Chicken Stock

As I will soon mention in my Chicken Pie recipe post, I have recently come to realise how bad stock cubes are for you. The type I had in my cupboard had 50% of your daily salt allowance in it... and I needed to use two today. Not great news for my heart! 


Since finding this out I have been on a mission to find healthier alternatives to use in my meals. I have come up with two so far... the pretty simple one is just to buy low-salt stock cubes instead... I know, not exactly rocket science! The second option is to make your own stock. This may be time consuming but it means that you can control exactly how much salt is going in.


I thought I would quickly outline a simple way of making chicken stock in case anyone out there wasn't sure!

CHICKEN STOCK

INGREDIENTS

• 1 chicken carcass
• 1 large onion ~ roughly chopped
• 2 carrots ~ roughly chopped
• 1 large leek ~ roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic ~ crushed
• 1 handful of parsley
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• salt and pepper to season

RECIPE

1. Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan and cover with water.
2. On a medium heat bring it to a simmer.
3. Turn down to a low temperature and simmer for around 4 hours.
4. When the stock is ready, strain it to remove all the bits and bones. 
5. Pour your stock into a bowl/jug and refrigerate overnight. *This gives the fat a chance to rise to the top of the stock making it easier of you to get rid of it later!
6. You can then skim the fat off the top of your stock and it is ready to go!

You should end up with quite a lot of stock, so you can either refrigerate it or freeze it, depending on when you plan on using it. Stock will last about a week in the fridge (slightly longer if you keep the fat layer intact to 'protect' it). If you don't need to use the stock immediately, freeze it. You can either do this in the same bowl/jug, or you can transfer it into ice trays so that you have your very own stock cubes. Frozen stock will last a couple of months.

So if you have just roasted a chicken or are planning on it, keep the carcass and try making some stock. Happy days

Good luck and have fun!

x