Once you make your own chicken stock, it’s hard to imagine returning to the store-bought variety. Paul’s simple recipe uses humble chicken scraps instead of an expensive whole bird. Since we are fans of roast chicken, we regularly have the fixings for this simple stock.
After scarfing down a roast chicken dinner, Paul collects all the bones and tosses them in the stockpot, then covers them with water and a few other goodies. Super-slow overnight cooking pulls all the good stuff from the chicken bones and turns tap water into a sumptuous house broth. In the morning, we have a batch of stock to use for soups, stews, and risottos. If we aren’t going to use the stock right away, we store it in the freezer until needed.
makes 6 cups
1 whole chicken carcass
1 yellow onion, quartered
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
12 black peppercorns
Handful of sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley and/or thyme
1 heaping teaspoon sea salt
14 cups water
Place the chicken carcass, onion, celery, carrots, peppercorns, parsley, and salt in a large stockpot. Pour in the water until the ingredients are fully covered by a couple inches. Partially cover the pot and cook for 10 to 12 hours over the lowest possible heat. You never want this brew to come to a boil (trust me, eventually it will reach a gentle simmer).
After 10 to 12 hours of gentle simmering, turn off the heat and let the stock cool to room temperature. Strain out the solids with a fine-mesh strainer, then place your stock in the fridge. Once the liquid has chilled, scrape off any fat that forms on the top.
Your stock is ready to use.