Food Goes in Mouth

I think I will write a little about chicken stock. I often wonder why people buy that horrible stuff in the can (time, I know). But it is so easy to make your own stock. Really. As noted on numerous cooking blogs (smitten kitchen, ruhlman.com), I keep a Ziploc bag in the freezer with my veg scraps and chicken bits. I’ve taken to buying whole chicken and cutting it apart. Maybe this makes me a psycho, but dismembering chickens is rather relaxing. Sometimes, I roast the whole thing and save the skeleton. A different flavor stock, for sure.

For a nice golden stock, you only need the following

• chicken parts (back, neck, all the meat and bones leftover)
• onion (leave the skin on for an excellent golden color)
• carrots (scrubbed, skin on)
• bay leaves
• optional (parsley, celery, and any other vegetable you have around. Nothing funky smelling, it will make your stock, you know, smell funky. This means you, green peppers, asparagus, cabbage. I prefer a classic mix of onion, carrot, celery, and parsley. All things that you should always have in your crisper, imho)
• 4-6 quarts of water (use your biggest pot)

Throw it all together, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer for 1-3 hours. Cool, then strain out all the veg and chicken. And viola, you have stock for soup, sauces, mashed potatoes, anything that could use some flavor. Freeze your leftover stock in ice cube trays for instant flavor to pasta sauces!