Meat Stock [Chicken]

EQUIPMENT

• 1 6-8 quart dutch oven with a lid – stainless steel or glass
• 1 mesh strainer
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INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole organic chicken (including skin & giblets) cut at the joints
• Plenty of filtered water (1 quart for every pound of chicken)
• 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1 medium onion rough-chopped for flavoring the stock
• 1-2 carrots rough-chopped for flavoring the stock
• Non-fibrous vegetables (such as broccoli, peas, red onion, squash and cauliflower) for eating in the soup

METHOD

For making the stock

• Cut chicken at the joints to expose the cartilage
• Place the entire chicken (with all the parts it comes with) in the pot
• Add chopped onion, carrots, peppercorns and salt

• Cover with filtered water – one inch above the ingredients
• Heat on high
• Just prior to boiling, skim with a mesh strainer and discard all the foam (impurities) that came to the top
• Continue heating to boiling point
• Lower the temperature to simmer and cover with the lid
• Simmer for 1.5-3.0 hours

For making the soup

• When finished, remove solids from the stock – retaining the chicken parts cooling for handling
• Separate meat bits and return to stock pot
• Choose and chop into bite size pieces your favourite non-fibrous vegetables
• Cook until the veggies are soft
• Store the soup in a glass jars
• The stock with turn to a gel when refrigerated and have a layer of fat on the top (longer cooking = thicker consistency)
• Do not remove the fat layer – it carries a lot of critical gut-building nutrients and adds flavour