Chicken Stock
Deeply colored stock that cooked for two days and nights.
As I write this, my stepson is getting tested for Covid-19. He is 27. He will recover. I feel certain. But we want to do whatever we can to help. When his dad first found out that he wasn’t feeling well, yesterday, he immediately offered to bring over some homemade chicken stock. We had some left from a batch I made to use in our paella the other night. We also brought him fresh thyme, lemon and ginger (to make tea) and some doTerra Breathe, and doTerra Ginger lozenges. But if anything could help him heal right now, I believe in the power of chicken stock.
We are lucky enough to have access to an organic chicken farmer, from whom we regularly buy whole chickens as well as packages of feet and backs. The gelatin that comes from homemade stock, using organic bones and vegetables, is as potent as the sun on your face after too many bleak days. It heals aching joints, boosts the immune systems and helps to counteract inflammation.
I try to make it every other week in my old crockpot. In an instapot, I feel that it doesn’t cook long enough to pull out all of the goodness from the bones. It’s always light in color. Whereas, in the crockpot, it maintains a steady simmer, on low, for days. You don’t want it to boil, just simmer. You can also make it on the stove. You just have to turn it off if you leave the house and keep an eye on it staying at a low simmer.
Ray just announced that Garrett already has his test results. It’s not Covid-19! Yay!!! I’m so relieved. Whatever it is that’s ailing him, I know the chicken stock will help.
Here’s what you do:
Wash and chop up three celery stalks, three carrots and one onion. You don’t have to chop them up as small as you would if you were going to eat them. Just 1 -2 inch pieces. They are giving flavor and will be taken out once the stock is finished. Place them in the pot.
Add the bones, breaking them up as well as you can. I save a few whole chicken dinners’ of bones by keeping them in a bag in my freezer until I have enough. If you have access to feet or necks or backs from your local sustainable or organic farmer then add them too. You want a good amount of bones in there. You can also just buy 2 lbs. of organic chicken wings and use them as well, or instead.
Add enough water to cover up the bones and vegetables.
Add about 2 tbls. of apple cider vinegar (I just pour in a bit from the bottle.) This helps the gelatin to release.
Leave it alone for an hour.
Bring to a boil (on high in crockpot for a few hours, just to a boil on stove) and then reduce to a simmer (low on crock pot.) I always set a timer to remind me to reduce it to low! You may have a better memory.
Cook for at least 12 hours, but you’ll be even happier if you let it go for two nights!
Let it cool and then pour the stock through a sieve into a pyrex bowl, or some other container to store it in the fridge or freezer. I use a small holed sieve within a colander that is then set into the bowl. There are a lot of tiny pieces that go through the big holes in my colander. I have also used cheesecloth or a clean towel in the colander.
Leave it in the fridge for at least a day in order for the fat to rise to the top of the stock. Then, you can carefully skim off this layer of jelly with a spoon.
This is a stock that only cooked for one day and night so it is lighter.
Use the stock to make traditional, Thai, or Mexican Chicken soup; use as the liquid when making rice, risotto or paella; or just sip on a cup of it in your favorite mug when you are sick or needing some nurturing.
