SHOPPING LIST: Cooking Skills: Soups and Stocks 1, Chapter 1 (Stock Basics)

Onions, carrots, celery, leeks, garlic, bay leaves, fresh thyme, parsley stalks, black and white peppercorns, a raw or cooked chicken carcass (from a roast), an unsmoked ham hock, low-salt vegetable stock cubes, mushroom trimmings or tomato (optional), kitchen paper, freezer bags or tubs and a fine sieve.

Vegetable stock (about 1.5 litres)
[ ] 2 onions, quartered, skin on
[ ] 2 carrots, roughly chopped
[ ] 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
[ ] 1 leek, roughly chopped
[ ] 4 garlic cloves, crushed
[ ] 2 bay leaves
[ ] 6 parsley stalks
[ ] 8 black peppercorns
[ ] 2 litres cold water

An upgraded stock cube (about 500 ml)
[ ] 1 low-salt stock cube (chicken or vegetable)
[ ] 600 ml water
[ ] 1 carrot, chopped
[ ] 1 celery stick, chopped
[ ] 1 onion, halved, skin on
[ ] 1 bay leaf
[ ] 4 parsley stalks
[ ] 4 black peppercorns

Chicken stock from a carcass (about 2 litres)
[ ] 1 chicken carcass (cooked or raw), broken up
[ ] 1 onion, halved, skin on
[ ] 2 carrots, chopped
[ ] 2 celery sticks, chopped
[ ] 2 bay leaves
[ ] 4 sprigs thyme
[ ] 8 black peppercorns
[ ] 3 litres cold water

A ham stock from a hock (about 2 litres)
[ ] 1 unsmoked ham hock (about 1 kg), soaked overnight in cold water
[ ] 1 onion, halved, skin on
[ ] 2 carrots, chopped
[ ] 2 bay leaves
[ ] 8 black peppercorns
[ ] 2.5 litres cold water

For the experiments
[ ] A fine sieve
[ ] Shallow containers or freezer bags
[ ] A large saucepan