Chicken Stew and Dumplings
Love Food, Hate Waste for Thrifty Thursday:
Home-Made Chicken Stock Recipe
Home-Made Chicken Stock
I HATE waste! I was brought up in a very thrifty household where fabulous meals were cooked, but, any leftovers were always made into another tasty and wholesome meal. So, it is an anathema to me that so much food is wasted in the UK and today’s post is all about thrift and taste, as YES, they DO compliment each other. The amount of food that an average British household throws away is colossal and morally repugnant, in my very self-opinionated and yet humble opinion! This frightening fact of food waste has been recently highlighted in television productions, and if you want a run-down of just how bad we are, then take a trip to the Love Food, Hate Waste website here: Love Food, Hate Waste where you can see by an interactive post, if you are also a culprit of waste! It’s a complex issue, and much waste is generated by very confusing supermarket and brand labelling. It appears that many of us are confused by date labels on our food. Warburton’s, ( a major British bakery) removed ‘display until’ dates from all of their products in 2010, bringing them in line with the rest of the bakery sector, and similarly Hovis introduced new storage guidance in early 2011 . Many retailers are now removing display until dates from their products, to make it easier to see the important ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates.
From whole roast chicken to chicken stew and dumplings via home-made chicken stock…..
Roast Chicken
Home-Made Chicken Stock
Chicken stew and dumplings
When I roasted a chicken a few days ago, you can see the recipes in my organic post here: Thrifty & Organic Meal Planner: Honey Roast Chicken, Hand Pies and Bread & Butter Pudding Recipes, I managed to get FOUR family meals out of one lovely organic roast chicken! The main meal was the roast bird, then I made a dozen pies for a supper dish as well as adding a couple of the pies into the school and office lunch box, before making a home-made stock and finally serving a delicious and hearty chicken stew with dumplings. For me, it’s not just about using the leftovers, it’s also all about showing respect for the animal, insofar that it is all used to feed a hungry family. I am not a vegetarian, although I eat very little meat, but, if I am going to eat meat then I want to eat meat from animals that have been reared with respect as well as being humanely slaughtered with no pain, so, the chicken on my table is a worthy recipient of many meals, for the pennies in my purse as well as respect for the animal that was bred for my table.
Home-Made Chicken Stock Recipe
So, for today’s Thrifty Thursday post, I bring to you my EASY and tasty Home-Made Chicken Stock Recipe – a great way to finally finish off that roast chicken and make a stock for many other delicious meals to come. Tomorrow, I will be posting my Chicken Stew and Dumplings recipe, that was made from today’s chicken stock. And, don’t forget, I have also managed to make a dozen mini Chicken and Vegetable Pies from my giving bird too, so a £10 organic chicken has gone a long way to feed myself and my family over the last week, with imagination and flavour.
Roast Chicken & Vegetable Hand Pies
The recipe for my home-made chicken stock is below, and please DO pop back tomorrow and over the weekend when I will be sharing my stew and dumplings recipe, as well as TWO new 5:2 diet recipes, a Chinese New Year recipe and lots of marmalade! Have a great day and keep warm, as it has gone very cold all of sudden again……..proper stew and dumplings weather! Karen
Home-Made Chicken Stock
Print recipe
| Serves | Makes about 600ml to 1 litre |
| Prep time | 10 minutes |
| Cook time | 1 hour, 30 minutes |
| Total time | 1 hour, 40 minutes |
| Meal type | Soup |
| Misc | Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving |
| Region | British |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
Ingredients
- 1 chicken carcass
- 1 celery stalks including green leaves (trimmed and cut in half)
- 2 carrots (peeled and cut in half)
- 2 onions (peeled and cut in half)
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- cold water
Optional
- leftover gravy
Note
A delicious home-made chicken stock, that will enhance any dish that uses stock as part of the ingredients, as well as being a thrifty and cost effective way to use all of a whole chicken. Use the stock for soups, stews, curries, casseroles, sauces, pies or any other recipe calling for chicken stock.
