i'll start out with the basics.  i cook just about daily.  when i'm not cooking, i'm eating leftovers.  i grew up with a grandma who cooked constantly and taught me to appreciate food. she cooked irish and scottish mixed with american southern food.  i'm excited when i get to have family over and cook a big dinner.  this blog is meant to be a virtual tour of my kitchen and a showcasing of my family's culinary style.


i'll start off easy with a basic stock recipe.


i make a roasted chicken almost every sunday.  it's pretty easy and incredibly tasty.  as with any roasted meat, i like to reserve the bones, skin and leftover meat for making stock.  there is an art to making stock that most recipes ignore.  a good stock will pull the flavor from the bones.  you want that gelatin to come out.

making stock usually takes a few days.  the key is to cover your bones with water and heat them very slowly.  never let it boil.  i usually add a little bit of vinegar to the water to increase the acidity.  this helps to draw the nutrients from the bones more quickly. 

let it sit over a low heat for a couple of days.  cover the pot to keep the moisture in.  i will add salt and herb after the first day to flavor the stock.  i rarely use table salt.  i prefer either kosher or sea salt.  they are lower in sodium, so you have to use about twice as much. 

in a couple of days, strain the stock through a chinois or a mesh sieve.  you can even use a slotted spoon to pull out the big chunks of bone.  dogs love this stuff, so patrick usually gets the detritus. 

i tend to freeze most of the stock for later use in soups.  in the winter, i love drinking hot stock like tea.  it's insanely nutritious and easy for your body to break down. 

canned stock is fine, but nothing compares to the flavor of homemade.