Texas chicken stock
10 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | pounds | Chicken wings (see Note) |
| 16 | cups | Cold water (approximately) |
| 2 | Onions, peeled & quartered | |
| 2 | Carrots, peeled & quartered | |
| 2 | Bay leaves | |
| 10 | Parsley stems without leaves | |
| ½ | teaspoon | Black peppercorns |
| ½ | teaspoon | Dried thyme |
Directions
1. Put chicken in a stockpot, kettle, or other large pot. Add enough of the cold water to cover. Bring just to a boil. Add a little more cold water to reduce to below boiling; stir once. Bring back just to a boil and reduce heat to very low so that liquid bubbles very gently. Skim off foam that collects on surface.
2. Add onions, carrots, bay leaves, parsley stems, peppercorns, and thyme. Adjust heat to keep surface just breaking with bubbles, but not boiling. Partially cover and cook, 2 to 3 hours, skimming foam and fat occasionally.
3. Strain stock through a colander lined with several thicknesses of dampened cheesecloth, discarding solids. If stock is not to be used immediately, cool to lukewarm. Refrigerate until fat rises to surface and congeals (about 8 hours). If stock will be used within 3 to 5 days, leave fat; skim fat when ready to use. If freezing stock, skim fat first.
NOTE: In place of chicken wings, you may use backs or a mixture of wings, backs, necks or giblest (except livers).
RICH CHICKEN STOCK: For a more strongly flavored stock, add beef, pork, or veal bones and tarimmings. Increase the simmering time by 1 hour or more to extract additional flavor and body. Or, follow the recipe for Texas Chicken Stock, but begin with a previous batch of stock in place of water. The resulting "double stock" will make an excellent soup. Cutting up chickens regularly is a good way to keep a batch of stock fresh, and it gets richer with each extraction. Rich stock can always be diluted with water when a basic or thin stock is needed.