Making Chicken Stock


                 
Soup and Chili Recipes



Making chicken stock is good for the soul. There is something very comforting about having a pot of boiling goodness bubbling away in the kitchen. Stock is so versatile. Once made you can make a ton of different soups, chili, stews and sauces. The bonus of making it yourself? You control the ingredients, including unwanted additives and allergens as well as the salt content. Below is a basic recipe for chicken stock. You can vary it in many ways:
  • Use the carcass of an already roasted chicken. This offers more depth of flavor
  • Use cilantro instead of parsley. Changes the flavor.
  • Add leeks and fennel root to the liquid. Adds sweetness to the broth.
  • Use other poultry fowl for a different essence.
  • Add clean, empty egg shells for added calcium.
You really cannot mess it up, so go for it, make some stock!

Ingredients:
  • 1 whole chicken or the leftovers and bones a roast chicken
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut in fours (leftover mini carrots from the kids lunch boxes also work)
  • 2 stalks of celery cleaned and cut into fours
  • 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and cut into eights (leaks, scallions and chives can be substituted
  • One bunch of parsley stems* (or other herb if you are looking for a certain flav)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp pepper corns
  • 1Tbsp sea salt
Directions:
  1. Put the chicken, vegetables and herbs in a large stock pot.
  2. Add enough water to cover everything by about 2 inches.
  3. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and let cook partially covered for 1- 2 hours until it starts to reduce by 1/4 of its original volume. Partially covered means the pot's lid is slightly a skew allowing some steam to escape.
    • Alternative method is to put all the ingredients in a slow cooker set to low and cook over night.  In the morning you will have lovely soup.
  4. Turn off the heat and let cool until it is easy to work with.
  5. Set up a fine sieve or strainer over a bowl.
  6. Remove the large pieces of bones and vegetables with a slotted spoon and discard.
  7. Pour the pot of liquid into the strainer slowly, allowing the liquid to go into the bowl while all the solids remain in the strainer.
  8. If you end up with a lot of bits of meat or spices in the liquid, restrain the broth again using a cheese cloth or a coffee filter in the strainer. You want a liquid that is free of debris.
    • At this point you could add cooked chicken, veggies and noodles and have a great chicken soup.
  9. Let the liquid cool completely, and then pour into muffin tins or ice cube trays. A regular muffin tin is 1/3 cup in volume, a large muffin tin is ¾ cup in volume, and an ice cube is ¼ cup in volume.
  10. Freeze the broth then pop them out of the tins and put into a large freezer bag to be used later. To make removal of the broth easier, you can line the muffin tins with plastic wrap first.
*Tip: When you have fresh parsley and you are only using the leaves, take the stems and put them in a re-sealable baggie and pop them in the freezer. You can keep adding to the stems in the bag as you use the leaves for other recipes. When it comes time to make stock, you will have plenty of stems. Stems are used instead of the leaves because the leaves will turn your stock, soup or sauce green, the stems do not.