- 1 chicken carcass or 1 whole chicken or 2-3 pounds of bone-in chicken parts
- water to cover
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp parsley
- 2-4 peppercorns
- 1-3 tsp salt
- a few shakes of pepper
- 2 stalks of celery
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion, halved
Put the chicken (carcass, whole or parts) in a big stock pot and cover with water. You can break up the carcass a bit to fit the pan if need be. Bring to a boil, then quickly turn down to a bare simmer. You'll likely have some gray scum-like stuff come to the surface. Your broth will be clearer if you just skim this off with a spoon.
You don't have to peel or neatly slice the vegetables. Just break them into chunks. And don't worry if you don't have something; broth is very flexible! Add the vegetables and seasonings, partially cover, and simmer (with barely a bubble breaking the surface).
If you are using chicken on the bone or a whole chicken, the chicken meat will be cooked after an hour so and will be lovely for dishes calling for cooked chicken. Pull the chicken parts out and let cool a bit on something that can hold the drained juices. When you can handle it, pull the meat off the bones and put the bones back into the soup pot to simmer another few hours. Put the cooked chicken in the refrigerator or freezer for later use.
Simmer the bones longer if you have time, but it will be good after a few hours. Strain the soup using a colander or cheesecloth or whatever you have around. Pour the broth into a large jar (I pour it into a big pickle jar) and refrigerate it overnight.
In the morning the fat will have solidified. Spoon it off. The broth might be thick and jelly-like. This is good but it's okay if it's not. Keep the broth a week in the frig or freeze it for soup later. If you keep the broth in the frig, you can bring it to a boil every few days and simmer for a few minutes to keep it from spoiling.
I like to freeze some broth in 1 and 2 cup portions for recipes, and in quarts for making soup.
CheapCooking.com
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