Taking Stock In Our (supper's) Future

Today is stock day, here at the Saucy house. It's as close to pure kitchen therapy as I think I can get. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking of another thing I cook that has the same overall wonderful feeling as making chicken stock, and I can't think of one. Granted, it's hard to think of other things with the smell of homemade chicken stock wafting through the house on a cold, overcast, fall day.

It's so therapeutic to me because I'm using parts of the bird that would normally be tossed out. I'm using other kitchen scraps that again would be tossed out. But by planning ahead, knowing what will come of it, and embracing the overall symphonic pleasure of recycling, improving, and enriching foods-to-come is what brings me such peace and joy. Knowing that I have chicken stock in the freezer makes me feel like no matter what else is going on, I can make a warm, comforting, flavorful homemade meal out of just about anything.

Here's what I do. We love roasted chicken. We hate waiting for the whole thing to cook in her natural shape, so I do what's called "spatchcock", which means I remove the backbone, split the breast bone, remove the chest bone, and spread the bird flat. She cooks quicker and more evenly. And I can get tasty things like salt, pepper, olive oil, thyme, rosemary, sage, and garlic on all of her parts. 

I have a large plastic bowl with a sealable lid that I put the backbone, chest bone, and contents of the yucky bag of innards that comes inside. I don't like owful, but as an additive to my stock, it's great. Plus, they put the neck in that packet too, and that's just chicken stock gold.

So, in this container in the freezer, I have what's listed above, but I also have the bones from the bird I roasted, and parts do the skin uneaten too. The pan drippings, and anything left on the cutting board. Just pure chicken essence. And it's all from "scraps" that most of us throw away. To me, though, that is sacrilege. 

I buy celery in the bunch because it's cheaper than the hearts only, and I chop the tops off and put them in the freezer bowl too. When we have eaten all the nice long stalks, I put the little pieces from the inside into the freezer bowl too. 

I also buy onions in bulk, and they usually have a lot more of the papery coating than the individual ones do, so I put my huge stock pot under my onion basket and catch all those onion papers, and I'll take a few minutes to coax a few more off of the larger ones. 

Today's pot contains a lot of onion paper, the tops and heart of a celery stalk, and about 4(?) birds worth of roasted bones, skin, and uneaten parts. I then poured in water to the top of my stock pot, and let it simmer. I'll let it simmer for most of the day. I don't really time it. It's about smell, and look to me. But once it's done, I'll let it cool, then strain it, then pour the stock into containers to freeze. 

My LORD, I love stock day! Stay hungry, and remember to play with your food.