I prep you eat

Bones are not a single use object. They are magic. When you buy quality meats it’s even more motivating to extract the goodness by turning a roast chicken dinner into an idle stockpot project that takes care of you for another night/day/week. Sometimes you aren’t up for any sort of kitchen project, so stash the bones in a freezer bag and the more you gather, the richer the broth. If meat isn’t on hand or in your diet then treat whole onions, peppers, mushrooms stems and carrots trimmings with the same respect. I collect their spare parts. Cauliflower stalks, broccoli stems, the lonely veggies from the cold bin that have passed their prime…Place them on a roasting pan one night while you are doing something else or have the oven on anyway. Get them nice and dark, add some oil/s&p. Toss once or twice. They smell amazing and your broth will benefit. Scrape them into a stock pot and cover with cold water. Let that magic happen. Collect your veggie medley during the week and roast and make stock on the weekend. You won’t regret and you won’t waste your groceries !

You know what else isn’t a single use item ?

Time. If you take care and carve out time to cook by all means; cook once feed many..

I do it in stages though. Because life is more fun that way. One session: set up the stock, let it go gently, all night or all day even. l tweak the pot or 1/2 of it for a certain recipe. I added Chinese cooking wine, ginger and some soy sauce instead of salt for my Shoyu chicken broth. Sometimes I’ll add a sheet of kombu seaweed, dried mushrooms and some tomato paste for Dashi. Other times, I’ll add dried roasted chilies and some charred garlic or shallots for a Posolé. Whatever profile you are going for; flavor the stock and let it do its thing.

Then, you build your soup. Are you adding some soaked dried beans to the simmer ? Prepare your vegetables or pre-cook your meats. Slice or pull your vegetables and proteins. Then you can take this gorgeous broth and pour it over your storage containers of prepared fillings.

Yes, you can make a soup from start to finish in a heavy pot. I do it often when I’m in the mood, BUT, if we are talking about the art of batch cooking and keeping something that feels fresh and ready at an arms reach in the fridge or freezer, this method is totally worth adopting into the repertoire. It’s how we used to do it at lunch prep in restaurants.

It keeps the sum of its parts tender & intact. Soups on!