Chicken stock is easy to make. Simply save all the bones and bits from your leftover chicken dinner, and maybe some raw bits too (I had a few backbones in there from when I split a few whole chickens to grill and chicken necks). If you have access, which I do not currently, add some chicken feet for added jello-ocity! I keep all my bits, along with some onion skins, carrot peelings and celery hearts in a freezer bag in the freezer, and after the bag gets full, into the crock pot it goes! Add water (pure if you can) just to cover the bones, and maybe a dash of salt, set it on high for a bit, then low over night and through the next day (making sure it never dries out) and there you go!
(you can add apple cider vinegar and let it sit for a few hours before starting the crock if you'd like, but I haven't found this to make much difference)
To "clarify" it I line a plastic colander with cheese cloth (actually, I use some old fashioned diapers, you know pre-prefolds, that I inherited from my mother's stash. Works just as well) and place that over a large mixing bowl to catch the deliciousness. Let everything drain through the cheese cloth, and then let the stock sit overnight if you'd like, or use it right then if you can't wait!
So now you have a delicious, and extremely nutritious addition to all your soups, to cook rice beans or other grains in, to saute veggies in- the possibilities are endless! My husband raves that my stock is so good, you don't even notice if the soup doesn't have any meat in it! In fact, in this recipe I only used maybe half a cup of chicken (even though I call for a cup, I just didn't have that much) but we couldn't tell the difference.
This is a great money saver- why buy canned stock at the store that doesn't have half the nutrients when you can make your own! I want to step up to vegetable, fish and beef stock, but haven't gotten that far in my journey yet. Maybe soon! But for now, enjoy the jiggle.
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