Stocks, Soups, Sauces

Stocks – The Most Essential Ingredient Stocks are the most essential ingredient in a kitchen because they are the basis of all soups and sauces. There are 4 essential parts of a stock: A major flavoring ingredient A liquid, most often water Mirepoix Aromatics

Flavoring a Stock Mirepoix is a French word that refers to the mixture of coarse chopped onions, carrots, and celery that provide a flavor base for stock. 50% onions, 25% carrots, 25% celery based on weight Aromatics are the herbs, spices and flavorings that create a savory smell. Bouquet garni: French for “bag of herbs” is a bundle of fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley stems, and a bay leaf tied together. Sachet d’epices: similar to a bouquet garni, except that it really is a bag of herbs and spices.

Stocks A stock is flavorful liquid made by gently simmering bones and vegetables over many hours. This helps to extract the flavor, aroma, color, body, and nutrients of the ingredients There are several types of stocks: White stock: clear, pale liquid made by simmering poultry, beef, or fish bones Brown stock: amber liquid made by simmering poultry, beef, veal, or game bones that have been browned first. Fumet: similar to a fish stock, highly flavored stock made with fish bones Court Bouillon: aromatic vegetable broth used for poaching fish or vegetables Glace: sometimes referred to as a “glaze”, a reduced stock with a jelly like consistency, made from brown stock, chicken stock, or fish stock. Vegetable Stock: usually made from mirepoix, leeks, and turnips. If tomatoes are added, it becomes a concasse

Making a Stock The first step in making stock is to prepare the bones. To use bones for stock, they must first be cut to the right size and then prepared by blanching, browning, or sweating. Blanching: rids the bones of impurities that can cause cloudiness in a stock. Once the bones have reached a foil boil, remove the scum. Brown: roast in a hot oven for about an hour until they are golden brown. Sweating: causes bone and mirepoix to release flavor more quickly when liquid is added.

Preparing Stock Flavor, color, body, and clarity determine the quality of stock. Should be flavorful but not so strong that it overpowers the other ingredients in the finished dish. With the exception of a fumet, stocks should be crystal clear when they are hot. Mirepoix should be trimmed and cut into size suited for the type of stock. Small dice for quick cooking stocks, large dice for longer cooking stocks Aromatics are added in the last hour of cooking to allow the heat to bring out their flavors and prevent the loss of flavor from overcooking. Once finished, stocks should be cooled appropriately. After cooling and before using, stocks need to be degreased. This process removes any fat that has cooled and hardened on the surface.

Let’s Review! Define the following Sachet d’epices Mirepoix Fumet Bouquet garni Glace Describe the 4 important parts of a stock. Why is it important to cool a soup or stock before storage?

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Sauces The word sauce comes from the French word that means a relish to make food more interesting. There are 5 grand sauces that are the basis of all other sauce. They are also called the “mother sauces” Béchamel: made from milk a white roux Veloute: made from veal, chicken, or fish stock and a white or blond roux Brown or Espagnole: made from brown stock and brown roux Tomato: made from stock and tomatoes Hollandaise: emulsion made from eggs, butter, and lemon

Small Sauces Small or compound sauces are grouped into families based on their mother sauce. There are numerous small sauces, below are the most common sauce families. Béchamel: Cream, cheddar cheese, soubise Veloute: Allemande, Supreme, Bercy, Normandy Espagnole: demi-glace, bordelaise, Madeira Tomato: Creole, Spanish, Milanaise Hollandaise: Bernaise

Other Sauces There are other sauces that can be made that do not have a “mother” sauce. Beurre blanc and Beurre rouge: emulsified butter sauces without egg yolks; made with 3 ingredients, shallots, white(blanc) or red(rouge) wine and whole butter Pan gravy: made directly from the pan used to roast the meat that the gravy will accompany Pan sauces: sauces served with sautéed meats made directly in the sauté pan in which the dish was cooked. Coulis: refers to a sauce made from a puree of vegetables and/or fruit that is strained before serving. Salsa: cold, chunky mixture of herbs, spices, fruits, and/or vegetables

Thickening Sauces A key ingredient in many sauces is a thickener, which adds richness and body. Roux is a thickener made of equal parts cooked flour and a fat such as clarified butter, oil, or shortening. There are 4 types of roux , 3 of which are based upon the color of the roux which is determined by the cooking time. White roux: cooked for a very short period of time; used in bechamel Blond roux: cooked for longer than a white roux and used in ivory colored sauces like veloute. Brown roux: cooked until it develops a dark brown color; has the least thickening ability. Beurre manie: made of equal parts of soft, whole butter and flour, then shaped into pea size balls and added to the sauce. A slurry can also be used to thicken. Slurries are made with cornstarch mixed with cold water and then added to the sauce. A liaison is a mixture of egg yolks and heavy cream used to finish and thicken sauces.

Let’s Review! What are the primary ingredients in a grand sauce? What are the 5 grand sauces? Name 3 sauces that are not grand sauces. What are 4 types of roux's? What are 2 other ways to thicken sauces?

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Soups Most soups can be classified by cooking technique and appearance as either clear or thick. Clear soups include flavored stocks, broths, and consommés. Examples: chicken noodle soup, minestrone, and French onion soup Thick soups include cream soups and puree soups. Examples: cream of tomato, split pea

Soup Variations There are many variations on the basic soups, such as: Dessert soups Ginataan: a Filipino soup made from coconut milk, fruit and tapioca pearls Fruit soups Winter melon or gazpacho Cold soups Borscht, vichyssoise Traditional regional soups New England Clam Chowder, gumbo

Clear Soups Stock or broth is the basic ingredient in clear soups. One type of clear soups is consommé. A rich flavorful broth that has been clarified. Made with a mixture of ground meat with mirepoix, tomatoes, egg whites, and oignon brule to bouillon or stock. This mixture is called clearmeat. Oignon brule is a burnt onion made by cutting an onion in half then charred on a flattop or a dry pan. The mixture is slowly simmered until the impurities come to the surface trapped in a raft, which is the floating layer of egg whites, meat, and vegetable solids, and fats.

Thick Soups There are two kinds of thick soups – cream and puree soups. The only difference between the two is that cream soups are usually thickened with an added starch, such as a roux. Puree soups are thickened by the starch found in the pureed main ingredient, such as potatoes. Cream soups must be thick with a smooth texture. The should never be boiled since boiling can cause the milk fat to break down. Bisques are another kind of thick soup. Bisques are a cream soup usually made from pureed shellfish shells, such as lobster, shrimp or crab. Chowders are hearty thick soups made in much the same as cream soups, but are not pureed.

Let’s Review! What are the two basic kinds of soup? What is the main difference between cream and puree soups? What is the name of a clear soup that has been clarified? What is a raft? Classify the following soups: Winter melon Gumbo Borscht Minestrone Gazpacho bisque

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