Chicken stock
When it finally rained all day on a weekend day in Northern California, it was a perfect day to make chicken stock which morphed into spectacular chicken noodle soup with dill and ginger.
There are countless versions of chicken noodle soup the most familiar of which comes in a red and white can with lots of added sodium. Turns out that soup made with homemade stock cannot be equaled by anything out of a can.
The first step is making the stock. I used roast chicken carcasses and other chicken bones I had frozen for a rainy day.
If you are going to go to the trouble to do this, make two pots worth at once.Both pots make about 10 cups when simmered down. This is just enough for a soup recipe to follow in a few days.
You can make a dilute stock with lots of liquid or not use as much liquid and simmer it down for a very rich and flavorful stock. The latter method sure tasted good.
Note: I also threw in a bone-in skinless big chicken breast into each pot and used this meat for soup later. Somehow it tasted great in the soup even though it simmered forever in the stock.
Servings: 10 cups
Ingredients
- 2 roast chicken carcasses plus other random bones you had frozen.
- 6 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 yellow onions, diced
- 6 sprigs dill
- 2 medium carrots cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 parsnips, peeled and halved
- 24 black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons salt
Directions
- Add 3 quarts water to each of two stock pots.
- Add half the chicken parts to each pot plus 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Bring to a boil then add half the celery, onions, and dill to each pot.
- Return to a boil then cover and simmer for one hour.
- Add the other half of the carrots, parsnips, and peppercorns to each pot.
- Simmer another 2 to 3 hours. The amount of liquid will reduce giving you a very rich broth.
- Pour the stock into another pot using a colander to strain.
- Strain the stock again through a finer mesh strainer. (Save whatever meat you want.)
- Chill the stock.
- Skim any congealed fat off the surface.
- Use it or freeze it.