INGREDIENTS
- Left-over chicken parts from a whole chicken
Keep out breast, thighs and wings for eating
Use left over rib bones, spine, chicken hearts, liver, etc. - 1 onion – quartered
- 3 stalks celery – chopped
- 4 carrots – chopped
- 2 large leeks – rough chopped and then cleaned in standing water
- 3 QT distilled or filtered water
- 8-10 black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- finger full of dried mushrooms
You always want to use filtered water, because as the steam escapes, the impurities concentrate. This is usually a bad thing. For veggie stock add more of your favorite vegetables, and eliminate the animal bones
STEP BY STEP
- Chop or break bones into smaller pieces if necessary
- Add whatever veggies you have available
– onion, garlic, celery, carrot, turnip, ginger, bay leaves, peppercorns, broccoli stems - Start with ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER, then bring to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer for 4-8 hours to about 1-2 QT water
– or until reduced to about 1/4 of original size - STRAIN: First through a colander, secondly through a strainer lined with cheese cloth.
- You can prolong its refrigerator life by ladling it directly into canning jars through a sieve
- Make sure all your equipment is clean
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT CANNING. This does not prolong the broth for as long as pressure canning, but it will allow it last for up to two weeks in your refrigerator. - If you will be freezing the broth, strain liquid into metal bowl
- Ladle into canning jars leaving a full inch of headroom
- Let cool on the counter or in an ice bath, then place in refrigerator overnight.
- The next day, place into freezer.
- The jars will keep a week in the refrigerator, or up to six months in the freezer.
- Use the chicken pieces for shredded chicken soup
VARIATIONS
- Use any bones: ribs, t-Bone, turkey, etc.
- The more scrap veggies you put in, the better it will be.
- This makes a GREAT GRAVY
- This is nearly a requirement when you make my SCRATCH MARINARA.
Gravy is one of the dishes covered in my book Condiments and Sauces
