Talking Stock

We started the week with the dinner that always follows roast chicken - chicken pie which could be called "Roast Chicken Leftover Pie". Basically you soften some onion (any type of onion or leek) in butter, add flour then instead of milk add some of the stock you made with your chicken carcass. Once it's thickened a little mix in your shredded leftover chicken with your finely chopped leftover veg and gravy if you have any. I usually add 1/2 a cup of frozen peas and/or sweetcorn and some finely sliced white button mushrooms. If it is too dry add some cream or more stock or even a little boiling water. Season to taste. Tip into a casserole dish and top with pastry. Bake at 175 C for about 1/2 an hour until the pastry top is golden.

This seems a good time to talk stock. You need to have a range of good stocks in your freezer. Always make chicken stock when you roast a chicken, you can get fish bones from your fishmonger and shin bones from your butcher. The basics are the same : onion, carrot, celery, leek and the herbs, thyme & bayleaf with peppercorns and even chilli flakes if you like, then for fish add fennel & mushroom and to the others you can add dried mushroom but be careful because they have a strong flavour. For a standard chicken carcass or 1kg beef or fish bones use 2-2 1/2 litres water. Bring to the boil & simmer for 2-3 hours. Simmer your fishbones or heads first for 20 mins & strain before adding veg. Roast the beef bones in a hot oven for 45 mins with some tomato puree or a squeeze of paste & water. Once cooked strain into a large bowl and when cooled skim off any fat before storing in fridge or freezer. You usually want to use 2-3 cups so I freeze in Glad 740 ml containers with a couple of smaller 280 ml batches for miscellaneous use. If you remember get it out the night before and defrost in the fridge. This saves power because it helps to keep the fridge cool and gives it a bit of a day off.

This week we used 250 ml chicken stock (chicken pie), 750 ml chicken stock (pilaf), 750 ml vegetable stock (minestrone), 1 l beef stock (French onion soup).

Can't let the week go by without mentioning figs. Two simple things to do with figs. One a starter & one a pudding.

The starter we first had at Capitol, (turn your speakers on...) one of our favourite restaurants in Wellington. Then Martin Bosley included a recipe in his Listener column this week. Cut the figs - two per person is ample - down through the stalk close to the bottom so that they open out in 4 quarters (as Nigella says "like young birds squawking to be fed worms by their Mummy"). Stuff them with your favourite blue cheese. We discovered a lovely French version of Gorgonzola, called St Agur, at Truffle - a lovely specialty food outlet tucked away at the back of Cuba St. Wrap each fig in a slice of prosciutto and bake in a very hot (250C) preheated oven for around 5 minutes. The combination of slightly sweet fruit, salty cheese and crispy ham is indescribable.

For afters, you can't go past Nigella's Figs for 1001 Nights. You will need vanilla sugar - keep a container of sugar with a vanila pod in it - and rosewater and orange flower water - don't worry about buying a whole bottle of these as we have more recipes using them to come. Nigella uses mascarpone but we have used creme fraiche.