Homemade stocks and sauces can be great fun to create. We know you’re busy,
we all are. If you are caught up in that “canned”, “pre-cooked” and “instant”
world, though, you are cheating yourself out of being a real gourmet Italian
cook.
There is no substitute for homemade in this category, none. First
of all, even the healthiest-claiming canned and packaged stocks and sauces list
salt with ingredient percentages that are so astronomical as to be ridiculous!
Pre-packaged items sometimes contain large doses of preservatives
and additives, also. There are some low sodium varieties out there, but have you
tasted them? How about those low sodium soups? Yuk! No salt-no taste. Test us on
this. Please!
We’re not trying to scare anybody, we buy a selected few of these,
too. There are times when we just don’t have the time. Sound familiar?
But, we make our own stocks and sauces from scratch on every
possible occasion to avoid the short-comings listed above, and because we are
budget minded by nature.
What does that have to do with it? After all, a lot of packaged
products of this nature are rather economical, right? So how does making
your own stocks, for example, help you stay on your meal preparation budget?
Every time you dice an onion for a recipe, you throw away at least
a couple of layers of flavor. Why not put those “scraps’ into a freezer bag and
save them for your next batch of homemade stock?
And how about the cores and stems of bell peppers? They’re
righteously loaded with that incredible pepper flavor.
Carrot peelings and ends. Celery leaves. Stems from fresh herbs.
And there are many other examples. We have several freezer bags of these waiting
patiently to flavor our chicken, shrimp and beef
stocks right now.
Okay, maybe this is starting to make some sense. Think about your
favorite gourmet Italian restaurant (as opposed to pizza and sandwich joints,
takie-outie fast food joints, etc.). Chances are the chefs there make all of
their own stocks and sauces from scratch. Why is this? With all the meals they
serve, wouldn’t it make some sense to cut some corners wherever possible? Well,
yeah, but she/he knows her/his competitors will go that extra distance to
provide a tastier fare.
Homemade stocks and sauces, when prepared professionally, mean the
difference between turning out a so-so product, and turning out true culinary
masterpieces. All we’re trying to say is, when you do have time, making your own
stocks and sauces is worth the time and effort. And, it's fun!
The shrimp stock
here takes less than half an hour to make! And, since it is flavored
entirely from fresh or frozen scraps, it is virtually without cost, too! How can
you beat that? Have you priced a tiny little bottle of clam juice lately? And
for a recipe that calls for say, 6 cups of clam juice or seafood stock, well
we’re talking about adding several extra bucks to that particular recipe. Yikes!
Who can afford to ignore that?
We’ve made an effort here to give you a few easy and relatively
quick stock and sauce recipes that can help stretch your budget, as well as give
you some key ingredients for becoming a recognized culinary star with your
family and your dinner guests. Go for it!
Buon appetito always!
Brought to you with love from
Aunt
Aletha and Dear Old Dave
Home - Recipes
Pesto Sauces
Chicken Stock
Shrimp Stock
Multi-Purpose Tomato
Sauce
Vegetarian
Pasta Sauce With Wild Mushrooms
Homemade Italian
Stocks And Sauces Home Page - More Recipes
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