Glace de Volaille (Chicken Glaze) Recipe

In the culinary arts, glazes are concentrated reductions of ordinary stock that can be used to fortify sauces and add flavor to other dishes. They store well in the freezer, so in a pinch you can add water and turn it into stock again.

They're also a snap to make — you simply reduce the stock (that is, simmer it) until most of the liquid evaporates, producing a thick, syrupy glaze.

This glace recipe, called glace de volaille, is a concentrated reduction of chicken stock, so it's great for flavoring sauces or other dishes that you're going to serve with chicken.

Note that this type of glaze (or glace as it's called in French, and pronounced "gloss") is different than the type of sweet glaze you might apply to a ham while you're roasting it. This kind of glaze is flavorful as a result of concentrating the rich flavor of the chicken stock from which it originates, rather than by the addition of sugar or other seasonings.

Speaking of seasoning: If you make chicken glace from store-bought chicken stock, make sure it's unsalted. Otherwise your finished glace will be insanely salty.

By the same token, if you try to make chicken glace by reducing store-bought chicken broth, it won't be as syrupy as if you made it from true chicken stock. That's because it will lack collagen — the protein that produces that marvelous jiggly stuff on a leftover roasted chicken. A proper chicken stock should jell just like that, and so when you reduce it, it will have even more body.

Fortunately, it's quite easy to make your own chicken stock. Indeed, chicken stock is the easiest stock you can make yourself. You can use wing tips, or feet, which are loaded with collagen, or you can simply simmer the carcass from a roasted chicken.

This recipe below starts with a quart of stock, and will produce about a cup of chicken glaze.

Time Required: About 1 hour

Here's How:

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the stock to a boil and then lower the heat to medium. As the stock simmers, you may see scum or other impurities rise to the surface. Skim these impurities off with a ladle.
2. Once the stock has reduced by a little over half, pour it through a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into smaller pot. Lower the heat a bit and continue reducing, skimming as needed.
3. The glaze is finished when the liquid has reduced by about three fourths and it's thick and syrupy. When you stir it, the glaze should coat the back of your spoon.
4. Let the glaze cool, transfer it to a container with a lid and refrigerate or freeze.