MEMBER RECIPE
The BEST Chicken Stock Recipe
By gingerkid
Difficulty: Medium |
I am a HUGE fan of soup. I’m constantly tweaking and developing new recipes and have finally discovered the best method for creating a basic chicken stock that has both richness and depth. This recipe can be very time consuming (I spent an ENTIRE day simmering the pot), but the result is well worth the time spent.
INGREDIENTS
- One whole chicken, cut into pieces (you can usually find a pre-cut chicken at your local market)
- 1 large yellow onion, quartered
- 3 ribs celery, cut into thirds
- 3 large carrots, cut into chunks (don't bother peeling them)
- 1 head garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 1 tablespoon "21 Salute Seasoning" - found at Trader Joe's plus 10 or so peppercorns (or any combination dried spices such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf). Tie the herbs up in some cheesecloth to keep the broth clear
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- Salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the chicken pieces on a roasting pan and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Roast the chicken at 350 for about an hour.
- Pour off the fat from the roasting pan and deglaze with about 1/4 cup water (you could also use a little wine). Pour the juices into a large soup pot.
- Once the meat is cool, remove the skin and discard. Remove the meat from the bones and set aside for later.
- With a heavy knife, crack the chicken bones, exposing the marrow. This is a very important step, as the richness of the broth comes from the bones, so don’t skip it!
- Add chicken meat, bones, and vegetables to the soup pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for at least 3 hours. You can let the pot simmer for as long as you like, just keep an eye on it. Periodically skim the impurities from the surface. You can always add more water if the pot over-reduces.
- Add the herbs and peppercorns (wrapped in cheesecloth) and worcestershire sauce and simmer another hour or so.
- Strain the entire pot through cheesecloth into a clean pot and salt to taste.
Member recipes are not tested by the CHOW food team.
I know that chicken stock is an important ingredient to some recipes, but not to all. It seems these days every recipe calls for chicken stock when plain old fashioned water would work just as well. I made a great lentil soup this past week and used water. With the bay leaf, salt and pepper I added, it was very flavorful. I think the chicken broth food companies have duped us into thinking we...+READ
I know that chicken stock is an important ingredient to some recipes, but not to all. It seems these days every recipe calls for chicken stock when plain old fashioned water would work just as well. I made a great lentil soup this past week and used water. With the bay leaf, salt and pepper I added, it was very flavorful. I think the chicken broth food companies have duped us into thinking we must always use stock. I do make my own from time to time, but it is costly and seems wasteful to me. There is so much to discard. And btw, those store bought rotisserie chickens you buy that are kind of an odd texture but taste good, that is where your broth came from - the stuff in thye box or can. The good food value and the juices have been boiled right out of those lovely birds so you're buying dressed up leftovers. My 93-year-old friend and neighbor told me that trick and I finally have an answer to the question I've had: what is wrong with this chicken?-COLLAPSE
I made my own stock one time and decided I would never do it again. There are just too many high quality bases out there that allow you to get the same flavor for a fraction of the time and cost.
"One whole chicken, cut into pieces (you can usually find a pre-cut chicken at your local market)"
Go for the necks and backs.....or do some "chicken pickin" to rescue the beautiful meat.
Is this a broth or a stock? A stock should not use the entire chicken or waste precious meat.
Try pouring the pan juices into a glass
put in freezer or refrigerator (overnight)
when fat conjeals remove fat and return drippings
to your soup.
I save all bones and drippings and giblets (not liver)
whenever I cook chicken and freeze them.
I either freeze liver separatly or stick it in the cavity
for a cooks treat.
I make a gelatinous stock with the frozen bones etc.
freeze them...+READ
Try pouring the pan juices into a glass
put in freezer or refrigerator (overnight)
when fat conjeals remove fat and return drippings
to your soup.
I save all bones and drippings and giblets (not liver)
whenever I cook chicken and freeze them.
I either freeze liver separatly or stick it in the cavity
for a cooks treat.
I make a gelatinous stock with the frozen bones etc.
freeze them and m-COLLAPSE