taking stock.
so many bones & plenty of time. my house smells like thanksgiving all over again. and again – i must have made 2 gallons of stock these past days, not including a(nother) pot of soup. so when lunch time rolled around (guess what i brought for lunch today?) & i was not feeling particularly hungry, i was not shocked but i was a little perplexed. lunch is, after all, my favorite part of the workday. but then i remembered that my early morning felt more like a monday than a thursday until i reminded myself that tomorrow is friday & celebrated by having bacon with a side of bacon for breakfast.
here is my very casual recipe for chicken stock which also works for turkey. i promise that my next recipe will be very complicated involve more than one pot.
basic chicken stock (makes 4 quarts)
3 1/2 lbs chicken bones, incl. necks
2 large yellow onions, quartered
4 carrots, unpeeled
4 stalks celery with leaves
10 sprigs fresh parsley
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
2 tsp. salt
place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, thyme, peppercorns & salt into a large stockpot. add 6 quarts of water & bring to a boil. simmer, uncovered, for 4 hours. strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander & discard the solids. chill the stock overnight. skim the surface fat. if not using immediately, pack in soup containers & freeze for up to 3 months.
whaticookedwhatiwore 
Absolute C.I.A. stock you got goin’ there, sistawoman. My house is oozing carcass/stock aroma, too, but a different one, cuz I stuffed tandoori under the breast and leg skin of my bird and in the cavity……
Dear Karena,
We have enjoyed your recent recipe postings but I want to especially comment on your chicken soup. Most every year I get a bad case of flu and bronchitis lasting about 3 weeks and if it had not been for Loretta’s chicken soup I might not have survived the last few occasions. Your recipe looks excellent and has been added to our list of possibilities for curing my next flu which will come undoubtedly.
We recently have adopted the same freezing strategy as you did for your excess soup. I have been buying large Australian lamb roasts and Costco and we roast them to the point of very “rare” and then I cut the roast in 8 oz slabs (being 2 4 oz. portions) and freeze each along with a small container of excellent gravy that Loretta knows how to make from her country days. When defrosted and quickly seared in a very hot frying pan, the lamb with gravy tastes as good as freshly roasted.
Keep up the good work, YUH
Just gotta add a couple more cents. I hope you all are not freezing leftovers in plastic!