To be a good cook you need to master the fundamentals of cookery and stock-making is one of those. The best stock is full of flavour, colour, body and aroma. Good stock is the key to making sensational sauces that enliven your dishes and is the basis for all good soups.
Makes about 5 litres
4 – 5 chicken carcasses
1kg chicken wings or chicken necks or combination of each
water to cover
10 peppercorns
Mirepoix
2 onions
2 carrots
4 celery stalks
2 leeks
Bouquet Garni
3 bay leaves
sprig of thyme
parsley stalks
Chop carcass into even sized pieces and wash well. Place in a large heavy based pot. Clean and cut vegetables into even-sized pieces, using mainly the white part of the celery or leek. Place the vegetables in the pot and add enough water to just cover it all. Make the bouquet garni and tie with string or wrap in muslin. Add the bouquet garni and the peppercorns to the stockpot.
Bring the pot to a very slow simmer, ‘a lazy bubble’, where a few bubbles break the surface every few seconds. Never boil the stock. The reason: any more than a lazy bubble and you will emulsify
the fat into the stock and to stir up the impurities. We want a clear stock and not a cloudy one.
Keep the pot cooking at this lazy bubble for 2 hours; gently skim to surface frequently to remove the impurities. Strain the stock carefully. Skim off all the fat before you cool the stock.
Degrease by remove the fat from the surface of the stock with a spoon; then draw paper toweling over the surface of the stock, repeating with fresh paper until all the fat globules have been removed.
Cool by decanting the stock into smaller bowls to cool quickly. Within 2 hours pour the stock into 250ml or 350m containers and refrigerate until cold, then freeze.
If you wish to reduce the stock for a more intense flavour and requiring less freezer space, return the strained stock back into the pot and bring to the lazy simmer for a further hour or two. Then cool and put into the containers for freezing.
Never boil the stock or stir the stock; doing this will cause it to become cloudy. Do not add salt.
It is best to freeze the stock if you are not using it within a day or two.
