Making Chicken Stock

At least 10 times a year, I roast a chicken, usually on Sundays. Chicken was the dish of choice nearly every Sunday at Grandma Annie's house in Frenchtown, and I associate the aroma with the sensation of putting on my play clothes after church.

I also buy four-packs of chicken breasts still on the bone, and can get at least 6 servings from them, making chicken salads or casseroles for the first few meals of the week.

Always I save the carcasses and the bones for making chicken stock, usually adding onions, a carrot, celery some garlic, parsley and herbs de Provence. In doing so, I feel rather virtuous because I am making such complete use of the chicken.

I freeze the broth for cold-weather soup making. Store-bought stocks are no match for it: It is rich and full-bodied and savory. Usually I chill it first and skim the congealed fat off the top before freezing, but sometimes I skip this step.

Chicken stock has many uses, in addition to soups like this and this:

• It adds flavor to rice, pasta, quinoa and couscous.
• It can make frozen vegetables taste almost fresh.
• It provides a sauce base for many French dishes.
• It really enhances the flavor of mashed potatoes.
• It is essential for making gravy.
• It can be used to add richness to a cream cheese and onion potato chip dip or cracker spread.

Here are links to other ideas for using chicken stock:

This blogger calls it liquid gold and I agree. And this one calls it free food.

Here are a few more ideas.

If you are tossing out your chicken bones and carcasses instead of making stock, you're missing a gold mine of flavor!