salads and sides:

chicken stock

Published 19th June 2017

Chicken stock is remarkably easy to make. It takes time, but little attendance. Next time you have leftovers from your roast chicken, don’t throw it out or give it to the dog, make it into stock.

If you plan on just making stock to freeze and use at a later date, then accumulating vegetable scraps (onion skin, carrot peel, leaves from celery, green tops of leeks, etc) means that you can get the flavour from these vegetables without using fresh ones (or at least less of them). If you are planning on using the stock to make soup, then the vegetables that are used for the stock can be put into the soup, so less need for the vegetable scraps.

 
 
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The whole stock making process takes about 3-4 hours and the longer you leave it the more flavour it will have.

If you want to make stock and you don’t have left over roast chook, you can use a whole chicken or chicken pieces and use the chicken itself for a meal.

Enjoy xx

 
 
 
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Ingredients:

  • 1-1.5kg leftover roast chicken (carcass and meat)

  • Vegetable scraps including onion skin, garlic skin, leek tops, carrot peel, celery leaves.

  • 2 onions, including peel, quartered (1 if using vegetable scraps)

  • 3 cloves of garlic, including peel, squashed

  • 2 carrots, roughly chopped (1 if using vegetable scraps)

  • 2 leeks, roughly chopped (1 if using vegetable scraps)

  • 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped (1 if using vegetable scraps)

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 4 sprigs of thyme

  • 2 sprig of rosemary

  • 1 large handful of flat leaf parsley

  • 8 peppercorns

  • 5L of water

 

Method:

  1. Place chicken into a large pot with the vegetable scarps (if using), vegetables, herbs, peppercorns and water. Place over medium heat and bring to the boil.

  2. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover partially and allow to cook for 3-4 hours.

  3. Skim any foam that floats to the surface and top up water if needed.

  4. After 3-4 hours, remove large chunks or chicken and vegetables, reserving any that will be used for soup, etc.

  5. Pour the remaining stock through a colander, collecting the liquid, to remove any large chunks.

  6. Pour liquid through a fine sieve to remove any gritty bits.

  7. Divide stock into containers and freeze or use the stock as a base for a chicken soup.