Project Description

This recipe is from Maggie Beer’s cookbook titled Maggie’s Harvest.  It is one of the best chicken stock recipes out and will totally change the flavour of your food!  This can be put into a slow cooker and reduced over 24-48 hours on low.

Chicken Stock:

1 large boiling chicken (about 2.2kg) cut into pieces (if you are using bones only, you will need about 3kg)

2 large onions, unpeeled and halved

1 large carrot, roughly chopped (peeled if not organic)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil for cooking

1 large leek, trimmed, cleaned and roughly chopped

1 stick celery, washed and roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

6 sprigs thyme

6 stalks flat leaf parsley

1 head garlic, halved widthways

2 very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped (or 1 can of chopped tomatoes, I’ve also used 1 ½ cup of Passata which worked well when tomatoes are expensive!)

Prepare:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.  Place the chicken pieces, onion and carrot in a roasting pan and drizzle with a little olive oil.  You can also put the garlic in to roast, which will add depth to the stock.  Roast for 20 minutes or until chicken and vegetables are golden brown.

Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a large stockpot or slow cooker.  Add the remaining vegetables and herbs to the pot, and cover with about 2.5 litres of water.  Simmer, uncovered for 3-4 hours (or 24-48 hours on low if using slow cooker).

Strain the stock straight away through a sieve into a bowl, then cool by immersing the bowl in a sink of cold water. If using a slow cooker, you need to transfer to a bowl which doesn’t shatter before cooling!  Refrigerate the stock to let any fat settle on the surface, then remove the fat.

The stock will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge or for 3 months in the freezer.  To reduce the stock, boil in a saucepan over high heat until it is reduced by ¾. When the reduced stock is chilled in the fridge, it should set as a jelly, if not, reduce again.  Jellied stock will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days and then in the freezer for three months.