Another Trick of the Trade (or TOT as I will now refer to them) -Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is a fantastic tool. In most professional kitchens a line cook will always have a container of chicken stock at the ready (veal, if it’s an extra fancy restaurant). You can make your own and freeze it. In fact some people freeze it in ice cube trays so as to have handy little portions of it. I will gladly admit I don’t do this. I like short cuts so I have many cans and cartons of ready made chicken stock in my pantry. They work just fine and organic and free range ones are readily available now.
Stock adds depth. When reduced stock becomes increasingly rich and thick and creates a sticky base that carries flavor in a way that is similar to fat (even if the stock is fat free!). If I want to create any kind of sauce for something I’ve just sautéed in a pan, I throw in some chicken stock, let it boil down (reduce) and voila, yummy (see recipe for Chicken with Artichoke, Tomato and Capers). Chicken stock is very accepting of other flavors so you can use it for pork, beef, duck, anything with a stronger flavor than chicken will take over and the stock will just act as a base to build on. Try cooking rice with stock, or better yet, try Arroz con Pollo. I will put my recipe for this up at a later date.
Here’s a little trick for something you may have seen in a restaurant and wondered how they did it. Have you ever been served baby carrots with a shiny glaze on them? This is very easy to do. In a sauté pan place a bit of stock, maybe ¼ of a cup, a lump of butter, a pinch of sugar. Heat to when it starts to bubble and throw in the already cooked carrots and salt and pepper. Swirl around while it cooks and you will see the glaze start to form as the stock reduces and the sugar caramelizes slightly (you don’t want it to brown). This should happen quickly; you don’t want a lot of liquid to start with so use your judgment.