Taking Stock: In Essence, Less Is More

Good cooking consists of presenting the essence of an ingredient in an intensely flavorful concentration. The basic methods of cooking allow us to achieve this--as long as we don’t throw out the flavor that’s left in the pan or pot. Yet we might not even know the flavor is there, until we either reduce a bland and unpromising liquid or magnify a concentrated residue.

When we prepare a stew or pot roast, we start with water or thinly flavored broth--aptly called stock--and enrich the braising liquid with the dissolved proteins and flavors of the stew ingredients. You’d never think of throwing it out. It’s the best part of the dish and it usually doesn’t require any further fortification.

However, it can be concentrated into a sauce or glaze. I put baby back ribs in water flavored with tamarind, molasses, mustard, catsup, pepper, cloves and vinegar. After the ribs are parboiled, I reduce the cooking liquid to make my barbecue glaze. The ribs, naturally, finish cooking on a grill.

You probably don’t know that when you blanch or boil vegetables, flavors are drawn into the liquid and can be retrieved. Keep this liquid and use it again and again for blanching or boiling vegetables. After a dozen or so times, what you thought of as cooking water reduces to a dark, sweet vegetable glaze that can be used to flavor vegetarian and meat dishes. It’s also the base for a flavorful vinaigrette, either hot or cold.

The dark bits that stick to the bottom of the pan after your roast comes out of the oven . . . they’re pure flavor; don’t throw them out. Dissolve with a liquid, then concentrate the liquid to make sauce.

When preparing a sauce, begin with a flavorful liquid--juice, wine, spirits, broth or braising liquid--or a combination of several. Concentrate flavor by boiling off the greater volume of water. Replace this water with broth or braising liquid and again boil off the water component. You now have a tiny bit of a concentrate too flavorful to use.

Think of this reduction as being thirsty because you’ve gotten rid of all its water. Now, this thirsty, syrupy reduction will drink up cream, butter and oil. Add some cream and cook the liquid again. Cream is partly water too, and we need to boil it off. Enrich the sauce by replacing some of the water in the cream with butter--the sauce will shine. Or forget cream and swirl a good nut of butter directly into a concentrated liquid--the butter sauce will burst with flavor, because you’ve replaced what had been water with an ingredient that has flavor and texture.

Recently, chefs have been preparing reduction sauces using flavored oils instead of butter or cream to finish the sauces. These reductions are not as concentrated or thirsty, and an acidic component such as vinegar or lemon juice is needed to stabilize the sauces so they can be served warm or cold. When making these new-style sauces, choose vinegars and oils carefully because their flavors will be most prominent in the sauces.

TUNA SASHIMI ON ORANGE-AND-GREEN PEPPERCORN GLAZE

2 ripe Italian plum tomatoes

2 cups fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons green peppercorns in water, drained

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oil

1 pound fresh tuna, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

2 oranges, peeled and separated into sections

Cut off tip and stems of tomatoes. Remove seeds and core, leaving only firm outer pulp. Cut each tomato in half and place flat on work surface. Cut tomatoes lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips. Pile up strips and cut horizontally into 1/4-inch pieces. Cover and refrigerate.

Chill 4 plates. Combine orange juice, 1 tablespoon green peppercorns and salt in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat and reduce until only 2/3 cup remains. Mixture should be thick and syrupy.

Transfer liquid to bowl and cool to room temperature. Beat in oil to make glaze. If mixture has very shiny appearance and seems like it’s going to separate, add few drops water or orange juice.

To serve, spoon glaze onto chilled plates. Arrange sliced fish on top. Garnish with orange sections, remaining 1 tablespoon green peppercorns and chopped tomatoes. Makes 4 servings.

VINAIGRETTE OF BRAISED SOUP VEGETABLES

1 medium carrot

1 small bunch celery

4 small leeks

1 medium turnip, peeled

4 parsley roots, peeled

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Quarter carrot lengthwise. Trim and discard top 2 inches of celery and quarter remaining. Remove green parts of leeks. Slice turnip into 3/8-inch-thick slabs. Trim parsley roots and cut into quarters lengthwise.

Combine vegetables with garlic, coriander and salt in saucepan large enough to handle them. Add water. Cover pan and cook over high heat until vegetables are tender. Remove each from water as done and drain on paper towels. Place in bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Add vinegar to liquid in saucepan and boil until reduced by 2/3. Remove from heat and pour liquid into mixing bowl. Cool. Add dill. Vigorously beat in olive oil. Arrange vegetables on platter. Pour sauce over and serve. Makes 4 servings.

RACK OF LAMB WITH BACON VINAIGRETTE

2 (about 4 pounds) trimmed lamb racks, 8 ribs each

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 pound bacon, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

1/2 cup fresh or canned low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Have butcher trim lamb racks, exposing bone. Remove outer layer of fat and discard. Place lamb in glass dish and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, coriander, kosher salt and pepper. Cover and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Pat lamb dry and place fat-side up in roasting pan. Bake at 450 degrees 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to roast another 15 minutes for medium-rare, 18 to 20 minutes for medium.

Place bacon in 10-inch skillet over medium heat and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Set skillet aside.

Remove lamb from oven and pour off fat. Add chicken broth and stir to dissolve, scraping up any brown bits that have stuck to bottom of pan. Pour liquid into skillet with bacon.

At serving, cut lamb into chops and arrange on platter. Pour any juices from lamb into saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Stir in mustard. Remove from heat. Beat in remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Pour sauce over lamb. Makes 4 servings.