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home-made chicken stock

Dark Chicken Stock

Course Culinary basics
Cuisine French
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 15 minutes
Author Johan Johansen

Ingredients

  • Remainder of one large chicken: bones skin, and other inedible bits
  • 2-3 medium-sized onions cut in quarters
  • 2 large carrots roughly chopped
  • 3 stalks of celery roughly chopped (leaves and all)
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic smashed
  • 3 bay leaves
  • about 10 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • about 10 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon of black pepper corns
  • 200 ml of white wine optional, can substitute water

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to as high as it will go.
  2. While oven is heating, place chicken bits, onions, carrots and celery in a large roasting pan.
  3. Place roasting pan in oven and roast for about ten minutes until vegetables are browned.
  4. Stir vegetables to expose unbrowned parts and continue roasting till thoroughly browned all over.
  5. Remove roasting pan from the oven and dump contents into a stock pot. At this point also add the garlic, black pepper, bay leaves, thyme and parsley.
  6. Place roasting pan on the stove or other steady surface, then add the wine (or water) and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to loosen any caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan.
  7. Pour the liquid into the stock pot and supplement with enough cold water to cover the bones and vegetables by about an inch.
  8. Turn heat to high under the stock pot and bring to a boil.
  9. As soon as the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low so that the liquid barely simmers.
  10. You will notice a lot of foam rising to the top as the liquid comes to a boil. Use a spoon or ladle to carefully remove as much of this as you possibly can and discard.
  11. Continue to cook at a gentle simmer for a minimum of four hours, 6-8 would be better.
  12. Once every half hour or so, carefully remove any scum that has collected on the surface of the stock.
  13. After 4-8 hours, remove the stock pan from the heat and very carefully strain into a smaller pot, discarding all solids.
  14. What you have now, is a basic dark chicken stock. You can continue to simmer for several more hours to make a reduced, more concentrated chicken stock or you can use as is.
  15. When you’re happy with the results, bring your stock down to room temperature as quickly as possible then refrigerate till cold.

Recipe Notes

After refrigerating, you’ll notice that a disc of fat has collected on top of the stock. Jewish people call this stuff schmalz and it’s damn good stuff culinarily speaking. Carefully remove the congealed fat and keep it well-covered in the fridge. Use it for frying or adding flavor to stews or other dishes. It’s a terrible thing to waste.

Your home-made stock will keep for about four days in the fridge and up to six months in the freezer.