Well today I made my first sock. I decided on a Roasted Chicken Stock since I couldn't readily find any Veal Bones. Besides I know we will use it as my wife really enjoys Cheese Tortellinis in a chicken broth. By the way can you guess what we are having for dinner tonight lol. I was able to find some chicken backs and necks so I picked up a package of them. I also picked up a package of legs. Don't know why I didn't get wings other than that I did not notice that was what Chef Jacob used in the video until I was reviewing just before making the stock. Well I didn't want to murk up my stock so I made sure to clean the backs quite well. There was a lot of skin on the backs but there was also lots of bloody parts still attached so I spent a lot of time cleaning that off the bones. I really don't think I will use backs again as it was a lot of work for little reward. I then stripped the meat off the legs. I cut off and removed the end as if making lollipops and then stripped the the chunky part of the leg off with a knife until I could pull that end off the same way. The meat didn't go to waste though as I threw that in the oven later and roasted it for the dogs. I think the dogs are going to like me learning to cook better lol.
When I roasted the bones I used two different methods. Part of them I roasted on broil on a lower rack and the other batch I set the oven at bake 500 degrees and put them on the upper rack. For me it worked better on the back setting even though they both came out quite ok and usable. As for the veggies I did those on bake at 500. I think next time I will probably do them at 450 to give them just that little bit more time to absorb the meat juices that I poured over them. I used the standard recipe for my murepiox but for the aromatics I added a small amount of cilantro because of what I will be using it for but other than that I stayed with the standard recipe as well.
Let me tell you as soon as it came to a boil and I started ladling the fat off I knew I had got it right. The color was a rich brown and looked just like the video. As soon as I started the ladling of the fat it was easily apparent what was fat and what was not. It wasn't a white color it was more like "clear" dots on top of the water. Barely tipping the ladle let the fat run right into it without taking to much stock. When I say barely tipping I mean maybe a 1/16 of an inch or less below the top of the liquid. From there it was now just a waiting game. I let it simmer for about 4.5 hours and the added the cold water, ladled again and the strained it. I used a standard colander because that was all I had and it did quite well in catching the big pieces. I then strained it thru a mesh screen strainer. I had to do this step several times as I was not happy with the sediment left in it. I think I will be soon buying a finer mesh screen strainer. After that I did the ice cool down in the sink and went a ran a short errand. When I got back in 40 minutes the liquid was already well below room temp. I then covered it up and off to the refrigerator it went. I can hardly wait until dinner tonight. I will be adding a bit of salt and a touch of an IItalian seasoning mix I made up and will boil the Tortellinis in it. Then put the Tortellinis in a bowl with some of the liquid (much like a soup) sprinkle some shredded assiago, romano and parmesan cheese on it and serve with a light bodied Chianti we found. Ohhhhh, I have a feeling my tounge is gonna beat my brains out tonight ;-).
Well I am once again happy to say that if you do what Chef Jacob shows you to do in the video you will get results like you see in the video.
Here is a link to two photos of my results
