This is another amazing Italian stock recipe from giallo zafferano. Traditionally it calls for an old hen (una gallina) but I have used two free-range chicken carcasses that still had some meat on them.
I want to share with you my experience following the recipe. The result is a lovely clear broth that tastes and smells amazing!
Note:
- Takes about 20 minutes to prepare and an hour to simmer.
- You will get about 1 – 1.5 litres of stock.
- I wrote about their beef stock here and the vegetable version here.
Steps
- Blanching the chicken
- Preparing the vegetables
- Simmering
- Sieving the broth
- Freezing and using
Equipment
- 1 chef’s knife
- 1 fry pan
- 1 large sauce pan or stock pot
- Small meshed sieve/strainer
- Paper towel (optional)
Ingredients
- ~1kg of the chicken frames, off cuts etc
- 2L water
- 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- A few parsley sprigs
- Salt to taste
- Black peppercorns (whole or ground) to taste
Blanching the chicken
This is my addition to the recipe. I blanch the chicken quickly first to remove the scum you get when you boil chicken. It reduces the fat of the finished stock too. See my method here – blanching chicken.
Much cleaner:
Preparing the vegetables
- Roughly chop the 2 celery sticks and 2 carrots and add them to the stock pot.
- Peel the onion then slice it in half.
- Splash a bit of olive oil in a fry pan and cook the inside face of onion halves until slightly charred.
- Add the now charred and softened onion halves to the stock pot.
- Add to the stock pot the:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- parsley
- 2L of water;
- Salt and peppercorns.
- Finally, add the chicken.
Simmering
Bring to to a rolling boil and then simmer on low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
Sieving the broth
- Use a small meshed sieve or strainer to remove the meat, bones and vegetables.
- If using straight away to make a meal, you can use a Gravy And Fat Separator or chill slightly and remove the fat layer as it forms with a ladle/spoon or paper towel.
- If you are not using the broth immediately (and this is my preference), use the above techniques and then freeze the broth.
Freezing and using
When I come to use the frozen broth I scrape off the fat layer, if any, with a spoon. Then I let the stock defrost.
Enjoy,
PK
Here are some more Italian cooking secrets and uses for stock :
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