There are so many recipes, of so many different types, which call for the inclusion of chicken stock. We may be talking about soups, casseroles, risottos, or a great many others, but how often do you actually prepare your own stock? Are you one of the probably ninety-plus percent who will buy pre-made chicken stock...or even worse, resort to one of those disgusting, chemically enhanced cubes that have no more chicken in them than lamb?

I hope here to show you and convince you how easy it is to prepare perfect chicken stock, essentially as a by-product of preparing another meal. Use it as you make it or freeze it for up to three months in batches - the choice is yours. Once you have tasted real chicken stock, however, I hope and believe that you will never again settle for less.

The secret to making the perfect healthy chicken stock is very much in keeping it simple. Resist temptations such as, "Oh, that herb may add a little bit extra to it!" or, "What if I add a little pinch of this to spice it up a little?" Any such additions can be made to the recipe you subsequently prepare with the stock. The stock should be thought of as a base ingredient - never a finished article. That is why there is quite deliberately no seasoning included in this recipe.

Ingredients

One free range, organic chicken

1 carrot

1 stalk of celery

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

Boiling water

Method

Roughly chop the vegetables as shown in the picture to the right. Add the chicken and the chopped vegetables to a large soup pan and pour in enough boiling water to come within an inch of the rim. Bring back to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer as gently as possible for one hour, carefully turning the chicken half way through cooking.

After this time, remove the chicken from the pan with a couple of spatulas and leave for one hour to cool. It can subsequently be used as required but I leg to cut off each wing, each leg and thigh and carefully slice off each breast fillet by feeling with and guiding my knife down either side of the breast bone. Any remaining scraps of meat can be picked off by hand.

Very importantly, return the main part of the carcass to the pot, cover and leave overnight.

The next morning - as you will no doubt see from the picture to the right - when we remove the lid from our pan, it is not a very appetising image we are confronted with! Not to worry, we will soon rectify that.

The next step is to take a large spoon or ladel and carefully skim the impurities from the top off the stock. Try not to stir it in the process of doing this. Next, remove the carcass and the vegetable pieces with a slotted spoon and discard.

The final step in preparing our perfect chicken stock is to strain it through some fine cloth, such as muslin or even a clean tea towel.

I hope you will try this out for yourself and find out just what a difference real chicken stock makes to any recipe which calls for it.   

Gordon Hamilton loves to write about food and drink. It was the first subject which he wrote about extensively online. He does, however, write about a huge variety of other topics, so why not have a look at his home page - linked to below - to find out more?