Whenever I see people adding that awful cubed stock to their recipes, I can’t help but cringe. No matter what you might add to your food later on, I feel like I can always taste the cube underneath all else. That distinctive combo of salt, fat and food dye always somehow lingers on my palate. Brrr! Have I persuaded you into making your own stock already? Do it! Do it!!! It’s dead easy and also a perfect way to use up any veggie or meat odds and ends you have lingering around.

We usually eat a lot of chicken breasts, but I always buy those with bones and skins still on, as they tend to run for way cheaper. I then debone the meat and save bones and skins bagged in a freezer, to later dump into stock. You can also use cheap stuff like giblets, backbone, neck, wing tips, etc. Just throw it all in with that shriveled tomato, wilted leek and unappealing looking bell pepper from the back of your fridge. Really, pretty much everything works.

So this is what I’ve scraped around to make a delicious stock.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields 10 cups of stock / 0.24 EUR per cup / 2.39 EUR for all)

1 kilo of chicken bones, skins and meat scraps (1.33 EUR)

1 large onion (0.10 EUR)

1 small garlic head (0.13 EUR)

5 small carrots (0.13 EUR)

3 parsley roots (0.13 EUR)

Bunch of parsley leaves (0.13 EUR)

½ small head of celeriac root (0.13 EUR)

½ small head of kohlrabi (0.13 EUR)

Few kale leaves (0.03 EUR)

11 cups water (–)

1 bay leaf (0.01 EUR)

1 tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

1 tsp whole black peppercorns (0.03 EUR)

1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika (0.03 EUR)

1 tbsp tomato concentrate (0.07 EUR)

METHOD:

Give your vegetables a good wash under running water. We buy organic, so I don’t bother with peeling anything, just roughly chop stuff into halves and quarters. Add chicken, onion, garlic, carrots, parsley root and leaves, celeriac, kohlrabi and kale to a large pot, cover with water and place on high heat. Keep an eye on it to pick and discard any foam before it reaches boil. Once boiling, add in bay leaf, salt, peppercorns, paprika and tomato concentrate. Give it all a gentle stir, reduce heat to low and simmer with a lid cracked open for 3 hours. Do whatever you feel like during those 3 hours because the stock won’t need any of your attention at all.

After 3 hours turn off heat and let the stock cool down completely before straining and packing. I usually time it so the stock cools down overnight and I strain it the next day in the morning. Discard all the meat, bones and vegetables, distribute stock into preferred sized dishes and refrigerate for up to a week or keep in a freezer for up to six months.

A recipe calls for a stock? Ta-da! You have it right there. Always prepared.

Whenever the mood strikes me for a super quick soup, I just add some carrots, chopped parsley and noodles to this stock and simmer for 5-10 minutes to make a yummy dinner.

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Čim vidim da ljudi u recepte stavljaju one grozne temeljce u kockama, odmah se naježim. Bez obzira na to što još kasnije dodaju u jelo, čini mi se da i dalje osjećam kocku ispod svega ostalog. Onaj specijalni kombo soli, masti i umjetnih boja uvijek nekako ostane na mom jeziku. Brrr! Jesam li vas uspjela uvjeriti da napravite svoj temeljac! Napravite to!!! Prejednostavno je, a također i super način da iskoristite svo povrće i ostatke mesa koji vam se povlače po frižideru.

Mi jedemo dosta pilećih prsa, ali ja uvijek kupim ona sa kožom i kostima jer su dosta jeftinija. Onda odkoštim meso, a kosti i kože čuvam u zamrzivaču i kasnije ubacim u temeljac. Možete također korisiti i jeftine komade kao iznutrice, hrbate, vratove, vrhove krila i sl. Samo sve ubacite u lonac sa onim smežuranim paradajzom, povenulim porilukom i ružnom paprikom iz dna frižidera. Stvarno, manje-više sve prolazi.

Pa evo što sam ja sve skupila i složila u fini temeljac.

SASTOJCI:

(Za oko 10 šalica temeljca / 1,81 kn po šalici / 18,06 kn za sve)

1 kg pilećih kostiju, koža i ostataka mesa (10,00 kn)

1 veliki luk (0,75 kn)

1 mala glavica češnjaka (1,00 kn)

5 malih mrkvi (1,00 kn)

3 korijena peršina (1,00 kn)

Pregršt lišća peršina (1,00 kn)

½ male glavice celera (1,00 kn)

½ male korabice (1,00 kn)

Par listova kelja (0,25 kn)

11 šalica vode (–)

1 lovorov list (0,10 kn)

1 žličica soli (0,01 kn)

1 žličica cijelih zrna crnog papra (0,20 kn)

1 žličica slatke paprike (0,25 kn)

1 žličica koncentrata od rajčice (0,50 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Dobro operite svo povrće pod tekućom vodom. Naše je organsko, pa ništa ni ne gulim nego samo sve grubo narežem na polovine i četvrtine. Stavite piletinu, luk, češnjak, mrkve, korijen i lišće peršina, celer, korabicu i kelj u veliki lonac, pokrijte vodom i stavite na jaku vatru. Imajte temeljac na oku kako bi skinuli i bacili pjenu netom prije nego što zavrije. Kada zavrije, dodajte unutra lovor, sol, papar, papriku i koncentrat rajčice. Nježno promiješajte, smanjite vatru na skroz lagano i pustite da se krčka 3 sata sa odškrinutim poklopcem. Ta tri sata možete raditi što god vam je volja jer se uopće ne morate baviti sa temeljcem.

Nakon 3 sata maknite temeljac s vatre i pustite da se skroz ohladi prije nego što ćete ga procijediti i spremiti. Ja obično tempiram temeljac tako da se hladi preko noći i onda ga samo drugi dan ujutro procijedim. Bacite svo meso, kosti i ostatke povrća, raspodijelite temeljac po odgovarajućim posudama pa čuvajte u hladnjaku do tjedan dana ili u škrinji smrznuto do 6 mjeseci.

Trebate temeljac za neki recept? Ta-da! Sada ga i imate. Uvijek ste spremni.

Kada me ulovi raspoloženje za super brzom juhicom, samo dodam mrkve, sjeckani peršin i rezance u takav temeljac i krčkam 5-10 minuta za finu večericu.