(article, Culinate staff)
Sure, well-made stock is supposed to be the basis of all good Western cooking. But it's labor-intensive to prepare and, as Francis Lam recently admitted on Salon, there are perfectly tasty ways to cheat. Lam gives a recipe for classic meat stock, but then shares tips for hastening production on brown stock (the kind that relies on roasted bones), veggie stock, and overall time-saving. Get simmering.