A fully stocked freezer is one of the most important things for a single foodie in the city (and arguably anyone anywhere). One thing I always make sure I have on hand is homemade chicken stock. I typically make a batch and use half in a soup which I freeze in single portions and then freeze the other half as is. You never know when you’re going to need some stock – whether it be the urge to make a quick homemade soup (I’m a sucker for matzoh ball) or when you come down with the flu and the only glimmer of hope in your life is having chicken broth on hand. My friends think I’m fancy when I mention making my own stock… I think they’re silly for not knowing how easy and cheap it is.

Here’s what you need:

• Whole roaster 4-5 lb. chicken (Don’t get the most expensive, super organic/farm-raised/whatever chicken but also don’t get the cheapest. I typically go for a trustworthy organic brand)
  

  Throw it all in a pot and add water!

• 1 onion (unpeeled, quartered)
• 2 carrots (unpeeled, quartered)
• 2 celery stalks (untrimmed, quartered)
• 6 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
• Fresh herbs (Whatever I have on hand typically. Go light on the rosemary as it can overpower the stock. I love using thyme sprigs and parsley stalks. Try 8 thyme sprigs, 10 parsley sprigs, and one rosemary sprig)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 tsp kosher salt (I like to use minimal salt when making broth and add it later when I make soups)

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and fill with water (about 2.5 quarts)
• Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to low
• After a couple minutes you will start to see scum forming around the edges. Take a spoon and remove this once (it won’t come back!)
  

  Get that scum!

• After 3.5 hours or so (this is not an exact science) remove from the heat and strain the liquid into a clean container (I usually use another pot)
• Set stock in the fridge overnight so that the fat solidifies and floats to the top. This step makes it so much easier to remove the fat however if you are in a time crunch you can use a baster and soak up the liquified fat after you strain it.

And now you have about 7-8 cups of chicken stock! That’s the equivalent to two of the boxed chicken stocks you buy from the store but much more delicious AND cheaper. It is very common that the stock turns out gelatinous. This is totally normal (freaked me out the first time though!) and comes from the natural gelatin that is released from the chicken bones.

TIPS:

• If you are making a soup with chicken meat in it you can remove the chicken from the simmering liquid after about 45 minutes and cut the breast meat from the bone. Return the rest of the bones and dark meat to the stock for flavor. Don’t use the meat at the end of the process as literally all of the flavor has imparted from it
• Try mixing things up! If you want to make an Asian soup replace the herbs with lemongrass, basil, cilantro, etc and thrown some chilis in there. Yum!