Best Tasting Chicken Stock Ever!!!

From Jane Brody's Good Food Cookbook


Ingredients

  • 2 pounds chicken scraps, including some bones
  • Cold water to cover (at least 2 quarts)
  • 1 large onion, peeled and stuck with 3 or 4 cloves
  • 1 large clove garlic, peeled
  • 1 or 2 ribs celery, halved crosswise, with leaves
  • 1 or 2 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 or more parsley sprigs or 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
  • 1 teaspoon tarragon
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dillweed
  • Salt, if desired, to taste
  • 12 peppercorns or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.


Directions

  • Place all the ingredients in a large pot with a cover, Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat, partially cover the pot, and simmer the stock for at least 1 hour. The longer the stock cooks, the richer it will become. But don't cook it until the broth evaporates!
  • Pour the stock through a fine strainer, sieve, or cheesecloth into a fat separating measuring cup, bowl or other suitable container. Press on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. (I also run the final batch of stock through a large coffee filter for the clearest broth.)
  • In using the fat skimmer, decant the fat-free broth into containers for storage (I use clean cottage cheese container filled to within a 1" of the top -- room needed for expansion in the freezer). Otherwise, refrigerate the broth until the fat hardens enough for easy removal. (Depending on the amount of gelatinous protein in the chicken scraps, the broth may gel at refrigerator temperatures. You want to skim only the thin fatty layer off the top.)


Homemaking Tip

  • You can use this delicious broth as you would any chicken broth but it is especially good as soup. Bring it back to a boil and add sliced carrots and celery and some broad noodles for a terriffic chicken soup. Try freezing some stock in ice cube trays and then transferring them to a ziplock bag. Great for when you need just a little stock like in stir-steaming vegetables.


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Copyright © 2006 by Cheryl K. Qualls. Last updated 16-Feb-2006. All rights reserved.