Home-Made Chicken Stock

Serves	Makes about 600ml to 1 litre
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	1 hour, 30 minutes
Total time	1 hour, 40 minutes
Meal type	Soup
Misc	Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A delicious home-made chicken stock, that will enhance any dish that uses stock as part of the ingredients, as well as being a thrifty and cost effective way to use all of a whole chicken. Use the stock for soups, stews, curries, casseroles, sauces, pies or any other recipe calling for chicken stock.

Ingredients

1 chicken carcass
1 celery stalks including green leaves (trimmed and cut in half)
2 carrots (peeled and cut in half)
2 onions (peeled and cut in half)
2 fresh bay leaves
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cold water

Optional

leftover gravy

Note

Directions

Step 1	Place the chicken carcass in a large lidded pan. (to cut back on calories and fat, I sometimes strip the chicken of all the skin)
Step 2	Add the vegetables and bay leaves and cover the chicken and vegetables with water, to just above them.
Step 3	Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, you can always adjust it later if it is not seasoned enough.
Step 4	Place the lid on the pan and bring to the boil, before reducing the heat and allowing to gently simmer for between 1 and 1 and a half hours.
Step 5	Allow to cool slightly and then skim any surface fat off with a tablespoon. Stain the liquid through a metal sieve into a bowl and then allow the chicken carcass and vegetables to cool until you can handle them.
Step 6	Strip the chicken of any remaining meat, being careful to not include any small bones. Cut the vegetables into small dice and add them with the chicken meat to the stock. Add any leftover gravy now if using.
Step 7	Check the stock does not contain any bones and then allow to cool before storing in fridge for upto 2 days or freezing, if the chicken was cooked from fresh and not frozen.
Step 8	Before using the stock, adjust the seasoning if needed.
Step 9	Use the stock for soups, stews, curries, casseroles, sauces, pies or any other recipe calling for chicken stock.