Making stock is as simple as throwing chicken (whole, pieces, or bones) into a pot, covering it with water, and letting it simmer for a few hours. Vegetables and aromatics such as onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, etc. will add depth of flavor to a stock, but they are not essential — if you don’t have them or don’t feel like adding them, don’t go running out to buy them.
In fact, when I worked in professional kitchens, we only made stock from scraps — scraps of chicken, beef, and pork, onion skins, carrot peels, celery bottoms, pepper stems, etc. We never chopped up whole chickens or cut up onions for the sake of making stock.
Having a walk-in full of ingredients is a luxury the home cook does not have and thus buying meat and vegetables for the purpose of making stock makes sense, but my point is this: if you have an onion, you can peel it and simply use the peel; or you can peel it, chop it up, and use all of it; or you can save the onion entirely for something else.
Make sense?
Additionally, there is no need to brown meat or sauté vegetables for your homemade stocks—again, these extra measures will provide depth of flavor, but they are not necessary. I repeat: throwing chicken or chicken bones into a pot with water and letting it simmer will yield a flavorful stock.
When I want to make a big batch of stock, I will buy chicken legs and wings, anywhere from 3 to 6 lbs. depending on how much stock I want to make.
When I’m feeling economical, I like to do this: Buy a whole chicken, remove the legs with their bones (to be used for one meal ) as well as the breasts (to be used for another meal ) and throw the two wings and remaining carcass into the stock pot. I cover these bones/meat with water and let simmer for 2 to 3 hours without any additions (carrots, celery, etc.), and I get about 1.5 quarts of really flavorful stock. This is a small amount of stock, however, so if you wish to make more, use a whole chicken or more legs, wings, etc. Recipe below.
These quart containers are so handy to have on hand for freezing stock, soups, stews, etc.
If you want guidance breaking down a chicken as described above, here’s a video:
Description
Making stock is as simple as throwing chickens in a pot, covering them with water, and letting them simmer for a few hours. Additions such as onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, etc., of course, enhance the flavor of the stock, but if you don’t have them or don’t feel like adding them, it doesn’t matter.
The below recipe truly can be simplified to chicken + water.
- 3 lbs chicken, such as a whole chicken or wings or legs or just bones
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped, no need to peel
- 1/2 tsp . whole peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 onion, cut in half, peel and all
- Place chicken or chicken bones into a large pot. Add remaining ingredients. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat so that the water is gently simmering. Scoop off and discard any scum that bubbles up at the surface. Let simmer gently for about 2 hours.
- Place a colander over a large bowl. Pour contents of stock pot through the colander. Discard all of these pieces once they have cooled. Transfer stock to storage containers and place in the fridge overnight or until completely chilled and fat has formed a solid layer at the top of the container. Scoop off this fat and discard. Freeze stock for up to 3 months or store in fridge for at most a week.
- Prep Time: 10 hours
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Description
Making stock is as simple as throwing chickens in a pot, covering them with water, and letting them simmer for a few hours. Additions such as onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, etc., of course, enhance the flavor of the stock, but if you don’t have them or don’t feel like adding them, it doesn’t matter.
The below recipe truly can be simplified to chicken + water.
- 3 lbs chicken, such as a whole chicken or wings or legs or just bones
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped, no need to peel
- 1/2 tsp . whole peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 onion, cut in half, peel and all
- Place chicken or chicken bones into a large pot. Add remaining ingredients. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat so that the water is gently simmering. Scoop off and discard any scum that bubbles up at the surface. Let simmer gently for about 2 hours.
- Place a colander over a large bowl. Pour contents of stock pot through the colander. Discard all of these pieces once they have cooled. Transfer stock to storage containers and place in the fridge overnight or until completely chilled and fat has formed a solid layer at the top of the container. Scoop off this fat and discard. Freeze stock for up to 3 months or store in fridge for at most a week.
- Prep Time: 10 hours
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2014/04/30/simple-homemade-chicken-stock/
It took 32 years for me to start listening to my mother. I’m only just beginning to understand how annoying this must have been, only just appreciating how many gray hairs I may have caused, only just accepting how many wrinkles I may have induced.
The other day I asked Ella (my four-year old) to help me pick up a mess she created, and she said: “Um, you can just do it all by yourself.” I’ve read enough self-help parenting books to know that freaking out is not the appropriate reaction to this response, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to strangle her.
I have it in for me. Every time Ella yells: “No Mom, I’m telling you a question!” I think of my poor mother and all the times she offered advice only to receive pushback.
Why was it so hard for me to just say, “Yes! Of course! That’s a great idea!” every time my mother told me to “Enunciate!” or to “Eat [my] greens!” or to “Put [my] shoulders back!”?
Why couldn’t I have just said, “You’re right,” when she told me the best chickens come from her kosher market, the best lamb from Australia?
Why couldn’t I have just smiled when she told me not to frown?
Because she is right. She is ALWAYS right.
And for this, I have started to listen: I now save all of my receipts. I keep a journal. I floss. I salvage the juices from that roasted kosher chicken, and I cook potatoes in those juices on subsequent nights. They are the best potatoes in the world.
And it seems her granddaughter is listening, too: Yesterday, Ella dropped a box of toothpicks all over the floor and asked for help picking it up because she was too tired to do it all by herself. As I knelt on the ground next to her, she looked at me and said, “Many hands make light work.” Yes they do, Ella. Yes they do. My mother would be so proud.
…or chopped chocolate. This Guittard chocolate is delicious:
Description
Notes: The original recipe calls for an orange syrup, a chocolate glaze, almonds, and a number of other ingredients/changes, so please check out the original if you are looking for the Macrina version .
I absolutely love this cake — the texture is super moist, and the orange zest and juice offer the nicest complement to the chocolate.
- 1¾ (224 g) cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 (114 g) cup sugar
- 1/2 (116 g) cup light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed (or not) orange juice
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup butter, melted
- a scant cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate from a bar
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325˚F. Grease two 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pans or a bundt pan with butter or nonstick spray.
- Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix in the orange zest with your fingers until evenly distributed. Set aside.
- Whisk together the orange juice, vanilla, eggs, and sour cream in a separate medium bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Whisk wet and dry ingredients together. Pour in melted butter and stir to combine. Fold in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the cake is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. If you have an instant-read thermometer, it should register 200ºF. Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a plate.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 – 60 minutes
- Category: Quick Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
