Name: chicken stock
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients: 3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken leg/thigh pieces or a whole fryer; 2 Spanish onions, skins on, quartered; 2 bay leaves; 2 ribs celery, cut into a few pieces; 4 cloves garlic, whole; 1 ½ tbsp coarse sea salt; 10 peppercorns; 1 gal water

A kitchen staple, with free bonus schmalz recipe included.

Literally, this is the mother recipe for soups, sauces, risotto, chili, and lots of other stuff. Make a lot and freeze it in to-go containers to have on hand when someone you like is having a case of the Mondays and you need to make a really fast chicken soup.

Leave the onion skins on for a pretty golden color, and leave the salt out if you’d rather add it when you use the stock later.

This recipe makes enough to fill your soup pot—as long as your soup pot holds around a gallon or two. Serving size is 1 cup for recipe purposes, and a gallon will give you 16 of them.

Yields16 Servings

ingredients

3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken leg/thigh pieces or a whole fryer

2 Spanish onions, skins on, quartered

2 bay leaves

2 ribs celery, cut into a few pieces

4 cloves garlic, whole

1 ½ tbsp coarse sea salt

10 peppercorns

1 gal water

Put everything into your biggest soup pot, leaving some room at the top for boiling action.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to very low and simmer, skimming any foam off the top, for about 15 minutes.

Once the stock is skimmed, cover the pot cockeyed, leaving a small crack for steam to escape, and simmer for an hour. Stir the pot occasionally, being careful not to steam your face when you pick up the lid. Add water as necessary to maintain about the original level.

When the chicken is falling off the bones and the vegetables are soft, strain the stock through a colander into a giant bowl or another big pot.

Keep the chicken for chicken salad, pot pie, or chicken sandwiches, eat the lovely soft garlics, and toss the rest wherever you toss it. Pour the stock into containers for freezing, or use it in a recipe.

If you store the stock in the fridge overnight, you can pick off the solidified fat from the top of the cold stock. That’s schmalz, babies.

Ingredients