Fish Stock

The art of making stock has always been tied with the art of frugality. This is true in cultures across the globe — everything from French and Italian to Japanese. It's the art of actually extracting the maximum amount of goodness from the spare parts so as to not waste them.

This is particularly true in the case of fish stock since it has an exceptionally short shelf-life. Ideally, fish stock is best made fresh and consumed quickly.

Fish stock has always been made from the "unwanted" parts that still preserve a strong amount of both fish flavor and the proteins.

Classic dashi is basically a precise fish stock but the CC has talked about that extensively so we'll skip it this time and talk about the more classical French version.

If you look online, they talk about making fish stock with cod or monkfish. Have you seen the price of any of these lately?

These people are not just foolish; they are positively retarded!

Fish stock is made with any non-oily fish with the spare parts if you will. The heads, the tails, and everything else. (Incidentally, you can preserve these things in the freezer if you don't plan to make it right away. The CC almost always has prawn shells in his freezer.)

Here's a short list of things that make amazing fish stock:

• Fish heads and tails.
• Prawn shells.
• Lobster shells.
• Dried anchovies.
• Dried niboshi (煮干し).
• Dried shrimp.
• Maldive fish flakes (basically same as katsuobushi.)
• Clam juice and clam muscles.
• Scallop muscles (finely chopped.)

The short version is waste-not-want-not. The only detail is that dried fish should be boiled for no more than roughly 8-10 minutes before the stock turns bitter. (You can reduce the stock a second time later if you want a more concentrated stock.)

The recipe below is "generic". You can add different spices if you like. For example, the CC frequently adds fresh parsley which since it comes from the carrot family tends to accentuate the sweet carrot flavors. Also, a judicious addition of fennel is a nice touch. However, these are all details to the basic skill that you need to know. So here goes...

Ingredients

1 onion
1 stalk celery
1 large carrot

olive oil
black peppercorns
salt

"fish" (from above)

Recipe

Dice the onions, celery, carrots really fine. Fry in some olive oil they are soft. About 8 minutes. Add the peppercorns and salt and fry for a bit. Add water.

Bring to a boil and let it cook for about 20 minutes. Skim as the oil and impurities come to the top.

Add the "fish" and let cook for no more than 8-10 minutes. You will need to skim one more time.

Pass the mixture through a sieve lined with a cheesecloth.

Yogurt Updates

No post seems to have generated the sheer amount of comments and updates as the yogurt post just a few days ago.

Speaking of which, ladies and gentlemen, could you please post your comments publicly so that everyone can share?

You know who you are. Don't make the CC shame you.

Here's the best of the list:

[1] 2% organic milk works best.

CC: Experimentally verified and confirmed!

[2] If you have a pizza stone, pre-heat the oven to about 200°F for about 2-3 hours. If the stone is on a different shelf than the container, it will ensure that the oven stays warm at the desired even temperature of 180°F even in the coldest winter.

CC: DUH!!! Simplicity itself. How obvious in retrospect.

[3] If you want a thicker yogurt without the fat, add in some milk powder when boiling the milk.

CC: Not tried but makes complete sense.

[4] If you want "Greek yogurt", you must drain the fresh yogurt in a cheese cloth for about 6-8 hours.

CC: Yep! and the drained whey is muy muy delicioso! Do not waste.

Chestnut Risotto

Simplicity of effect often takes considerable complication of means.

A chestnut risotto is basically starch over starch. Admittedly chestnust does have protein content but the mouth-feel is that of a chewy starchy product.

In order to not bore the palate with a monotonous texture, you must break it up.

The recipe consists of three parts — preparing the chestnuts, preparing a chestnut broth and making the actual risotto.

The complications make for a dish that is both rich in taste and texture.




Ingredients

2 lbs raw chestnuts

1/2 cup shallots (finely chopped)
1 cup carnaroli rice
3 cups broth (use dashi otherwise)

1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

olive oil
4 tbsp rosemary (finely chopped)

sea salt
black pepper

Recipe

Please note the simplicity of the ingredients. The complexity comes in how they are manipulated.

Score the chestnuts with a knife with an X mark. Roast in an oven heated to 350°F for about 15 minutes.

While they are still warm, you must peel them. It's hard sweaty work and they don't peel as well when they cool down so your fingers are likely to feel the burn.

Inevitably, some of them will  be moldy. You must discard these.

Separate the chestnuts into whole ones and partial ones. Cut the whole ones into quarters and set aside.

Blend the partially broken ones with the broth. You may need to add some whole ones if there are not enough partial ones. Don't worry about blending them fine. Strain the broth from the now broken pieces.

These broken pieces act as the uneven textural interest. Put them away to let dry for a bit. (They need to be dry since they will get pan-fried later.)

Now, we prepare a standard risotto. Keep the chestnut broth just under boiling on a separate heater.

Fry the shallots in the olive oil. When limp (about 8 minutes), add the rice and let it fry for a bit. When the rice is translucent and coated with oil, you will be able to see the white rice kernels. Add he broken chestnut pieces and sautée for a bit (about 3-4 minutes.)

Add the whole chestnut pieces and the rosemary.

Now make the risotto. Alternately add the warm chestnut broth, and keep stirring till all the broth is used up and you get a creamy textured wet risotto.

Add the parmigiano-reggiano and serve at once with tons of black pepper.