- bones from two chickens
- water
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium carrot
- 2 stalks celery
- coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 of a bay leaf
1. Remove as much fat from the chicken bones as possible. Do not worry if you do not remove every ounce of fat from the bones (you will skim much of the remaining fat off of the stock before you are finished).
2. Place the bones in a large stockpot. Pour enough water into the pot to cover the bones completely.
3. Turn the stove on high, and watch the stock carefully to ensure that it does not come to a boil at any point. (Boiling the water will cause fat to churn in the pot rather than rise to the top where you can skim it off.) Lower the temperature as the stock starts to slowly bubble.
4. Slice the onion, carrots, celery into LARGE chunks. Keep in mind that large chunks will keep their flavor longer as they will be simmering in the pot for at least 45 minutes. (Small pieces of vegetable will lose their flavoring quickly).
5. After the stock has simmered for 1 hour and 15 minutes, add the vegetables to the pot.
6. As a layer of yellow fat rises to the surface, use a ladle and skim this layer off.
7. The stock will need to simmer 2 hours total. Constantly skim the fat off the surface as it becomes visible.
8. Strain the stock through a fine colander.
9. The finished stock should be a light tan color, translucent, and have little or no fat floating on the surface.
10. The stock is now ready for use. A great way to keep your stock fresh and on hand is to pour it into ice cube trays and then freeze them. This way, the stock is broken up into manageable amounts. You can use one or two cubes when making a sauce, or melt down all of the cubes for a scrumptious soup base.
