sprinklefingers

My kid wants to cook. All the time. ALL THE TIME.

Here’s an example: the kid and the husband are in the playroom staging a major ‘battle’ inspired by Star Wars. I walk into the kitchen and rattle a pot or a pan and the kid comes running - I WANT TO HELP YOU MAKE DINNER! Folks, when they start ignoring Star Wars battles in favor of learning to supreme an orange, I think that means you have a mini-cook on your hands.

I have Sundays off each week, and this past Sunday the kid told me he wanted to learn to make chicken stock. Earlier in the week we had roast chicken for dinner and he was so curious as to why I would save the carcass. At the time I told him it was to use in making chicken stock - a fact he quickly remembered on Sunday morning. Of course cooking isn’t exactly the thing I want to spend my day off doing (I literally begged him to watch a movie with me - but he flat our refused), but who am I to deny his budding culinary talents? I mean, the kid can already out-cook his 38 year old father…might as well keep him at it!

So, we made chicken stock. The kid told me he wanted it to taste like Thai food, so we added a healthy amount of ginger and garlic and lemongrass and shallots and lime. The result? A super delicious chicken stock full of flavor - perfect for soup. Or curry. Or for sipping on a cold day (which we’ve had plenty of lately.) We thought you’d like to make it yourself…

Gingery-lemongrassy-garlicky Chicken Stock

You need:

• olive oil
• 2 stalks lemongrass, outer leaves removed, bottom 6” cut into 3 pieces
• hand-sized knob of fresh ginger, sliced into 1/2” pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed (no need to peel)
• 3 shallots, halved (no need to peel)
• 4 carrots, cut into quarters
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 limes, halved
• 2 dried red chiles
• 6 cloves
• 1 T black peppercorns
• 2 t salt
• 1 leftover chicken carcass, picked over

To make the stock:

1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add a few glugs of olive oil and let it get hot.
2. Once the olive oil is hot, add the lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots, carrots and green onions. Let cook until everything is fragrant and could be beginning to brown, about 6-8 minutes.
3. Add the limes, chiles, cloves, peppercorns, salt and chicken carcass to the pot, then pour water over all to cover by at least 4”.
4. Increase the heat, cover the pot and then let it come to a good simmer.
5. Once simmering, reduce the heat to maintain a light simmer, then cook for 1.5 - 2 hours, depending upon your schedule.
6. Let your stock cool, skim off the fat and then ladle into storage containers for refrigeration or freezing. The stock will keep in the fridge for a week and in the freezer for 6+ months.

We have enjoyed this stock so many times in the last week (it’s seriously delicious with coconut milk). Of course, I’ll tell you all about it - soon!

did the word carcass get your attention?

good.

this week i experimented with freezer jam (post coming soon!) and while making room in the freezer i came across a few bags of chicken parts. chicken parts which i had completely forgotten about! and right next to the chicken parts? frozen carrots & celery! it was like winning a special award right there in front of the freezer!

while i’m still canning obsessed, i’m also very into soup right now, so finding a treasure trove of chicken stock makings in the freezer was a special moment. do not make fun of me. do. not.

anyways, back to the soup. we’re having a cold september here in oregon, so soup has been playing a starring role at our dinner table. and, thanks to my freezer, i was able to whip up a giant pot of chicken stock in no time at all. wow, huh?

here’s how you can squirrel things away in your own freezer so that you too can someday be surprised by a carcass:

first of all, do you ever buy those rotisserie chickens from the market? you know, the precooked juicy chickens perfect for shredding and putting in a burrito or quesadilla or on top of a salad? i usually pick one up when i’m short on time - you do that, too…don’t you? please say you do. i don’t want to be the only one who takes complete advantage of this amazing kitchen shortcut…

okay, so, yes. you do occasionally buy rotisserie chickens. sweet. we have something in common.

next time you buy one, after removing the meat from the bones, put the bones & parts and what-not into a freezer bag. label that bag ‘chicken carcass’ or some other hilarious thing and stick it in your freezer. once you’ve got 2 or 3 carcasses in your freezer, then you’ve pretty much got what it takes to make stock. (as long as you’ve got a few carrots, some celery and an onion around.)

i found it all in my freezer chicken stock
makes a big pot of stock

you need:

• 2-3 bags of leftover/frozen chicken bones & bits
• 3-4 carrots
• 3-4 stalks celery
• 1-2 onions
• 2 bay leaves
• salt to taste
• 12-15 peppercorns

to make stock:

1. put everything in a stockpot and cover with water by 2-3 inches.
2. put pot over medium high heat and bring to a simmer.
3. simmer for at least one hour - or all afternoon, depending upon how much time you have.
4. taste it. if the chicken flavor has developed and you’re happy with the result, remove the stock from the heat. if not, keep cooking!
5. once your stock has finished cooking you’ll want to refrigerate it so that the fat will harden at the top and you can scrape it off and discard it. if the pot in which you made your stock can also hold food in the fridge, great. if you don’t have such a pot, ladle the stock into storage safe containers and refrigerate.
6. the next day you’ll want to scrape the layer of fat off the stock. once that’s done you can prepare the stock for freezing by dividing it into 4-cup (or so) freezer safe containers.
7. label your containers. freeze.
8. when you’re ready to make soup simply thaw the stock overnight in the fridge OR run some hot water around the outside of your freezer container to loosen the stock, then plop the frozen blob of it into a saucepan and thaw/reheat on the stovetop.
   
   
   
   [this photo is gross. it’s what was left at the bottom of my pot after i ladled the stock into containers. as you can tell, there are bones and skin in there. and i guess right now would be the time for me to tell you that i doubt there’s a more gross kitchen enterprise than making chicken stock.]