Grab a pan or the crock pot, place the bones and cover them with water. Cook on low heat for an hour or two. That's it. Mine simmered for two hours and I watched that the water didn't evaporate. The trick is low heat.
I strained the broth from the bones by using a sieve with cheese cloth. I have done it a number of times without the cheese cloth and it works fine. Place the bowl of broth in the refrigerator to get cold. By doing this the fat rises to the top and solidifies. Using a spoon scrape the fat off and discard.
You may find lots of small pieces of chicken fell off the bones. This can be used in a soup or stew.
With one whole chicken three to four meals can be had. Roasted in the oven or crock pot, sandwiches, broth for mushroom soup, (or soup of choice), and chicken soup.
The broth is virtually free. I might add it's also nutritional. Hands on time is about seven minutes in total.
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| This batch gelled a bit which is a very good thing. Sometimes it comes out like a thin fluid, others it gels. I'm not sure why the difference, though. |
The uses for the broth can be endless when imagination is used. I use it to cook the rice a roonie mix, mushroom soup, and as a base for a roast in the crock pot. I'd be interested in hearing what my readers could add to this small list. I'm always up to learning new things.
Stay safe.
Chicken is also a favorite in our kitchen. I buy French poultry from free-range production.
ReplyDeleteA middle-sized chicken costs about 10 Euros. Usually I fry the legs with a portion of the back and cook the rest very slowly on very low heat. With soup vegetables like carrot, leak, onion, parsley and also bay leave, pepper grains and clove. The tender chicken breast is then used for a ragout and the rest is for a soup.
I love making stock - real soul food.
ReplyDeleteI freeze my carcasses until I'm ready to make a stock but I also freeze brocolli stems, peelings from pumpkins, swedes, turnips etc and I chuck in all that plus a quartered onion (with the brown skin still on), a halved carrot and a woody celery stick along with a bunch of herbs. Makes a fab base for pretty much everything I make with the stock: Soups, risotto, casserole, my version of pot noodles, dahl. Super healthy, super tastey! Enjoy
Rachel xx
I use to make stock the same as you do. Very goof tasting. Since it's just me now, I have altered many things to fit my personal needs. All of your frugal moves on making stock are very impressive. I'm glad you enjoy stock this way. So good for you.
ReplyDelete