just so many bones that I can barely add water.

Stocks usually have what is called a Bouquet Garni, which is just a fancy way of saying bag of spices.  Usually the spices are tied into cheese cloth, added to the bones, veggies, and water, then the bag is removed at the end.  I never have cheese cloth at home and if I did my kids would just play with it, so I just add it to the pot itself and just strain it out.  Here at home I don't care how clear and perfect it is, I just want stock. The spices in a Bouquet Garnet are pretty simple: garlic, peppercorns, parsley stems. There are more but this is generally what I use.  Sometimes I will add different spices depending on what my stock is for.  I may add dried peppers and cumin to a Mexican style stock or sage for one for Thanksgiving. 

The most important thing about stock is water.  And there are two things that you need to consider about the water that you use.  First, would you drink it, if you won't drink it don't use it.  Second, it has to be cold so that it can properly leech out the flavors and nutrients from your ingredients.

Stock generally takes about 12 hours to cook.  I usually don't have the time to babysit it. This is where the crock pot comes in handy. I put everything in before bed and in the morning, I strain it.  You are more then welcome to cook it on the stove, just make sure you have a pot large enough for all your ingredients and water to cover it.  Also once it comes to a boil, turn it down to a simmer and let it go.  I would cook at least 6 hours on the stove, and remember the water will evaporate as it cooks so you do not want the heat to high.  

I know that you are supposed to skim the impurities (or foam) off the top as it cooks but truthfully I am usually asleep while my stock is cooking.  Feel free to do as you wish.  Just remember your stock won't be clear I am okay with this.

Stocks are fully customizable depending the person making them, the ingredients on hand, and the people you are cooking for.  If someone can only eat red onions, only use red onions.  If someone who will be eating with you is allergic to parsley, don't use it.  If your pot is only big enough for your chicken bones and water, you only have dried parsley and ground black pepper, and you really want to add white wine to it, do it.  That sounds like a good stock to me.

*note: beef stocks generally have charred onions, roasted bones, red wine, and tomato paste.  So if that is the kind you want to make, I would read up on those beef stock recipes before starting