To our workshop participants: Remember how we talked about making tasty and healthy homemade chicken stock from any chicken leftovers?
Here, the leftovers of three chickens that I was keeping tightly wrapped in my freezer, and the carcasses of two out of three of the pheasants that I roasted for my hunter friend, simmer happily away to produce stock for use in my home test kitchen. The aromatics include carrots, onion studded with cloves, small head of garlic, parsley root and a healthy bunch of parsley leaves, 3 bay leaves, a little rosemary and thyme from the garden, a few black peppercorns and juniper berries – everything that I could find that would compliment the taste of the birds. I just hope that I got all the shot out of the pheasants. I’ll write “May contain lead” on the finished stock labels before I put it in my freezer, just in case.
I put the birds pieces and bones in a large stock pot, covered with cold water, brought to a boil, skimmed, added aromatics, reduced the heat to keep the stock at a bare simmer, and forgot about it for four hours (not really: the spreading aroma kept reminding me about it all the time).
I don’t put too much energy into skimming the stock: after it is done, I filter it through paper towels. Then I chill it. As the stock chills, the fat solidifies on top. This make it very easy to remove. Then I pour the degreased stock into 1 qt. freezer bags, close tightly, label with the contents and the date, and store flat in the freezer. After the stock is frozen, the bags can be stacked to save space.
Keep frozen stock for up to two months. Stock made with leftover roast chickens doesn’t come out as clear as the one made from a whole bird (even if you skim it religiously), but it’s much tastier, and as clear as the purchased version, and is good to use in homemade soups and sauces.
