Corn Stock

If the idea of making any kind of homemade stock sounds daunting, we promise that you will be cured of that the first time you do it. It's surprisingly easy and doesn't involve much more than throwing a few ingredients into a stock pot with water and letting it do a slow simmer on the stove for a couple of hours. Yes, that is slightly more work than buying a container or can of it in the store, but the results are worth the effort. Why? No unpronounceable ingredients, additives, excess salt, no fat—you get to control exactly what goes into it.

So why a corn stock, instead of a regular vegetable stock? The sweet, beautiful flavor of fresh corn is unbeatable. We definitely recommend saving up some of summer's sugary ears and using them to make batches of corn stock for the freezer. That way, you will have a little bit of that summer flavor year-round. It is definitely possible to make the stock with only the ears, once you've used the kernels for something else. But keeping the ears whole will add more flavor and sweetness to the stock. We balance out the natural sugars with spicy black peppercorns, fresh garlic, and fragrant bay leaves for great flavor.

Once you have homemade corn stock, what can you do with it? Firstly, it makes an amazing base for homemade soup since it delivers so much more flavor than just plain water. Use it to thin out sauces or as an ingredient in a creamy béchamel. Cook rice in it instead of water. Or, even better, heat it up and use it as the stock for your risotto recipes. All your dishes will be enhanced by the flavor of this homemade stock.

Making certain kinds of meat stocks can be more involved. For example, ultra-rich veal stock, the basis of every delicious meat sauce you've ever wished you could make, involves roasting bones. But vegetable stocks are simple and quickly prepped.