January can feel like a rather cruel month. The glow of the holidays has burned itself out and the warmer weather sits contentedly on the horizon. The distance between the two seems to yawn endlessly, dark and cold.
Yet January also holds that promise of a pristine new year, all cleaned up, purged and organized. A time to get back to life’s simple basics after the craziness and overindulgence of Christmas.
And in the kitchen it doesn’t get more basic than homemade chicken stock. I am rarely without it in my freezer as it’s perfect for homemade soups at this time of year. It’s also great for using up veggies and herbs that might otherwise end up being binned. I keep a container in my freezer into which I put any bits of carrot, celery and onion which might be past their best, as well as asparagus stalk trimmings, leek trimmings and herbs. You name it. Frozen until needed.
It’s a pretty simple process to make and, simmering away on the back burner, will make your house smell delicious.
And around here stock frequently gets consumed when people aren’t feeling so great, or even for a light lunch or dinner, sometimes with a little bit of rice (my daughter often requests this for lunch at school) or roasted chicken thrown in. It’s delicious and simple and easy on the digestive system, not to mention good for you. The perfect antidote to rich holiday food.
And if you’re hearing all that trendy buzz about bone broth, well they are essentially the same thing. Bone broth is cooked longer in order to get all the collagen and protein out of the bones. The result when cooled, has a heavy jello-y type texture…all thick and wobbly. Collagen is the stuff that is good for your hair, skin, nails and digestive system.
But the wobbly stuff is what I always end up with anyway, setting my pot of stock on a back burner to cook for 5-6 hours. Then I sieve it into a large bowl and refrigerate overnight.
The next day I scrape off the layer of fat that has hardened on the surface and put it into containers which generally hold around 4-5 cups. Sometimes I will freeze individual cup size servings so I have smaller amounts on hand that can be defrosted quickly or even just thrown into a pot of something where it will happily melt away and infuse a little homemade goodness.
I have no clear cut recipe for stock. I use a large 5 quart stock pot, throw in two chicken carcasses from roasted chickens, an onion, a couple of carrots, a couple of stalks of celery, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic and some peppercorns, more… or less, of everything, depending on what’s on hand. And herbs, although not strictly necessary. Once that’s all in I fill to the top with water, bring to a boil and then turn down to the lowest setting and leave for several hours, letting time work its magic.
When you’re all done you’re left with containers of liquid gold.
