chicken stock

Yummy note: I don't know what gets any better but some homemade loving chicken stock. It is like liquid gold. It warms a cold day, and fills your tummy and soul when you're sick or just need a warm comfy bowl of soup. I know, I can just buy a box at the store for a few bucks and not waste all my time doing this from scratch, but it isn't the same. Seriously.. When you cook a whole chicken, it really gets a bang out of your buck. You get a ton of meat, not to mention some great chicken stock to use for future meals. When I make a whole chicken, depending on its size, I can usually get a couple days of meals from it. Who doesn't love that? So I went looking in my cookbooks the other day for a chicken stock recipe, I came across this beauty here. How simple and delicious it is, and you often forget that the those are the things that make life better. It's not the crazy long list of ingredients, but instead the quality. I got this cookbook from someone at my workplace several years ago. It was sitting in the free pile someone brought in to give away, and of course I snatched it up, as I just love those old school traditional cookbooks. What a treasure find it was. I used the chicken stock recipe from this Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book here.

Chicken Stock 
recipe from the Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book

my little treasure of a cookbook

Ingredients:

about a 4-5 lb whole chicken*

3 quarts cold water 

1/3 cup died carrots 

1/3 cup chopped celery 

1/3 cup chopped onion 

a tsp of so of parsley (original recipe said a sprig)

2 tsp salt  

*Honestly, the scariest part of this recipe is using a whole chicken if you have never done that before. If you are scared of that part, use the already prepared cut up whole chicken pieces. 

Directions:

Original recipe called to do this on the stove but I've done it in the crockpot several times too, it depends on your preference. For the stovetop, place whole chicken (or cut-up pieces) in a large pot and cover with the cold water. Bring to a boil slowly and then remove the foamy, scum like bubbles at the top. Then, add in the rest of the ingredients above, and gently simmer again for about 3 hours. Chicken should be falling apart by now and ready to remove and keep for future meals. Back to the stock, you need to strain your stock (using a cheesecloth or by other means). Discard the bones, fat, and the veggies, as the veggies are pretty blah if you were to taste one, as the flavor has cooked out into your stock instead. Next, chill the broth, and remove some of the fat and strain again.  If you are doing this in a crockpot instead, I will place the whole chicken into the crockpot, along with ALL of the other ingredients and cook on low for about 8-10 hours and follow stove top directions for straining and cooling as above. 

   

Such nice rewards for such a little effort. Seriously try it once and you'll be hooked. 

This broth makes a wonderful golden chicken and egg noodle soup.

Look at all off the great cooked chicken to use for quick meals.