biig said:What is everyone's no fail recipe for a good chicken stock? I have
two leg quarters simmering with onion, carrot, celery and a "bit" of
salt. What else would you all put in. This will be used for a chicken
and wild rice soup found on CD Kitchen website. This will be my first
attempt at making stock from scratch. Thanks....Sharon
That's not much chicken to flavour the stock.
Usually when I make stock, I end up with about 4 litres of stock
(enough for two soup meals). I start with about 3-4 raw (bought)
carcases (or I use the leftover bones from several roasts) and add 3-4
wings. If you have freezer space, save the bones from chicken till you
have enough, then use all at once.
There are two main methods of making stock: brown stock, which
requires roasting the bones and veges at high heat first, so that
everything browns, then transferring to a stock pot; or white stock,
which begins and ends life in the stock pot. Both are good methods but
sometimes you want one over the other.
Whichever method you go for, I usually add the following veges:
1 inch green ginger, sliced
4 whole peppercorns
1 carrot, roughly sliced
1 large onion, quartered
1 stalk celery and also celery leaves
parsley
Water to cover.
You could add other things if you wish, but I wouldn't add potato as
that would make the stock cloudy. I never add salt to stock. I add
salt when I USE the stock.
Put everything in stockpot. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer
gently for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Some people simmer it for hours.
Generally, I feel you've extracted the flavour after that time, unless
you're using a whole tough old bird, which I've done sometimes and it
does give a great stock. Occasionally skim the scum off the stock.
Drain through a sieve, discard all bones, meat and veges. Put cooled
stock in fridge so fat can set. Remove fat.
If you then wish, you can reduce the stock further to make a more
concentrated stock, or further still to make a glaze. A cool glaze
will be a very thick jelly.
It's not rocket science, but you should get a good stock using this
method. If you want a brown stock, first place all ingredients in a
roasting dish, roast at near maximum temperature for about 30 mins,
stirring occasionally. Transfer everything to a stockpot. Add water to
roasting pan and stir up the brown bits. Add to stockpot. Add enough
water to cover and proceed from there as for white stock.
Kathy
