Use homemade chicken stock in place of water for soup.
Traditional chicken stock is a reduction of chicken bones, cartilage, bits of chicken meat, spices and vegetables. After cooking, the broth becomes concentrated with the flavors of the added ingredients. A search for "chicken stock recipe" on Google returns more than one million results. One of them is a recipe by Scott Peacock, co-author of "The Gift of Southern Cooking." Traditional recipes might involve up to six hours of cooking, but Scott's is finished in about an hour.
Instructions
1. Rinse the chicken thoroughly. Remove any bag of giblets from inside the cavity.
2. Add 3 quarts of water to the pot. Put the chicken, salt, celery and onion in the water.
3. Put the uncovered pot on the stove and cook until the water comes to a rapid boil.
4. Turn the stove off and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid.
5. Leave the covered pan in a warm area for one hour. When the time is up, uncover the pan and separate the thigh and leg at their joint. If they don't come apart easily, replace the lid with a tight fit and let the pan sit for another 30 minutes.
6. Remove the chicken, vegetables and any large pieces of ingredients from the pan. Keep only the chicken for eating and discard the other removed pieces.
7. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve and into a non-plastic container. Skim the fat floating on the surface. If you are not using the stock right away, put it in the refrigerator until the fat congeals, making it easier to remove.
Tags: chicken stock
