Homemade Organic Chicken Stock

Teaching little brother how to cook has been…interesting. Even had to teach the poor crater how to make porridge. But as I said in my last post, he’s more than willing to learn! We made homemade chicken stock over the weekend and here’s the (couldn’t be easier) recipe. You’ll be thrilled how much money you’ll save by making your own stocks, especially with soup season upon us, plus it’s a great way to use up left over veg and chicken, not to mention you’ll consume less sodium by making stocks yourself. Have I mentioned it’s really easy to make?

BASIC RECIPE:

1 x Organic chicken carcass/leftover chicken bits

Celery

Carrots (though it?s not technically light it will add flavour without adding much colour)

Leeks

Onion

2/3 large bay leaves

10 peppercorns

We use a lot of veg during the week so we save the scraps for making stocks on the weekends. Generally you want your stock to be light in color therefore any light colored veg can be thrown into the mix. Stalks and stems are gems (am I a poet and don’t know it?) and you can even use onion peels. A great rule of thumb is to use what you?d eat, meaning don?t use rotten scraps.

DIRECTIONS:

Put all scrap ingredients into a large soup pot and fill entire pot with cold water, covering the chicken & veg as much as possible. Stir. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Cook uncovered for a couple of hours to extract the vegetable flavors. Strain over another soup pot or large bowl, separating the scraps from the broth.

Toss the scraps and let the broth cool completely.

I like to divvy up the broth into containers and freeze until needed but will last for up to a week in a covered container in the fridge. Just like homemade veg stock, chicken stock is perfect for soups, stews or in place of butter when making mashed potatoes.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.