Chicken Stock is an essential building block of flavors in the culinary world. It is a great way to start to build rich sauces. It allows you to bring a ton of flavors to dishes that you might not think were influenced by a stock.
I have purchased my fair share of chicken stocks off the grocery store shelves. I am amazed at the variety out there, and what amazes me more is the actual cost of some of these things. After one session of making this Rich Brown Chicken Stock – I was able to produce it at $0.45 a quart. The last time I was in Walmart it was at $2.50 at the lowest, a quick look at the ingredient lists – and you start to question is that the best $2.50 spent to fill my family with those preservatives.
This is best if you make this in batches, and if you store it properly you can have this for two months. That’s right – frozen in air tight containers, you will yield stock at $0.45 a quart and only have to do this every couple of months.
As we are all trying to get more healthy, yet still yield flavors so we don’t feel like it’s a diet – this is a tasty way to get there.
Ingredients:
- 4 lbs chicken parts, wings, backs, carcasses and necks. Be sure they are rinsed in cool water
- 1 cup coarsely chopped yellow onions
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
- 6 garlic cloves, smash these with the side of your heavy knife – leave whole for easy retrieval
- 1 cup of dry red wine
- 1 – 6 oz can of tomato paste
- 5 sprigs fresh parsley
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 375º F.
- Place your chicken parts in the bottom of a very large roasting pan. This should be in a single layer as we are trying to get the chicken very brown. Roast until you have a brown bird. Turn half way through the roasting period. This should take about 2 hours.
- Remove the pan from the oven, add your onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Stir to mix well. Continue to roast until the vegetables start to soften, this should be another 45 minutes.
- Move this mixture to a large heavy stockpot. Place the roasting pan on two burners (or one really big one if you have it) and place on medium-high heat. Pour your wine into the roasting pan and stir with your spoon. We are going to deglaze the pan and remove any of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Pour your hot wine mixture into the stockpot. Add the tomato paste, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. (be sure to use cold water).
- Bring this to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat once you bring to a boil over medium-low heat and allow to simmer, uncovered for about 4 hours. You will see a foam forms on the surface – from time to time use a spoon to scoop these bits out.
- Finally, strain your mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Allow to cool completely. Cover and refrigerate!
In the fridge it will last about 3 days – in the freezer in air tight containers up to 2 months. Yes, this wont last as long as that store stuff – but, it doesn’t have all those chemicals to help to preserve the food, and you. Not everything is better through chemistry. Enjoy!
Don’t forget to come back and tell us how this recipe worked for you! We would love to hear your ideas and suggestions.
Comments on this entry are closed.