Chicken Stock

 Chicken stock, an important ingredient in many dishes and a really useful thing to have saved up. You use it in soups, risotto's, stews, cous cous, casserole, sauces, pretty much anything really

1-2 Chicken carcasses
2 sticks of celery roughly chopped
2 medium onions quartered
1 leek roughly chopped
2 carrots roughly chopped
1 bouquet garni
3-4 cloves garlic, bashed or roughly crushed
6 litres cold water

Step 1
Put the carcasses into a large stock pot with all the other ingredients. Bring to the boil and turn down the heat to simmer for about 4 hours. Allow the stock to cool a little before putting seiving into a container, and put in the fridge or freezer. Skim any dirt/scum from the top of the stock during the cooking.

At it's heart you only need the chicken carcass for this, but just the carcass gets you something really simple. for added verve you need to have the vegetables. If you do not have a bouquet garni use a selection of herbs including thyme, rosemary, basil, bay leaves, and oregano. The stock will keep best in the freezer, for a few months, but in the fridge is best kept for only a few days. With the stock try and think what you'll be using it for, and you can try to add extras to it for the best effect. For example, if you plan to use the stock in a curry or thai dish you may want to include chilli pepper in with the vegetables to add that flavour. Reducing the stock will concentrate the flavour, and help reduce the amount of space needed to store it.