Gelatin: A Thrifty Solution for Hungry Houseplants

Spring's frolicking everywhere now, and that's my prompt to attend the needs of our houseplants. Though they may not create the same dazzling spectacles as their outdoor cousins, houseplants also go through growth cycles, but are in much greater need of human care and attention.

Three minerals are necessary for any plant's healthy growth – nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which comprise the main ingredients in most commercial fertilizers. Nitrogen, in particular, is required to make amino acids and proteins crucial for healthy foliage and lush blooms. Unfortunately, almost 80% of earth's nitrogen is in the atmosphere, a form plants are unable to assimilate. Instead, most plants acquire nitrogen from the soil and/or water in which they live. For outdoor plants, bacteria converts nitrogen released during decomposition of dead flora and fauna into a form plants can absorb. As housplants are confined to containers they will, over time, deplete vital elements from their growing medium, having no carrion nor enough decaying vegetation to feed them.

Signs of soil-exhaustion will become particularly evident at this time of year. When nitrogen-deprived, chloroplasts in a plant's cells begin breaking down causing older leaves to turn yellow or brown, newer growth to look stunted or paler than usual, and/or the under side of the leaves to turn a red or purple hue. Easier wilting, even when watered as usual, is another sign the soil's viabily is deteriorating.

Transplanting can solve the worst cases of soil malnurishment. However, some plants favour meagre mediums and others are persnickety, prefering minimal handling or confining containment. Transplating these types of plants can cause even greater problems. Instead, you can sustain nitrogen levels with regular feedings. Commercial fertilizers are potent and some can burn more sensitive plants. For those plants a slow-release nourishment, applied regularly – from once a month to twice a year depending on each plant's nutrient requirements – works better. I use a solution of plain gelatin and water, and that keeps our houseplants flourishing. Here's how to make that solution:

Dissolve one tablespoon of powdered (plain) gelatin in one cup of boiling water; when thoroughly dissolved, add 3 cups of cold water; when solution is completely cooled, feed plants sparingly and store the remainder in a glass container; stir well before each use.

All plants need nitrogen, but houseplants are truly reliant on us to supply it. Spring is a good time to check for soil depletion, although houseplants, with longer and more varied growth cycles than outdoor plants, are best sustained by regular feedings. If you're looking for a good low-dose, slow-release, non-toxic source of nitrogen for your hungry houseplants, gelatin makes a thrifty solution!

Confessions of a Stocker

I admit it. I'm a stocker. It all started innocently enough with a simple home-made chicken soup, but quickly escalated to stocking rice pilaffs, wine reductions and seafood chowders. It's become an obsession. I can't shop for certain groceries without envisioning their stocking potential.

Ham – joint-in of course – makes a delicious stock for split-pea soup. A turkey is mentally stripped of its roasted meat, its carcass tossed in a stock pot with Mirepoix (onions, celery and carrots.) A whole fish or in-the-shell shellfish and I fantasize about Bouillabaisse.

But this is more than just another foodie obsession. Stocking is frugal activity. No, really! If you want healthy, flavourful meals on a budget, then stocking is the way to achieve it. Good stock not only enhances the flavour of meals, the natural gelatine has wonderful health benefits. Perhaps the most frugal aspect of stocking is that nothing goes to waste. Any leftover bones with a little meat on them can provide a few cups of stock that could later enhance some ramen noodles with veg. When vegetables age faster than they're eaten, they can be tossed into a stock pot together with some onion, celery and carrot, and brewed into a completely vegetarian stock – a light and flavourful addition to brown rice pilaf.

For beef stock, alone, I buy bone. However, the cost of good soup bones varies radically, so I make my purchase when the quality is highest – good amount of meat on or marrow in the bones – and when prices are lowest. Meaty beef bones need browning in a hot oven before being added to Mirepoix and water, and produce high amounts of gelatine. On the rare occasion I find a bone-in beef roast, the leftovers are sure to hit the stock pot, though usually produce less gelatine than soup bones.

Brown stocks are made from cooked-meat and bones and clear stocks are made with raw-meat and bones, the latter producing greater amounts of gelatine. A whole stewing fowl – excellent flavour for much less cost (and fat skimming) than a fryer – can make several cups of clear stock and be price-competitive with popular store brands. Turkey legs can be a cost-effective choice for making clear turkey stock. Recently, we found whole, fresh turkeys and were able to butcher them at home. The breasts became roasts, the best leg, wing and back meat was run through the grinder to become lean and hearty turkey burger, and the remaining carcass went into a stock pot. That bird yielded two roasts (which, bought separately, would've cost the equivalent price of the whole turkey,) six pounds of burger, and sixteen cups of wiggly-giggly gold: clear turkey stock.

I won't stock in summer, though – that season is steamy enough! But, once stocking becomes obsession, even summer can't stop the yearning. And, not just any stock will do. Nothing – and I mean nothing! – compares to home-made stock. Store brands may do, in a pinch, but their flavours and textures are bland. If you want superior taste and texture, then home-made stocks produce the rich gelatine most store brands lack. Gelatine not only carries flavour molecules on a silky, savoury base, it's rich in valuable nutrients. Without the gelatine, flavours are elusive and the texture watery.

Water, however, is the base of every stock and quality must be considered. If your tap water tastes funky, the stock will too. Filtering water can solve this problem, so plan ahead and have 12-20 cups ready. About a half-hour into the simmer, impurities in the meat and bone will rise to the surface in the form of foam. Gently skim this from the surface. This process can take a long while but, once impurities no longer rise, seasoning can be added according to the base protein or featured vegetable. Bouquet Garni, a collection of complimentary herbs tied together with string, provide aromatic notes and subtler flavours than most spices. Flavours intensify as the stock reduces during its cooking time and, while certain seasonings are important additions, they should be used sparingly or whole. For instance, whole peppercorns add a subtler flavour and less heat than ground pepper will. Salt is essential in drawing out flavours but, as stocks are primarily ingredients in other dishes, limiting salt when making them better enables adjusting that common seasoning in those future dishes.

Stock freezes well, too. Up to three to four months. Remember to label and date the containers and cycle your stock for maximum freshness.

Those containers of gelatinous goodness will come in handy on cooler summer days – that's when my craving for risotto hits hardest. I'm stocking up now, before summer's swelter sets in. I figure several containers each of turkey, chicken, and beef stock, should get me through the season's comfort-food crises.