Wondering what to do with your leftover chicken bones and scraps? Everyone should know how to make a good, flavorful chicken stock. This is a basic version that you can tweak to your liking by using more or less of whatever you have on hand. Freezes well.
Ingredients
- 8 cups (half gallon) water
- bones and bits from one large chicken or 2 small ones
- 4 large carrots
- 2 large onions, peeled and quartered
- 4 – 5 large ribs of celery, with leaves
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- large handful of herbs: thyme, basil, parsley, oregano
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
Farmers To You Ingredients:
Other Fresh and Pantry Ingredients:
- bay leaves, soy sauce, black peppercorns
Instructions
- Save all the bones, scraps and pan drippings from your next roasted chicken. If you don’t want to make stock immediately, just place in a container and freeze until you are ready.
- Place bones, scraps and pan drippings into a large soup pot. Add 8 cups of water.
- Wash carrots and remove tops. Cut into large chunks and place in pot.
- Peel 2 large onions. Place in pot.
- Wash celery ribs. Cut into large chunks and add to pot.
- Peel garlic cloves and place in pot.
- Wash fresh herbs and add, stems and all.
- Add bay leaves, peppercorns, soy sauce.
- Bring contents of pot to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for several hours. Stir occasionally. Be sure to skim off any foam that forms on top.
- Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. When done, cool in pot, then pour contents through a colander into another pot. (I often save the cooked vegetables to use in a soup of their own, pureeing them with a bit of stock or other liquid and then seasoning.)
- Let stock cool overnight. Remove any surface fat that may have formed on top.
- Pour into small containers for later use. Freeze if you don’t intend to use the stock in the next couple of days.
- Variations: add ginger root, lemon grass, chilis, white wine