Chicken Stock: Why bother?

I bother because it's healthy, versatile and economical. Whether it's for soup, sauces, risotto or basting liquid, home made chicken stock makes everything that I use it in taste so much better. Plus, with this recipe, you end up with a whole chicken that you can store and use for soups, tacos and sandwiches.
So, I got this recipe from Patricia Wells. She is another personal rock star. Her recipes are simple and really adaptable. I've tried beets or turnips instead of parsnips and I even subbed in potatoes in one batch. It doesn't work; the potato gets everywhere.

Chicken Stock

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (either whole or in parts, it should add up to one chicken)
4 Carrots
3 Medium Leeks
2 Spanish Onions
2 Celery Sprigs
2 Parsnips
1 Bouquet Garni (fresh parsley and thyme, whole peppercorns, dried tarragon, mustard seeds)
6 Quarts of Water
1 Pinch of Salt

Start with a chicken. It can be any chicken or part of a chicken. If you use parts, it should equal about 4 lbs. of meat. I have chosen a lovely grocery store chicken at $2.70 a pound!







So, you cut the chicken up into 4 pieces. Then you put the chicken in the biggest pot that you have and fill it with water so that when you stick your finger in the water and touch the top most piece of chicken, your finger should be wet to the second knuckle.



Then you turn the heat up to high and just when you start to see chunks of scum start to float to the top, turn the heat to medium and periodically, scoop the scum and fat off the top of the water into a separate dish or bowl. You keep doing this until the broth is basically clear of scum and the fat starts to look like water droplets on a freshly waxed car. I use a cheap spoon that I bent into a 90 degree angle. It works like a charm.










As you periodically skim scum, prepare the vegetables. First, take the tops off the carrots and save a little for the bouquet. Then wash and peel them. Wash and cut the celery into pieces that will fit into the pot. Cut the tops and bottoms of the leeks, and then cut them lengthwise leaving the outer layer intact. Next, wash the grit from the leeks. Now, cut the top and bottom of the onions, peel them and stick three whole cloves a piece in the onions.










Instead of having the herbs float around, make a bouquet garni. It's basically a 2 ply piece of kitchen cheesecloth. The cheesecloth and kitchen string are in every grocery store that I've ever been in; I usually need to look very hard for them. So, you take your parsley, carrot tops, thyme, peppercorns and tarragon and wrap them up in the cheesecloth and tie it up at the top. Take some scissors and trim the top of the bouquet. Then take some of the kitchen string and tie up the leeks. If you don't, they will fall apart and go all over.










Then, you add everything that you have prepared into the pot, and as much as possible, try to push some of the vegetables under the chicken. Next, you turn the heat up to get the whole thing to just boiling and then turn the heat down to low and let it simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours.












After it is done cooking, take the pot off the heat and pull everything out of the pot. Before I got those nice kitchen tongs, I used whatever I could to get the stuff out. Things that work are a couple of forks or tablespoons, a roast fork, etc. You should end up with a nice pile of vegetables and a healthy portion of chicken. Set them aside to cool.











Now, get another pot that is big enough to fit all of the stock. Take a strainer and line it with the 2 ply cheesecloth. Then pour or ladle the stock into the strainer. From here, you can let it cool a bit in the pot or transfer it to containers. I use the plastic to-go containers. They last and last and are easy to wash and reuse. Let everything cool to room temperature and then shred the chicken and put it in containers in the fridge to use later for other dishes. Take the stock and put it in the freezer. When I am using this frozen stock in a recipe, I never thaw it out beforehand. I just run some hot water over the container and pop it out into whatever dish I'm heating up and let that melt the rest of it. I hope that you enjoy making this excellent base. Thanks.