An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

by Tamar Adler

Put about two cups of a combination of aromatic vegetable scraps in a big pot. I usually use tips or ends of carrots, an onion half, onion peels, tough tops of fennel, outer stalks of celery, and parsley stems. Add a small handful of black peppercorns, bones, and water to just cover by two inches. I don’t add salt. If anything else you’re cooking ends up salty, it’s good to know that your stock can save it. Let the water come to a boil, then lower it to a bare simmer. Skim off the gray foam that gathers on its surface with a slotted spoon. You will need to do this periodically as it cooks, as often as the stock seems to want it. After three hours, taste a bite of vegetable, and taste a spoonful of stock by scooping a little into a spoon and sprinkling in a few grains of salt. The vegetable should be tasteless, having given all of itself to the stock, and the stock taste like light broth. Let it cook until the pot’s contents match those descriptions. Remove bones with tongs or a spoon, then pour the stock through a fine-mesh strainer into a container and refrigerate it. Any meat that’s still clinging to the bones won’t taste like much, but in a pinch can be picked off, mixed with mayonnaise, onions, and chopped pickles, and spread on toast. Let the stock sit in the refrigerator overnight to give its fat time to rise to the top. The following day, scoop the fat off with a spoon. Save it in a jar. Use it as you would butter or olive oil.