Homemade Chicken Stock

Makes About 3 Quarts

Ingredients 

(from The Food Network's Ina Garten...adjusted to work with the 6.5lbs of chicken I had on-hand)

2 (3-3.5lb) roasting chickens

2 small yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered

3 carrots, unpeeled and halved

2 stalks celery with leaves, cut into thirds

2 parsnips, unpeeled and cut in half, optional

10 sprigs fresh parsley (I use flat-leaf/Italian parsley)

7 sprigs fresh thyme

10 sprigs fresh dill

1 head garlic, unpeeled and cut in 1/2 crosswise

1 T sea salt

1 tsp. whole black peppercorns

1. Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill*, garlic, and seasonings in a large stockpot. Add 4 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 4 hours. 
2. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids. 
3. Chill the stock overnight. 
4. The next day, remove the surface fat. Use immediately or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

*I tied/bundled my herbs, but it is not necessary as everything will be drained once cooked. 

Halved Garlic

The Ingredients 

The Herbs

Ready for Water

Boiling and Ready to Simmer

Because it's not necessary to peel any of the veggies, prep time is about 3-5 minutes...from that point, you just wait. So worth it for fresh, preservative-free, sugar-free (yes, there is sugar in stock...see "dextrose") chicken stock. And, in addition to this tasty stock, I'll have two fully cooked, moist chickens with which I can create Curried-Chicken Salad (recipe to come), Chicken Hash (recipe to come), among many other options.