Nothing.... NOTHING enhances the flavor of (particularly) a starch dish like cooking it in homemade stock.
SHRIMP STOCK: I live on the NC coast, so seafood is a staple in my house - particularly shrimp. I but 80 pounds of 16-20 count shrimp at the end of the summer and freeze them (shells on) in one pound bags. Over the course of the year as we eat the shrimp, I save the shells for stock. When I make shrimp creole, I cook the rice in shrimp stock.... a shrimp stir fry with pasta - pasta is cooked in shrimp stock. And how can you possibly make ANY sort of seafood chowder without using shrimp stock!!!! I did a blog on 'everything shrimp' if you're interested. Here is the link....
http://firebird-cooks.blogspot.com/2011/02/shrimp-primer.html
CHICKEN STOCK: I bake a mean chicken and I use the pan drippings to make chicken stock. Rice or pasta cooked in chicken stock is head and shoulders above rice cooked in water. Here is my baked chicken with the 'stock' recipe....
http://firebird-cooks.blogspot.com/2011/02/baked-chicken.html
HAM STOCK: This is a favorite because my husband loves what HE calls 'dirty rice'. Bake a ham. With me so far? Drain off the drippings and rinse the pan with water, adding that to the drippings to make 2C.
For dirty rice, bring the 2C of ham stock to a boil.... add LOTS of fresh ground pepper and then add kosher salt to taste. (Remember - hams can be salty from the curing process, so TASTE what you're making.) Bring the stock to a boil and add 1C of long cooking rice (I use Mahatma Jasmine). Cook according to package directions - about 18 minutes on low heat. Let rice sit for 3-5 minutes before serving.
This is soooooo good with the baked ham, or with a grilled pork tenderloin or fried/grilled pork chops.
BEEF STOCK: This is a little trickier than stock from the other meats above. If you cook beef on a grill by the indirect method, put a drip pan under it and you have liquid gold. Recover the drippings same as the ham above. Beef stock is especially wonderful for enhancing the flavor of vegetable or vegetable beef soup. Here's my favorite vegetable beef soup recipe...
http://firebird-cooks.blogspot.com/2013/04/beef-and-vegetable-soup.html
Comments about making any sort of stock.....
The easiest way to do this is to take the meat drippings and add water to make 2C.... refrigerate overnight and next day scrape off about 75% of the congealed fat - keep some of the fat for flavor. Add water to bring the level BACK to 2C, and freeze overnight in a 16 oz 'red solo cup' on which you have written the type of stock and the date. After the stock is frozen, seal the top of the cup with Press 'N Seal or Saran and put a rubber brand around the rim. Stock keeps 60-90 days in a chest freezer (no freezer burn) or about a month in a 'frost free' freezer, like the one in the top of your refrigerator.
In my opinion, stock can turn otherwise 'blah' starches, like rice or pasta, into tasty side dishes simply by cooking them in your stock of choice that will compliment your main course. Stock can also add intense flavor to your soups... and my goodness - it's so much cheaper than buying that krap in a carton in the grocery store! (Well - at least you know what is IN the stock!!)
Dinner tonight will be chicken strips sauteed in butter and garlic with a little dry white wine added at the end and reduced by half (about 2 minutes to reduce the wine).....and served on top of linguine pasta cooked in chicken stock, drained, and then tossed with 2 TBSP of Philly cream cheese and 1 TBSP of unsalted butter. I'll add about 1C of 'freezer peas' (those are the green rattly peas in TV dinners that have been cooked about 4 minutes) more for color than taste, garnish the chicken with a little chopped fresh parsley, and I'll make a side salad of romaine, tomatoes and celery. A crusty artisan bread finishes the meal.... and I'll serve the same wine I used in the chicken reduction.
NEVER waste meat drippings.... there is always a stock to be made that will enhance SOMETHING.....
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