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My Basic Chicken Stock

List of Ingredients

I use chicken stock for just about everything. I often use it to "sweat" vegetables instead of sautéing with oil. I use it to enrich the liquid in which I boil plain vegetables. And, of course, stock is essential to most soups.

To prepare:
Bring to boil, skim off scum, and then simmer for a little over an hour:

1 chicken, whole or cut up, or @ 5 lbs. pieces (dark meat is easy to debone)
water to cover by 3-4"
1 lg. onion, quartered
4 stalks celery, cut in fourths
1 carrot, peeled and chunked
salt/pepper (opt.)

Turn off heat. Let chicken cool in broth for an hour or so. Remove from broth and debone. Strain broth. Discard vegetables (or puree for thickening another dish). Return broth to pot.

At this point, either proceed with a soup or freeze the broth. I freeze 3-4 ice cube trays and then use the cubes to steam-sauté vegetables or as needed in other recipes. I also freeze pints of broth leaving 1 1/2 " headroom at top of jars.

Reducing stock involves a bit more time, but it's worth the time. Reduced stocks are richer and if freezing, take less space. Once the stock has been strained the first time, pour it into a smaller pot and simmer until reduced by 1/3. Repeat the process: strain, pour into smaller pot, reduce by about 1/3. Repeat again, if desired. I have reduced 2 quarts of stock to about 2 cups.


Recipe

Broth keeps about three days in the refrigerator.

Note: Low-sodium canned broth is an acceptable substitute.

Note: For Oriental soups, I sometimes make the broth with slices of fresh ginger and sliced green onions instead of the vegetables above.

When using reduced stock, reconstitute by adding water. For example, when I freeze reduced stock in ice cube trays, I reconstitute with 1/2-3/4 c. water. Sometimes, I toss a reduced-stock ice cube into a gravy or stew without reconstituting.

Note: When preparing the original stock, Leslie uses more vegetables than I and cuts them into about 1/2" dice. She also adds about 1/4 c. white wine.