Basic Chicken Stock

As whey is key for all the pickle and tonic recipes, chicken stock is the key for all the soup recipes. You will be amazed how much better homemade stock is than store bought. It is also incredibly easy. There is no reason to not have stock made up at all times. I keep it in yoghurt containers frozen. Once it is processed, you can divide it into containers and freeze them. They are easy to thaw out when needed. Good stock doesn't keep more than 5 days or so in the fridge, so either use it, or freeze it.

This recipe makes 2 quarts.

Start with about 2 pounds of chicken parts with bones. We used a whole free range bird, and cut out pieces that we like to eat such as the breast and thighs, and used the remaining bonier pieces for the stock such as the back, wings, drumsticks and neck.

Now simply throw the meat in the crock pot with one onion, two carrots, three pieces of celery, and any inner pieces of garlic that you have kicking around. There is no need to peel the garlic, just throw it in.

Now add 2 tablespoons of vinegar.  This is not common in stock, but is actually a traditional method of removing the trace elements and minerals from the bones.  Fill to the top with water.  You can also add seasonings if desired.  Seasonings are totally optional because this is just the basic stock.

This is how it looks after 12 hours.  It is going to go for 24 hours before it is ready.