Brown Chicken Stock
- 5 pounds uncooked chicken or turkey pieces and/or bones (skin and fat discarded; see notes), or a mixture of bones from roasted poultry and uncooked meat scraps
- 1 onion (8 oz.), peeled and coarsely chopped (see notes)
- 1 carrot (4 oz.), rinsed and cut into chunks
- 2 stalks celery (4 oz.), leafy tops left on, rinsed and cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup parsley sprigs, rinsed
- 5 peppercorns (optional)
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh thyme, rinsed, or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- Place a single layer of the chicken pieces or scraps, meat side down, in a 6- to 8-quart pan over medium-high heat. Cook without disturbing until meat is well browned, 7 to 10 minutes (take care not to scorch). Using tongs or a long-handled fork (meat may stick; pry it up from pan bottom), turn pieces and cook until second side is browned, about 5 minutes longer. Reduce heat to medium.Pour 2 cups water into pan and stir, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits.
- Add remaining chicken, onion, carrot, celery, parsley, peppercorns (if using), bay leaf, and thyme. Add cold water just to cover. Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to maintain simmer and cook, occasionally skimming and discarding foam from surface, until liquid is golden and has a deep chicken flavor, about 2 hours. Do not allow stock to boil; the surface should barely be disturbed by small bubbles.
- If a layer of fat forms on the surface, skim off and discard. If liquid drops below level of chicken and vegetables, add more cold water just to cover.
- Place a fine strainer over a large bowl nested in ice water in the sink. Ladle or carefully pour stock through strainer. Allow liquid to drip from solids, but do not press to extract more; discard solids. Stir stock occasionally until cool, 10 to 20 minutes; cover and chill until stock is cold and any fat on surface is firm, at least 6 hours, or up to 1 day.
- With a spoon, skim fat from surface of stock and discard. Cover stock and chill up to 4 days, or pour into jars or ice cube trays and freeze up to 3 months.
chicken, onion, carrot, stalks celery, parsley sprigs, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme
Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/brown-chicken-stock-1 (may not work)