Proper Chicken Stock

Stock is the least glamorous thing you can make and probably the most important. Shop-bought stock is fine, but a proper homemade chicken stock is on another level, and it’s mostly passive time. Roasting the bones first gives you a deeper, golden stock, and once you have it you can reduce it down into something approaching a restaurant sauce base.

Ingredients

• 2kg chicken bones, wings and carcasses (ask your butcher, they’re pennies)
• 2 white onions
• 2 carrots
• 4 sticks of celery
• 1 bulb of garlic (halved through the equator)
• 2 bay leaves
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 1 tsp black peppercorns

Method

1. Roast the bones in a 200°C oven for 45 minutes until deeply golden, turning halfway
2. Transfer the bones to your biggest pot, then deglaze the roasting tray with a splash of water, scraping up all the sticky bits, and pour that in too
3. Roughly chop the vegetables (no need to peel) and add to the pot with the garlic, herbs and peppercorns
4. Cover with cold water and bring up to a bare simmer
5. Skim off any foam that rises in the first 20 minutes
6. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 4 to 6 hours, topping up with water if the bones become exposed
7. Strain through a fine sieve into a large container and discard the solids
8. Chill overnight, then lift off the layer of fat that sets on top (save it for roasting potatoes)
9. Portion into containers or freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months

Notes

The golden rule is never let it boil. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat into the stock and makes it cloudy and greasy. You want the occasional lazy bubble breaking the surface, nothing more.

To take it further, boil the finished stock hard and reduce it by three quarters into a glace. It’ll set like jelly in the fridge, and a spoonful will transform any pan sauce or the beef shin ragu.