Chicken Stock Recipe
Chicken stock is incredibly versatile. You can use it as a base for soups and sauces, a cooking liquid for rice or risotto, for braising poultry or vegetables, and so on. A few tips:- The neck, back, ribs and wings are excellent for making chicken stock. Best of all, however, are the feet.
- Always start with cold water. This helps extract more collagen, giving the stock more body.
- Don't let the stock boil. It should stay at a gentle simmer.
- Don't stir the stock as it simmers! All you need to do while it simmers is skim the scum off the top, and add water if it drops too low.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
- 5 lbs chicken bones
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium rib celery, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
- -------- For Sachet: (see note) --------
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 3-4 fresh parsley stems
- 3-4 whole black peppercorns
- 1 whole clove
Preparation:
- Make a sachet d'epices by tying the thyme, peppercorns, clove, parsley stems and bay leaf into a piece of cheesecloth.
- Rinse chicken bones in cold water and transfer to a heavy-bottomed stockpot.
- Add enough cold water to the pot to completely cover the bones — about 5 quarts.
- Bring pot to a boil, then immediately drain and rinse bones.
- Return the blanched bones to the pot and again cover with fresh, cold water.
- Bring pot to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
- Skim off the scum that rises to the surface.
- Add chopped carrots, celery and onion, (also called mirepoix) to the pot along with the sachet; tie the sachet string to the stockpot handle for easy retrieval later.
- Simmer for about 4 hours, continuing to skim the impurities that rise to the surface. Liquid will evaporate, so make sure there's always enough water to cover the bones.
- After 4 hours, remove from the heat and strain the stock through a sieve lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. Cool the stock quickly, using an ice bath if necessary, and then refrigerate or freeze.
NOTE: For an illustration of what a sachet, see this glossary entry on the sachet d'epices.
