CALDO DE POLLO CHICKEN STOCK

I am giving you a two-for-one recipe here, for poaching chicken breasts in what becomes a light chicken stock to be used in any number of recipes. I like the dark meat of chicken, too, but it doesn’t shred as well as the breast, so when recipes call for poached and shredded chicken, I usually prepare it this way, using just the breast and reserving the broth. I encourage you to play with what you put in the pot with your chicken. I am very free about what I put in mine. It’s a great way to use up tired vegetables and any aromatic herbs. If I have parsley, I will throw some in, as well as a few sprigs of cilantro. I don’t add much salt to this stock, since I use it in recipes that will have more salt in them. If you have the carcass of a whole chicken left over, you should definitely use that to make a stock. (But you won’t end up with poached chicken to use in other recipes.)
MAKES ABOUT 1 QT / 960ML

1 white onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves
1 fennel bulb, cut in half, or 2 stalks celery
2 carrots
2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
2 lb / 910g bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
About 5 cups / 1.2L water
1 tsp sea salt
In a large stockpot combine the onion, garlic, fennel, carrots, bay leaves, chicken, water, and salt to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and let it cool. Once you can handle it, tear the meat off the bones and reserve it to use in another dish. Return the bones to the pot and let the stock simmer for an additional 40 minutes.
Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth and set the colander over a bowl. Strain the stock through the colander. Chill the stock if you don’t need to use it immediately. Chicken stock will last in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 5 days, but I use what I need immediately and freeze the rest in containers so that I always have some available
CALDO DE PESCADO FISH STOCK
Because my cuisine is so seafood focused, a good fish or shrimp stock is one of my staples. I use it as the base for a lot of other dishes, since it adds a complexity of flavor that water does not as it reduces and combines with other ingredients. As is the case with a chicken stock, it’s a great way to get a second use from the fish or seafood that you were already planning to cook and eat. You only need a bit to make your stock. The collar, bones, and head of a fish all work well—or the heads and shells of shrimp—as well as a few vegetables cut into smaller pieces than you would use in a chicken stock, since seafood stock isn’t cooked for as long and the smaller pieces release their flavor faster. I don’t salt my seafood stocks because I want to be able to salt the dish that it goes into later.
It’s nice to make a shrimp stock if you’re going to be using it for a shrimp dish and a fish stock for a fish dish, although that’s not strictly necessary. You probably wouldn’t be able to taste the difference. However, it can also be a practical and economical way to use up the whole animal. If you’re going to make a shrimp stock, buy shrimp with their heads and shells on and then use those for your stock. If you’re cooking fish, you could ask at the market for the head and bones (which they will often give you very inexpensively, if not for free) to use for your stock.
MAKES ABOUT 1 QT / 960ML

Collars of 2 fish, or the head, bones, and fins of one large fish, or the heads and shells of 1 lb / 455g shrimp
3 carrots, cut into small (about 1-inch / 2.5cm) chunks
4 stalks celery, cut into chunks
½ white onion, cut into chunks
1 Roma tomato, cored
2 garlic cloves
4 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
10 black peppercorns
2 allspice berries
1 chile piquín
5 cups / 1.2L water
In a large stockpot over high heat, bring the fish bones or shrimp shells, carrots, celery, onion, tomato, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice, chile, and water to a boil. Then, decrease the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth and set the colander over a bowl. Strain the stock through the colander. Chill the stock if you don’t need to use it immediately. A seafood stock will last in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 2 days, but I use what I need immediately and freeze the rest in a container so that I always have some available.