I never have made my own chicken stock before this year. It looked too hard and why bother when it comes in a can already??? Well, when I started this diet and realized how much sodium was in canned stock, I was appalled. Then, when I lost my job, I was looking for ways to save money and use up all my food. So, when I saw how inexpensive roaster chicken was AND I could get several meals out of it…well, I make my chicken stock from scratch whenever I can.
So here’s chicken (or any other meat) stock in a few simple steps:
1. Place your carcass, or bits of chicken on the bone, into a large pan that has a lid. Pick off any leftover meat and set aside for another yummy dish.
2. Cover with water until the water comes about an inch above the bones.
3. Add an onion (cut in half), a carrot or two (roughly chopped) and a bit of fresh parsley.
4. Cover the pan with the lid, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer.
5. Leave for a few hours (I usually do it for 3 hours – 2 hours as a minimum). It’s ready when the water has turned a creamy color and any bones you fish out are clean (or meat is falling off the bones leaving them spotless)
6. Using a colander or large sieve pour off the stock into a large bowl.
7. Take your time picking over the pile of bones and gristle, retrieving any remaining scraps of meat you can find (but careful to avoid the really tiny bones and pieces of gristle that you will previously never have known existed – this is a perfect way to learn chicken anatomy). These bits of chicken can be eaten or saved to go into the soup.
Use right away in the leftover veggie soup or freeze for later use.
Leftover Veggie Soup
This is a great recipe for using up leftover veggies from last night’s meal or when you have veggies that are beginning to expire. Because, man I hate to throw out veggies that are going bad – it is like money going down the drain! So, I found this recipe on About.com by Elaine Lemm and made a few changes for Paleo lovers.
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 2 celery stalks, washed and chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 3 cups vegetables, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks**
• 20 fl oz vegetable, chicken or beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp five spice powder
• ½ tsp ground cumin (optional)
• ¼ tsp cayenne (optional)
• Iodized sea salt and black pepper
Preparation:
• In a large stock pot or soup pan heat the vegetable oil, add the onion and gently cook until the onions begin to soften. Add the celery carrot and celery and cook for another 5 minutes taking care not to burn the garlic.
• Add the chopped vegetables and stir, add the stock and bay leaf (and spices if using) and cook until all the vegetables are soft and cooked through (approx 20 minutes).
• Blend the soup in the pan using a stick blender or pour into a food processor and blend.
• Cook the soup for a further 5 minutes to reduce slightly, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
**Great vegetables for soup include - parsnips, celeriac, leeks, sweet potato, or any other winter roots, broccoli, cauliflower. Make sure they are all cleaned, peeled and cut into similar size chunks. Leafy greens great in soup include, spinach, watercress, cabbage, collard greens. And, don't forget fresh herbs for even more flavor.
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