An extremely easy recipe for beef or chicken stock that I use regularly to make foundational stock for sauces, braises, risottos, etc. is as follows: save vegetable trimmings that have good flavors, nothing assertive like asparagus. I generally have onion, celery, carrot, and mushroom ends, tomato navels, and lettuce bottoms. I also save beef bones and chicken carcasses. Place a gallon of frozen vegetable trimmings and eithet some beef bones or chicken carcass on top or beside them on a large jelly roll pan. Roast until browned but not burnt. Place the roasted goods in a stockpot with enough water to cover, salt to taste, herbs of your choosing, a couple of bay leaves, and a dozen or so whole pepper corns. Bring to a smile, just shy of bubbling, and hold it there 3-4 hours. Without disturbing things, especially the bones, strain it. Because you are using things you were collecting in your freezer there is no real prep work. The hardest part is getting it to the smile without boiling, but even that does not take long. Same process without protein for vegetable stock. Fish stock is completely different with very few and very delicate aromatics and no roasting, also shorter cook times.
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