CHICKEN STOCK:
When I first market shopped after our holiday, high on my priority list was the wherewithal to make chicken stock. Not only did I buy two large fresh organic chickens at 40% off the usual price, but also a whole celery, a bunch of spring onions and a bunch of young red onions, all with their tops intact to add to my stockpot.
Homemade chicken stock has a plethora of uses. I use it as the base of Asian soup meals, it adds backbone to a good risotto, enriches braised dishes and sauces and makes a delicious fortifying broth to fight off winter chills.
A pot of stock made to the proportions below yields between 5 -6 litres of soup. It should be kept refrigerated and used within a couple of days, or frozen. I freeze the skimmed and strained stock in 1 ½ – 2 litre tubs. The frozen stock can be gently melted over a low heat for immediate use.
After I had jointed the chickens in my usual fashion (see “Cheep Cheep Organic Chicken”) and frozen the meat in meal size portions for the coming weeks, the bones went into the stockpot.
To make richly flavoured chicken stock:
- Discard all the skin and fat from the carcasses of 2 chickens
- Put all the chicken bones into a 10 litre stock pot
- Thoroughly wash celery tops, onion tops and 2 large carrots
- Roughly chop the vegetables and add to the stockpot.
- Fill the pot with cold water then bring to the boil.
- Remove the scum that floats to the surface.
- Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 ½ hours.
- Strain the stock through a coarse sieve then chill overnight. Discard the bones and vegetables.
- The next day, lift the fat off the surface and strain the stock through a fine sieve.
- The chicken stock is now ready for use, or to freeze.
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 