I make a lot of soup. We decided last year to open our home to friends on Sundays after Church. We found that it was indescribably cheaper to make soup for thirty people then it is for four people to eat out. Not to mention that with varying, ridiculous allergies in our family, trying to find a restaurant that we can all eat at is close to impossible. So every fall, our house is full of friends, kids of friends and the smell of fresh, homemade soup.
Not sure exactly how much soup has been made or consumed in this house over the last 12 months but it has been quite a bit, and with the exception of one friend who does not care for cilantro (name rhymes with Layson Morgday) I have never had any complaints.
So before I share recipes and step by steps on how I make my soup, I figured we should start with the bird. Yes I said the bird. Although chicken stock in varying varieties and sodium levels is available at your local grocer, none can replace home-made. Making your own stock allows you to control what goes in it as well as save incredible amounts of money.
There are many different ways to get to the end result, but my favorite is roasting the chicken. Since this is my blog, that is what we are going to talk about.
So the first part of this is "how to roast a chicken"
Ingredients:
1 whole fresh or previously frozen chicken
half of a medium onion, sliced
3 ribs of celery, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced (or a few handfuls of baby carrots)
2 cloves of garlic peeled
dash of marjoram, thyme, rosemary
salt/pepper and paprika to taste
3 bay leaves
You could certainly do this in a roasting pan, but I am a HUGE fan of the crock-pot, so that is what I will share. This couldn't get much easier or tastier or cheaper... So here we go.
Step 1 - Put all that stuff in the crock pot
Step 2 - Wait 4 hours and eat
Seriously.... I'll give you a little more detail but that is about it.
Unwrap the chicken and remove whatever goodies they added to the cavity (yes, you have to stick your hand in the bird and pull out the parts). Depending on the brand you may find sachet of parts or just an extra neck or two... Whatever it is place it in the crock-pot. I prefer to cook mine breast side down to keep it moist.
Season the bird with the salt and pepper, add the herbs on top and surround with the veggies. When it is ready it should look something like this...
Turn it on, sit back and enjoy the aroma...
About 4 hours (Internal temp of 165 by the book). The longer you cook the more "fall off the bone" you will experience.
End of the run should look like this (or something similar)
Now again we come to preferences. You could stop right here, serve it with potatoes or rice and call it a night. I prefer to separate the bird from the rest and put them in the fridge over night. Makes it so much easier to de-bone, but it is not an option if you are hungry. No way to describe how good this smells! Either way you are going to remove the meat from the bird. You can do this dainty like with a fork and knife but I prefer to get in and get after it with my hands. Take all the meat that you want, but don't be afraid to leave a little on the bone as this will just add to the flavor of the broth. Place the carcass aside (the bones and skin and such) and any meat that you don't like. I won't judge... I am a very picky chicken eater so my broth is very meaty :)
So now onto the broth. Take the bowl of not chicken (chicken juice, veggies etc) and put it into the biggest stock pot you have. I use a 12 quart stock pot for this, but you can use whatever you have. Then put the carcass of the chicken into the pot. Add water to the top of your pot, add a few liberal shakes of salt and pepper and simmer for as long as you can stand. Keep track of the simmer part, if you bring it to a full boil you will make the broth murky, letting it simmer keeps it very clear. This is just a look thing, but I think it is important
After a few hours, or as long as you can stand then take a sieve (fine mesh strainer), cheese cloth (a fabric mesh used or making cheese) or if neither are available you can use a coffee filter (last resort). To keep the broth clear, scoop it out with a ladle or a large measuring cup and pour it slowly through the sieve into a bowl, and empty the sieve as often as necessary into a separate bowl.
Keep this up until you have it all strained and collected. Tonight I used my 12 qt stock pot to simmer the stock. When it was all said and done I ended up with 9 qts of beautiful broth. Considering a 1qt container of quality stock is around 2.99, then this is 27.00 worth of stock. Shopping for sales (i.e. .88/lb for chicken) can land you savings north of 20.00 per batch. Not to mention the fact that you saw everything that went in there.
Let the stock cool overnight in the fridge, and remove or skim the fat layer off if you wish. Then prepare for storage. We pour 4 cup portions into gallon size freezer bags for use later.
So that's it. Homemade, Gluten, Dairy, and Soy free chicken stock with no added anything. You can do this too.
Next will be Dairy free Creamy Baked Potato Soup and or Clam Chowder.
Hit me with any questions and let me know how your chicken stock turned out. Would love to hear what you tried or changed.
Stay Hungry
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