Chicken Stock

As September sneaks in and warmer weather departs for the southern regions, one begins to contemplate richer and heartier foods. Soups, stews, chili’s, curries, and all manner of braises.

Of these one ingredient is almost always present, a stock. My preferred stock is a chicken stock, (unless doing a pho), it is ALWAYS in my kitchen. Lately the proliferation of boxed stocks has been amazing, but at the end of the day, these can be so bland, watery, bringing so little to the dish.

So much simpler to create a much better product.

As the great home address consolidation continues, from four down to two, and one by the end of the year, I find myself reviewing my kitchen(s), and updating my eventual last pantry. I now have the option to equip that pantry with things that I use regularly, and make the originals of those things . (see this missave about chicken stock)

One item of note, my food critics have shrunk dramatically in numbers, but have elevated themselves in demand of quality, taste, and ease of preparations. I suspect this will force a general update in my skills as well.

Chicken Stock

A chicken slow simmered with vegetables and aromatics and water to create the basis for so many soups and stews

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Course Ingredient, Soup

Cuisine Global

Servings 3 quarts

Calories 978 kcal

Equipment

• Stock Pot
• Large / Fine Sieve
• Slotted Spoon

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 lb Chicken parts one rotisserie chicken
• 1 ea Yellow Onion Large, rough chopped
• 2 ea Carrots Peeled, rough chopped
• 2 ea Celery Ribs Washed, rough chopped
• 4 cloves garlic cloves Peeled, smashed
• 1 tbsp Poultry Seasoning Make your own
• 1 tbsp Black PepperCorns crushed
• 2 tbsp Butter Real butter
• 2 ea Bay Leaves
• 4 quarts Water Filtered is nice

Poultry Seasoning

• 3 tsp sage finely ground
• 1 tsp rosemary finely ground
• 2 tsp thyme finely ground
• 1 tsp Black Pepper finely ground

Instructions

 

Poultry Seasoning

• Mix all
• Store in clean bottle, cover tightly

Stock

• In a large stock pot over medium high heat
• Foam out butter
• Add onions, carrots, and celery saute until onions are translucent
• add garlic and continue to saute until fragrant (~1-2 minutes)
• add chicken parts, or broken down rotisserie chicken
• continue to saute and turn chicken for an additional 3-5 minutes
• Add water, bay leaves, peppercorns, poultry seasoning, and return to a fast simmer
• Reduce heat to medium low (slow simmer)
• Cover and simmer for 2-3 hours, skimming scum occasionally, usually done by end of first hour
• When the chicken begin to fall off the bones, remove from heat and cool
• Use a slotted spoon or ladle to remove large pieces of chicken / vegetables
• Filter stock through a large sieve / cheesecloth to remove any additional solids

Notes

After filtering the stock one can return the stock to the pot and simmer for an additional one to two hours to concentrate the stock.

Note this is a stock, and the use of bones is a must for the richness of flavor and the mouth feel.  (Yes, a stock uses bones, a broth made from just meat is just that, a broth.)

(And NO, I do not do, boneless, skinless anything, all you are doing is paying someone  extra to throw away a large portion of the flavor and nutrients) 

Remember, I am all about the taste...

For a umami / collagen mouth feel and taste one can add 1 lb of chicken feet to the initial simmer.  This will provide a generous amount of collagen, and produce a jello like stock then chilled.  One can also use chicken backs and wings to provide the collagen as well.

One can always use more alliums, (onions, garlic, leeks) than specified. Some chefs will forgo peeling the alliums to extract the color from the peels.

Nutrition

Calories: 978kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 78gFat: 70gSaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 329mgSodium: 422mgPotassium: 838mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1006IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 138mgIron: 5mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!