Stock

Western stocks are loaded with aromatics and many Asian stocks include ginger. This simple stock has a pure chicken flavor.

We used what the turkey has to offer to create a base for the perfect gravy .

Using turkey meat rather than just bones adds a deep richness to this stock. Although you have to buy the extra parts, you'll be happy you did; great stock is the key to outstanding gravy, and everyone knows you can never have too much of that at Thanksgiving.

This is a basic court-bouillon that can be used to poach any kind of shellfish and most firm meaty fish.

You can make this stock with a variety of fish carcasses (from nonoily fish) or with just one type — whatever your seafood market can give you. This recipe makes more stock than you'll need for the fideos with mussels , but leftovers can be frozen and used for soups, stews, and sauces.

Having broth as a tapa is an old custom that's becoming popular again in both Spain and the U.S. Food editor Ruth Cousineau set out to make just the broth, but the resulting short rib meat was so delicious (even after cooking in broth all that time) that she didn't want to waste it, so she came up with a use for it in a short rib terrine. This recipe is traditionally made with oxtails, but we substituted short ribs and beef shanks because they're easier to get in most supermarkets. If you'd like to try it with oxtails instead of ribs and shanks, use 6 pounds of oxtails (preferably from grass-fed beef, such as Niman Ranch).

Beef stock (often called brown stock) is no more difficult to make than chicken stock, and just a small amount of it can be used to great effect in all sorts of dishes.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. From Maryland to Georgia, crabs are a prized part of the African-American diet. If the crabs need to be boiled before other steps in preparation (as are the pickled shrimp above), a commercial crab boil such as Old Bay seasoning is often used. For the lucky few, though, there's homemade crab boil, an all-purpose seasoning that, besides for shrimp and crab, can also be used for crawfish.

This stock is even easier to put together than <epi:recipelink id="105266">Strong Fish Stockepi:recipelink. It does not require fish heads, only the bones of flat fish — sole, founder, halibut, or turbot — and it doesn’t call for the extra step of sweating the bones. It has a more delicate seafood flavor, and it is not as gelatinous as the Strong Fish Stock, making it very versatile. In addition to chowder and seafood stews like bouillabaisse, you can use this to make fish velouté and delicate French sauces such as Bercy (based on velouté and shallots) or bonnefemme.</epi:recipelink></epi:recipelink>

Though this pale-orange liquid may not look terribly impressive, its flavor is the very essence of tomato. In addition to using it as a base for soup, we treat it almost like lemon juice, adding a dash here and there to any of our summer recipes that call for a little extra zest.

Dashi Active time: 5 min Start to finish: 30 min Elizabeth Andoh's recipe for dashi provides more than you'll need for the dipping sauce but just enough extra for two nice bowls of miso soup: Heat up the stock and stir in a couple of tablespoons of miso, a handful of diced tofu, and a sprinkling of sliced scallion.

If there were just one stock I'd encourage you to make, this is it. Why? Because it is the foundation of more soups and sauces than any other stock I use. For this recipe, you'll need a large stockpot, a colander, and a fine-mesh strainer (or a colander lined with cheesecloth). This recipe is a component of Grill-Roasted Rack of Lamb in Red Mole and Tamarind Barbecued Duck with Smoky Plantain Crema .