THE RELUCTANT GOURMET COOKING COMMUNITY

[Reluctant Gourmet]

I recently read somewhere when making a stock or soup or even stew for that matter you can use the insert for making pasta to hold the ingredients you are going to remove when finished.

So for example, if you were going to make a chicken stock with leftover carcass that you add vegetables and herbs, you can keep them all in the insert, simmer and when done, just remove the insert. You may have to still strain the stock but it will be a lot easier without all the other stuff.

Anyone else have any ideas for a pasta insert?

How about when steaming clams or mussels?

[Dilbert]

my "insert" is actually the old fry basket of a deep fryer that bit the dust...

by sheer coincidence it 'fits' a large pot, with lid, so I use it for many 'true' steaming tasks - vegetables, chicken, fish - sort of an aluminum bamboo stack <g>

[schllac]

I use it for steaming vegetables like broccli, caleflower,asparagus, I also shrimp in there.