Greasy food (soup/stew/casserole etc)

Pink.

the_skint_minx wrote: »

Hello oldstylers

Does anyone have a failsafe chicken stock method? Mine always comes out mingin - Bland and cloudy and not really tasting of much.

Hi the_skint_minx,

It sounds as though there is a fair bit of fat in your chicken that is becoming emulsified with the stock....to ensure that this doesn't happen just bring the stock to the boil and then reduce the heat so that it is just simmering slowly rather than boiling.

To make stock from a chicken I put any leftover chicken (bones, skin and any meat I'm not using for something else) into the oven in the roasting dish to brown....it takes about 20 minutes and it really helps the flavour of the stock.

Then put the lot into a large pan, cover it with water and bring to the boil....I also throw in any left over veg or half dead bits of veg you find in the bottom of the fridge. (I keep the ends of vegetables and peelings in the freezer specifically for making stock).

Once it begins to boil, take it off the heat and skim off any scum. Reduce to a simmer and leave for at least four hours.

Strain the liquid into a pan and discard all the bones/veg etc. Allow it to cool and if there is any remaining fat it will rise to the top and is easily skimmed off.

For freezing, put the pan onto the hob and boil to reduce it to a smaller amount as it takes up less room in the freezer.

A good stock will be opaque and jelly-like when cold.

Pink

**skinnyminny**

Oh gosh, am wondering if any one can help me save our familys tea?

I am cooking the bolognese mixture for our lasagne tonight and normally have lean mince but i bought the normal stuff this week and forgot to drain the excess fat off it once it was browned, now i seem to have a couple of bits of mince floating in a pool of grease, with a hint of tomato:rotfl:

Does anyone know any good ways to get rid of some of it before i dish it in to the lasagne dish? I have tried spooning some off from the top but it seems never ending, that will teach me to not give 100% in the kitchen...... oops!!:o

CCP

You could try sticking it in the fridge for an hour or so - the fat might solidify on the top so you can just scrape it off. It works with casseroles, anyway!

cyclingyorkie

that's a good idea - or a quick blot with kitchen towel?

squidgeworth

soaking a slice of bread on the top sometimes works too!

**skinnyminny**

that is a really good idea, i love these boards, will give it a go and see if it helps, anything is worth a go,was going to do the kitchen towel thing but knowing my luck i would drop it in there and we would be fishing out bounty or plenty or whatever itscalling itself these days, for the whole meal :rotfl:
Thanks

GlowGirl

Would ice cubes work? They work with stews and stuff like that, so might be worth a try here?

ubamother

I'd go with the fridge thing - if it's still warm, you could drain off the liquid (and fat) and just put that in the fridge as it might be quicker - and then you're not scraping bits of fat of the edges of bits of mince!

avinabacca

Get it good and hot in the pan (so as not to congeal the fat) then tip into a colander.

Fat gone - job done.

Stephen_Leak

squidgeworth wrote: »

soaking a slice of bread on the top sometimes works too!

When I used to use cheap fatty minced beef (before I started using even cheaper but lower fat minced pork or turkey), I used to push the mince to one side of the pan, put a slice of bread in the other half, and tilt the pan to drain it into the bread.