Homemade Chicken Stock {recipe}

The past year or so, I've been wanting to make more 'homemade' things.  I make homemade hot fudge, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, pizza dough, spaghetti sauce & pizza sauce (coming in a post soon), taco seasoning, etc, on a regular basis and never buy those things from the store anymore.  Chicken stock has been on the list for a while now, and I've finally gotten around to making it.  I use it in a lot of things.. soups, crock pot meals, sauces, etc.

We normally cook a whole chicken in the crock pot every couple of weeks.  We will eat some for dinner that night, then the rest I freeze to use in meals throughout the week.  This time, I saved all the scraps (bones, skin, etc) when I was done picking out the meat and put it in the fridge to make stock the next day.  It doesn't take much effort to make and this way I'm putting all of the chicken to use.  I get 3-4 quarts out of it, and store them in reusable containers from Garnish.  Just another thing to stock the deep freeze with.  ;)

Homemade Chicken Stock
recipe from Annie's Eats

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, halved
• 3 large carrots, cut into 1" pieces
• 3 celery stalks, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 chicken carcass.. bones, skin, etc
• 3-4 quarts of water
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp. salt
• a few springs of fresh thyme & rosemary

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to brown slightly, about 5-10 minutes.  Add the chicken carcass to the pot.  Add enough water to nearly fill the pot.  Stir in the peppercorns, salt and herbs.  Increase the heat to bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a very low simmer and let simmer 4-5 hours.  Let cool slightly.

Pour the stock through a fine mesh strainer into a large pitcher or bowl to remove the solids.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator.  A layer of fat will form on the surface, which can be skimmed off and discarded.  Transfer to storage containers and freeze until ready to use.