Sparks from the Kitchen

I have always bought chicken stock at the store. (If you read my roast chicken post you know that this is only about the 4th chicken I’ve ever roasted.) But this time is different.  We picked most of the meat off of the bones and I put the carcass in the fridge in a container for 2 days until I had time to make the stock.  Here it is in the morning before it started cooking. Excuse the green tinge-my flourescent lights do that-but in there you can see celery, carrots, onions, parsley, thyme, peppercorns and just little flashes of what’s left of the chicken.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Ingredients:

• 1 carcass (hopefully with a litte meat still on it) from roast chicken
• 1 large yellow onion, quartered
• 1 celery stalk cut into one inch pieces
• 1 carrot cut into one inch pieces
• some peppercorns (i used about 15 or so)
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• a few sprigs of fresh parsley
• many cups of water

Instructions:

1. Place the carcass into the bottom of the cooker–you may have to cut it into a few pieces for it to fit.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients through the parsley. Stick the larger pieces down into the chicken if possible.
3. Add enough water to cover the carcass by an inch or 2.
4. Cook on low for 10 hours.
5. When finished cooking taste and add salt if desired. Let it cool in the cooker until it’s cool enough to handle then strain out everything, just leaving the liquid. Refrigerate until cold, skim off the fat and then freeze in portions to use later.

A tool like this is perfect for skimming the fat off of the top of the stock.

I carefully ladeled stock into 2 ziplock bags and poured the remaining stock throguh the strainer above into a small container and put everyone in the freezer until I’m ready to make soup or use the stock for cooking.  I opted to NOT add any salt before I froze the stock. I will add it when I use it.

Adapted from thekitchn.com recipe.