Life is a feast (says Will Smith) so make stock from the scraps
The Fresh Prince says life is a feast and I will boil what's left.
Today we’ve got easy recipes, and if you’ve followed past newsletters you know my passion for great craft service on film sets. Well today we have ANOTHER AWARDS SHOW MENTION OF CRAFT SERVICE! Observe Will Smith at this week’s Grammys:
This particular crafty story is served up with way more celebrity narrative surrounding it than Colin Farrell’s awards show craft service mention, but I’m turning a blind eye and agreeing with Will Smith (and Quincy Jones) that food on a film set (or anywhere for that matter) is more than just a snack table, it’s a place of respite and a way for people to get through insanely long days, fuel up (on peanut butter filled pretzels), and get back to making things. The outgoing surgeon general’s platform was prioritizing food and connection with others for mental health and well being and I think that is really important. A cup of coffee with your worst enemy won’t solve the world’s problems but it could get you closer! And a place of connection with someone on a job a helps you to slow down and say “…man…it’s cold out there…well...back to it?” Sometimes that’s what you need.
We made it through January 2025 with all its things happening and sometimes January felt like NOTHING was happening. Quiet, cold, dry (for some) and the perfect time to hole up and cook things. In no particular order I made the following cooking projects:
Flour Tortillas from Robert Rodriguez’ Cooking School, ripped from the Sin City DVD extras
Pizza Dough, from Joe Beddia’s Pizza Camp recipe
Pizza, from that dough
Yogurt, in the instant pot
Duck Breast, with gochujang marinade from Lani’s Farm in NJ
an improvised stock I’ll reluctantly call Jiggle Stock (keep reading for more)
The pizza, tortilla, and focaccia recipes are fairly simple and rewarding. As far as making bread, I went through a sourdough phase the same way every girl did during Covid, I even made my own starter, same as everyone else on the planet. (I named it, as many did, mine is called The Prodigy…because he’s the firestarter). My loaves turned out OK at best, never better than what I could buy, compared to the effort I put in, and not better than anyone else who had taken up the hobby. Much worse than other people’s I saw. It could be pretty deflating spending two days on a marginal loaf you’re timidly proud of, to then go to your friends kitchen and have their partner say “Want some bread, so and so has a new hobby” while a Martha Stewart Level Loaf sits glaring at you, knowing you could never make it with your own fledgling skill or patience. Artisanal dreams crushed before your eyes.
I am still in the habit of feeding my starter, not too often, but often enough to be surprised at how resilient he is to overflow yeasty goo onto the counter before he goes back in the fridge. But focaccia is much less commitment, same with pizza dough, flour tortillas are fun to realize how simple it is to make a better version of what you usually buy in a package and rarely enjoy from scratch. Sourdough pizza dough is still on my docket, where I will again release The Prodigy only to realize a five dollar slice is much easier. But it’s around the process, right? I guess.
JIGGLE STOCK
Now as far as STOCK goes, it’s a win all the time. When you’re cooking at home, it’s easy to save vegetable scraps and leftover rotisserie chicken bones in the freezer in a bag - onion trimmings, carrot peels, garlic peels and trimmings, fennel butts, leftover greens…almost anything - and stock is easy to make. Use it in recipes or drink on it’s own, and then whenever you have to buy stock at the store it will pain you to spend anywhere from $5 to $11, knowing I could’ve done this myself!!
The following is another No-Recipe Recipe again in the vein of Sam Sifton. For a quick version, I often take inspiration from Carla Lalli Music’s Instant Pot Stock recipe (insanely easy) but for JIGGLE STOCK I used a stock pot on the stove.
I almost called this HACKS STOCK, because Hacks is a good TV show now and it’s got buzz, and also I was majorly winging this stock, thus a hack recipe. This I a wingin’ it stock that produces collagen - jiggle - so therefore it’s called JIGGLE STOCK.
Along with the veggies scraps and a few more fresh veggies, for this particular stock I used A LOT of random bones. I got beef and pork bones, and chicken necks and backs from Whole Foods (surprisingly cheap - $18 for many packs), leftover rotisserie bones, and a T-Bone from a friend’s goodbye dinner I crashed at a famous NYC steakhouse with ‘no-nonsense’ waiters. I put those bones on a pan and roasted them at 425° for 20 minutes. I removed them to the pan, scraped whatever bits of fat I could get off the pan and also poured some drippings in the pot. Then I added…
The full ingredient list:
bones of all kinds (see above)
several fresh bay leaves
black peppercorns
dried juniper berries for earthiness (and because I had them)
1 head garlic, crosscut
1 fresh onion quartered
1 carrot rough chopped
a few ribs celery rough chopped, including leaves
the veggie stock bag from the freezer
INSTRUCTIONS:
Fill the stock pot with water until you’re close to the top, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer. Once you see little bubbles forming like sea foam aka THE SCUM, skim with a spoon and get the bubbles out best you can. Do this until they’re mostly gone or you think you’ve done well enough for “your process” (it can be tedious, do what you feel is noble). Let the pot simmer uncovered for a few hours, reduce a few inches of water. At this point you can go as long as you want. I went about 7 hours, it reduced a great deal, I added more water, then went another few hours. I think I went 14-16 hours total? Here’s the thing, YOU DO NOT NEED TO GO THAT LONG. My perfectionism + experimentation gene kicked in and I couldn’t be stopped, but I’d say if you’re using veggies and chicken bones, 3-4 hours is plenty, if you’ve got beef bones go a little longer or a lot longer. The longer you go, the more collagen you will extract from the bones, the more flavor you will get, and the more jiggle you will achieve. When you’ve reached your limit, strain into a bowl through a fine sieve. You may want to strain a few times, discarding the leftovers, and removing any flecks still in the stock. I chilled the stock overnight, letting the fat rise to the top so I could skim it off then scooped it into jars (scoop not pour because it got jiggly). You can also portion it out while it’s hot, then chill it and scrape off the fat layer in the individual jars if that’s easier for you.
A medium stock pot yielded around 12-16 quarts of stock which has been very helpful to use in cooking lots of things (Hainanese Chicken and Rice, an easy cassoulet, and sipping out of a mug when I’ve been sick). Make it on a Saturday, put on a movie trilogy, or heck stream Hacks for a good theme here, and then load the quarts into your freezer and you’re STOCKED.
Other than that, I don’t know what to tell you. Spring will be here before we know it. If you’re in NYC I am directing an Off Broadway comedy show called After Endgame: A Comedy Show About Chess, starring comedian, friend, and collaborator Kevin James Doyle. It runs Feb 11th - March 8th at the Soho Playhouse. It was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2024, is very funny, and we will be playing chess, backgammon, and having drinks after the show! Come on out and let me know if you do.
I’ll leave you with one more photo from my neighborhood last winter because I like it:
Until next time, stock it up and STOCK YOUR CRAFT SERVICE TABLES!! HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE WITH YOUR WORST ENEMY! Easier said than done but we can shoot for the moon.
Literally have a chicken carcass in the freezer right now waiting to become stock. Maybe Jacob and I can scoot down to see your show this month! Keep up the great work!
life is a feast, don't stop until... keep my wife's name out your.....