The Complete Book of Pressure Cooking. L.D. Michaels
cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 30 minutes for pre-cooked bones, 45 minutes for fresh.
5 Reduce pressure, strain solids through sieve, then cool and degrease by skimming off solid fat. The stock will probably be slightly jellied, which is a good sign.
6 On reuse, dilute with an equal quantity of water and heat. Add fresh herbs such as parsley or sage or freshly rubbed dried herbs and adjust seasoning.
All stocks tend to concentrate flavour, so do not over-season or put too much in to begin with.
This stock will keep for 3–4 days in the fridge. After that it should be brought to the boil briefly and allowed to cool again to kill off bacteria. Without refrigeration, boil every day or so.
This, as the name implies, is specially formulated for freezer storage – it is more concentrated, has fewer additives and omits those that might decay early.
50 minutes
up to 2kg (4½lb) bones and meat scraps, cooked or uncooked
salt and pepper
root vegetables, diced (not green vegetables)
1 Wash bones and chop finely. Salt any meat to assist the release of juices.
2 Cover with water (but no more than halfway up the pressure cooker sides). Boil and skim off scum.
3 Add root vegetables and a bit of seasoning. If some water has boiled away, make up to half full.
4 Bring to pressure. Cook for 35–40 minutes for cooked bones, 45–50 minutes for uncooked bones and meat. Cool to reduce pressure.
5 Strain off solids. If you wish, you could now return the fluid to the open pan for rapid boiling to reduce and further concentrate the fluid. Cool and degrease by skimming off solid fat.
6 Freeze. Storage time is up to about 3 months. If you are making a large batch, consider storing in several small containers corresponding to a serving or two so that you don’t need to defrost and refreeze large quantities each time.
7 On reuse, this stock will need diluting with 2–3 times as much water. Bring to boil for safety. Add vegetables at this point, pressure cooking green vegetables in the stock for 4–5 minutes.
8 Check and adjust seasoning.
2 hours
up to 2kg (4½lb) marrow bones
1.5lt (2¾pts) water
1 Chop bones as small as possible.
2 Put into cooker with the water, but don’t more than half fill the pan. Bring to boil and skim off scum.
3 Cover, pressure cook for 2 hours, cool to reduce pressure. Strain bones. Cool and degrease by skimming off solid fat. (The fat is dripping and can be used for flavoursome frying – it even makes a good spread for bread or toast, but only if you are not very figure conscious!)
4 Dilute before using. Add vegetables, seasoning and herbs with care.
40–50 minutes
1 tablespoon oil or 25g (1 oz) butter
1 large onion, unpeeled and diced
up to 2kg (4½lb) marrow bones
1½lt (3pts) water
Use the same procedure as for Freezer Foundation Stock, but start off by heating the oil or melting butter in base of pan and frying the onion including the skin. The onion should be allowed to become clear and then turn brown (as the sugar in it caramelizes). Keep the onion moving before continuing as before. The onion and especially the skin add a fine colour as well as taste. Instead of oil or butter you could use some scraps of very streaky bacon and heat them until all the fat runs. You can then fry your onion in that. You will, of course, need less salt than in the original recipe.
20–30 minutes
cooked or uncooked leftover chicken scraps, including skin, bones, neck, stomach, heart, but excluding too much liver (you could use a really old bird that would not be suitable for anything else)
1 Chop up meat and bones very finely. Add enough water to cover. Boil in open pan. Skim off scum.
2 Add more water to no more than half full, depending on degree of concentration required. Pressure cook for 20 minutes for cooked meat, 30 minutes for uncooked.
3 Depressurize, strain out solids, cool and degrease by skimming off solid fat.
4 On reuse, dilute to taste (at least an equal amount of water) and add parsley and other herbs, such as chervil, thyme, sage.
If you use a whole chicken or boiling fowl, the pressure-cooking time is 40 minutes. This stock will keep for 3–4 days in the fridge, after which it will need boiling up again. If a concentrated stock is required for freezing, omit all vegetables and use more meat. The vegetables are then added on reuse. Carrot is especially important, as it gives sweetness and freshness to the fluid. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
25–35 minutes
A white stock can also be made from veal, using the neck, knuckle and trimmings. You can use these in conjunction with chicken if you wish. Pressure-cooking time is 25–35 minutes, depending on whether the meat is cooked or uncooked and the size of the pieces. It is often important that a white stock retains its colour. Careful skimming helps. For this reason also, when adding to a frying onion, the onion must merely be allowed to turn translucent – it should not be allowed to brown. When white stock is added to a mixture of heated butter and flour (a roux) and slowly stirred in, you get the classic velouté sauce, which is often the basis of thick soups and sauces for vegetable and meat dishes. If you add to a velouté sauce a small amount of warm cream, you get a sauce supreme. Chicken supreme (see Chicken Supreme) is cooked chicken pieces smothered in sauce supreme – it all fits in, doesn’t it?
10 minutes
vegetable scraps – almost anything, especially potato peelings, lettuce, cabbage and cauliflower outer leaves, celery, roots (but go easy on strong tasters like turnip), carrots (for sweetness), onion, broccoli tops, limp “old” vegetables, etc.
salt and pepper
bouquet garni
1 Fill cooker base with vegetable scraps, season and add bouquet garni. Pour in water up to halfway mark. Use a greater proportion of water to solids if your vegetables are dryish – either a bit old or mostly root. Bring to boil. Cover, pressure cook for