The Recipe Room

It feels very satisfying to cook with your own home-made chicken stock, instead of crumbling in a stock cube.  Yes, it does take time and effort, so make enough to freeze it in portions; then you can store it for several weeks in the freezer, or keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days.  You could make this basic chicken stock once a month to tide you through until you make it up again. (For one of many recipes with chicken stock, try this chicken and corn chowder.)

Ingredients:

• 2.5kg chicken backs, wings and necks
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 3cm pieces
• 3 celery sticks, cut into 3cm pieces
• 2 medium onions, peeled, cut in half, then each half into 4 pieces
• 1 bay leaf, dried
• 1 tsp black peppercorns, whole
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Steps:

1. You will need an 8 litre capacity pan or stock pot.  Start by frying the onions in the olive oil on a medium heat in the pot until they are beautifully soft and golden.  Between 5 and 10 minutes should be enough.
2. Add all of the chicken pieces and fill the pan with water until the chicken is over-covered by about 3cm.  Add the salt, and then bring the water up to the boil, keeping the heat at medium. Using a ladle, regularly skim off the fat and any scum that rise to the surface.
3. Once the water reaches the boil, add the celery, carrots, bay leaf and peppercorns, and reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer.  Cook like this for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours, skimming the surface of the stock regularly.
4. Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place these over a large bowl.  Strain the stock through the sieve lining and discard the solids that gather in the cloth.
5. Separate off the stock that you wish to use immediately, skim the fat off the surface and incorporate it into the recipe of your choice.  To store any stock that you will not be using straight away, let it cool completely.  You can speed up this process by setting the bowl of stock in an ice water bath.  Once completely cooled, separate and store the stock in freezer-proof containers, or in an airtight container in the fridge.  Let the stock set in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours to allow the fat to accumulate at the top.  Skim the fat off before use.  Do the same for frozen stock: allow it to defrost in the fridge until the fat rises to the surface, and then skim it off.

Duration: 15 minutes to prepare.  Up to 2 ½ hours to cook.

Recipe for: About 2.5 litres of stock

Tags: Basic Chicken Stock, bay leaf, carrots, celery, chicken, chicken backs, chicken dish, chicken necks, chicken recipes, chicken wings, olive oil, onions, peppercorns, salt

This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 April, 2012 at 11:51 am by Charlie Locke and is filed under Main Courses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.