Chicken 'N Stock

By corlear

Chef’s Tips: Making homemade stock is well worth the effort for a truly outstanding flavored sauce or soup. Beef neck bones are easily found in the grocery store.

You can also reduce the stock to a demi-glacé (directions at end of recipe).

If you don’t have the time to make demi-glacé, some gourmet stores sell it. The frozen, no-salt, no-MSG variety is best to me. The Source Guide in the book lists an ideal place to purchase.

Ingredients

• 2 bay leaves
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 rib celery, cut into large pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, cut into large pieces
• 1 1/2 gallons water

Details

Servings 3

Preparation

Step 1

Rinse chicken with cold water. Remove giblets and excess fat.

Place chicken, bay leaves, garlic, celery, onion, and water in a large stockpot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer about 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from stock and cool until it can be handled.

Strain stock through a fine strainer and reserve.

Discard skin and debone chicken. Pull and shred chicken meat into bite size pieces; reserve until ready to use.

For Demi-Glacé:
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring stock to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, skim periodically and let stock reduce until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Yield: 2 cups