Chicken Stock

One of the easiest and most nutritious things we make is chicken stock. About once a week, we'll roast a whole organic chicken and afterward, use the carcass (and additional pieces) to make a rich stock overnight. I love the simplicity and ease of throwing a ton of stuff in a big pot and waking up the next morning with a delicious base for soup. There are a zillion things you could throw in for a stock, but this is what we do:

• 4 quarts of water
• ALL scrap pieces of chicken leftover from the roasted bird, including the (raw) gizzards
• about 2 pounds of small, bony raw pieces - wings and drumsticks are our favorite
• 4-5 stalks of celery, chopped into large pieces
• 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, diced, plus the peel
• 1/2 bunch parsley (save for the last 20 minutes)
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar

After eating our roast chicken dinner, we toss all of this in a big stock pot, bring it to a boil, then turn it to about medium, cover, and leave it overnight. Whenever I get around to it in the morning, I uncover, turn up to medium-high, add the parsley, and let it simmer for around 20 minutes. Then I turn it off, pick out the chicken and set aside in a bowl, strain out and discard the rest of the solid pieces, then pour the stock through a mesh strainer into a glass bowl, sometimes with some separated into mason jars to store in the freezer. Cover the bowl and stick in the fridge until the next day. Then I go through the chicken and pick off the meat, discarding the bones, skin, and other gunky bits. The meat also goes in the fridge for the next day's chicken soup. So easy!