A few weeks ago I made chicken stock from scratch. While I was making it, I was thinking how similar homemade stock is to breast milk. You know how people say breast milk is liquid gold because its so nourishing? Well, homemade chicken stock is like that as well, and it really looks like liquid gold. The cookbook, Nourishing Traditions, quotes Ageless Remedies from Mother's Kitchen, when describing chicken stock, saying it "heals the nerves, improves digestion, reduces allergies, relaxes and gives strength.
Its also very tasty. Just yesterday, I was doing my Once A Month Cooking and I made Chicken Pot Pie with some of my broth. I have made the dish before, but this time using my own broth, it was much more flavorful.
Here is the recipe from Nourishing Traditions:
1 whole free range chicken or 2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts ( I used pieces from 4 chickens and doubled the recipe)
4 quarts cold filtered water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 celery sticks, coarsly chopped
1 bunch parsley
Place chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar and all vegetables except parsley. Let stand 30 minutes to an hour. Bring to a boil, and remove scum that rises to the top. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 to 24 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add the parsley.
Remove chicken pieces with slotted spoon. Strain the stock into a large bowl and put in the fridge till the fat rises to the top and congeals. Skim off this fat and reserve the stock in covered containers in your fridge or freezer.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for stopping by Monday Mania to share this important post. Folks NEED to be making their own stock and chicken is certainly the one to have on hand at all times. I have some duck stock (from a duck we had over Easter) thawing as I type this .. am going to make a super tasty sauce with it tonight for dinner! Hope to "see" you again at future additions!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! I can't even imagine cooking duck, let alone duck stock...one day though! You will "see" me again for sure. I am a newbie to WAP, but I am committed to making traditional and healthy foods for my family!
ReplyDeleteWhat did you do with the strained left overs??
ReplyDeleteHi Roohi! I either compost them (because the nutrients and flavors have been sucked out of them) or give them to my dog. :)
ReplyDeleteRight then I'm making my first ever pot of stock right now... I have tried before but didn't know to put in all the other veges doh!
ReplyDeleteI like to cook stock in my crock pot overnight on low while we sleep :)
ReplyDelete@meg, that is really funny. It will have so much flavor. Let me know how it turned out. Did you get lots of gelatin? That is supposed to be the really nutrient dense part.
ReplyDelete@Stacy...I have never tried in a slow cooker before! I do leave ours on the stove top overnight on low too.
I also make my own stock - vegetable and chicken stock. I make the vegetable stock out of the normally wasted bits of vegetables and it is delicious!
ReplyDeleteI keep a large snap bag in the freezer and pop my onion, leek, carrot and celery ends, as well as carrot peelings in there until the bag is about 3/4 full. Then I pop the lot in the slow cooker with a stick of cinnamon, a bouquet garni (this is like a tea bag full of mixed herbs) and some fresh lemon thyme, a bay leaf and some peppercorns and fill the slow cooker to the top with warm water. I simmer on low overnight and when I get up around 5-6am I turn the slow cooker off and pop in 2 lemon wedges while it cools. After breakfast is done, I strain the liquid and freeze. I use a 6 litre slow cooker. Not sure how many quarts that is.
If making chicken stock, I use frozen carcasses from when we have roast chicken. 2 carcasses and a bag of 'chicken stock bits' from the market usually make a lovely combination. I use tarragon in place of lemon thyme for the chicken stock.
These stocks are almost free to make and help me save money and reduce my household waste going in to land fill. The worm farm misses out a little bit - but they have plenty of other things to eat!
Can you poach a whole chicken so you have the cooked chicken as well as the broth or do you need to use the left over bony parts?
ReplyDeleteYou can poach the whole chicken. In fact, I think that is how some people prefer to do it, so the broth has more nutrients.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I'm trying to make better choices for my family and am a complete newby to scratch cooking. Do you just buy the "bony parts" or how do you come up with them and which ones do you use? Thank you for your direction.
ReplyDelete@Unkwown...no need to apologize, gotta start somewhere! I usually roast a whole chicken and use all the meat and then use the bones to make a broth.
ReplyDeleteI make my stock with whole chickens then you can shred the chicken and put it in ziplock bags to use for meals then pressure can the chicken stock. I know not a lot of people my age (24) are comfortable using a pressure canner but It works so much better for us. You don't have to take up freezer space or wait for it to thaw out when you need it! :)
ReplyDeleteAnother clueless cook here trying to do better- what kind of vinegar do you use? Thanks! :)
ReplyDelete