Thursday, December 22, 2011

Epic Chicken Stock. You need it for your life.

You need to make your own stock. Julia says so.

And we always do what Julia tells us.

Especially when it's Meryl as Julia.

ANYWAY, back to the stock!

Full-Flavored Chicken Stock
from Mark Bittman, genius of cooking everything
Ingrediences:
3 lbs. of chicken, preferably with bones and skin
about 10 baby carrots (or equivalent in real carrots)
5 stalks of celery
1 onion, quartered (don't bother peeling)
1 T thyme
small handful of parsley from your herb garden (or 1 T dried)
2 bay leaves
16 cups of water.

Heat your stock pot. Add chicken to the pot, skin down, and let it brown while you prep the rest of the ingredients. Add everything to the pot. Bring BARELY to a boil, then reduce heat and cover partially. It shouldn't be boiling hard - it needs to be barely bubbling, a couple bubbles at a time.
Simmer this way for two hours, until the chicken is falling off the bone.

Strain, pressing the veggies and chicken to get as much stock as possible. Salt to taste.

Refrigerate, and take the chunks of fat off the top. Gross. Discard.

Reheat and reduce until the total liquid is about 2.5 cups. This will take hours. Don't do it too fast.

Freeze in ice cube trays. When ready to use, chuck a cube in a cup of boiling water and use as normal.

Admire your collection of corks. And your lime green counter tops. Ahhh, rentals in San Francisco.... so charming.

Suddenly realize how many bottles you've consumed since you last emptied your cork container... eesh. 

Merry Christmas Eve Eve, y'all. This Soup Santa is all souped out for the holiday.
Give your loved ones something warm and delicious for the holiday. Or cold and bubbly...

Kisses,
Soup Santa

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