Directions
| Step 1 | Place the chicken carcass in a large lidded pan. (to cut back on calories and fat, I sometimes strip the chicken of all the skin) |
| Step 2 | Add the vegetables and bay leaves and cover the chicken and vegetables with water, to just above them. |
| Step 3 | Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, you can always adjust it later if it is not seasoned enough. |
| Step 4 | Place the lid on the pan and bring to the boil, before reducing the heat and allowing to gently simmer for between 1 and 1 and a half hours. |
| Step 5 | Allow to cool slightly and then skim any surface fat off with a tablespoon. Stain the liquid through a metal sieve into a bowl and then allow the chicken carcass and vegetables to cool until you can handle them. |
| Step 6 | Strip the chicken of any remaining meat, being careful to not include any small bones. Cut the vegetables into small dice and add them with the chicken meat to the stock. Add any leftover gravy now if using. |
| Step 7 | Check the stock does not contain any bones and then allow to cool before storing in fridge for upto 2 days or freezing, if the chicken was cooked from fresh and not frozen. |
| Step 8 | Before using the stock, adjust the seasoning if needed. |
| Step 9 | Use the stock for soups, stews, curries, casseroles, sauces, pies or any other recipe calling for chicken stock. |
Home-Made Chicken Stock Recipe
The Lavender and Lovage Family Cookbook of Family Recipes
As this is thrifty, I am entering it into Camilla’s Credit Crunch Munch, which is co-hosted with Helen.
Camilla @Fabfood4all says
Thank you for this thrifty recipe Karen, homemade stock always tastes better doesn’t it ! You chicken truly was the bird that just kept giving:-) A fine entry to Credit Crunch Munch:-)
Lynne OConnor says
Completely agree with you about waste, especially when using leftovers makes such tasty meals.
Maya Russell says
Fab recipe for chicken stock. I’ve never made chicken stock. I normally blend/grind all the chicken bones with left over gravy/ veg etc and give it to the dogs for a few days instead of their usual tinned dog meat. I might make some stock next time. I am trying to be less wasteful, not always easy.
Kathryn says
Chicken stock is such a useful thing to have on hand and so much better when made rather than bought!
Hazel Christopher says
I have so much waste with a fussy toddler – it never occurred to me to make my own chicken stock though, I bet it tastes so much better than ready made shop bought stock, might try this out.
Galina V says
I don’t often make my own stock, simply because I tend to use just pieces of chicken rather than the whole one. But I agree, the homemade stock is so versatile.
Beverley says
Thank you for this thrifty recipe – I agree on the amount of waste in the UK – shocking!
Judith Allen says
I love the smell when there’s a pot of chicken stock simmering!
Meryl Rees says
I’ve never made stock and always use the normal stock cubes when I cook but I imagine once I’ve used fresh I’ll never want to go back to OXO.
Rudy Roversi says
Thank you -will try this weekend
Maya Russell says
I think nice herbs like thyme and tarragon are nice in chicken stock.
Jill Hartley says
This looks perfect! I need to do this! Especially on a cold winter day heating the house up with a wonderful aroma!
Fuss Free Helen says
I have been known to take the chicken carcass from a lunch party home in a carrier bag for stock. It astonishes me how many people do not bother. I also buy carcasses – a bag for 30p – from the local butcher when I run out. Ready made stock does have its place, but homemade is always worth doing.
Many thanks for sending to Credit Crunch Munch, and sorry for taking forever to come and comment.
Beverley says
Stock turned out lovely – going to use it for a chicken curry today!
Fiona Matters says
I’m never very successful with chicken stock unfortunately. I always seem to end up with bones in it! I may give it another try however. It probably wouldn’t matter anyway as I tend to blend my soups so any bones would disintegrate. The one thing I hate is having to pick bones out of a lovely meal!
Herbert Appleby says
I’m trying to be as chefie as possible by using cooking juices for soup bases and so on but my wife is an extreme convenience lover and a fussy eater. Can I keep orange/ lemon zest in the freezer for long?
Joanna Orr says
Totally hate waste too, and I really should do stock more often – but I put it down to laziness and not lack of time… like the sound of the chicken & veg stew with dumplings – might have to give that a go….!!
Beverley says
The stock froze really well and added the finishing touch to my korma. Thank you!
Avvie Cunnington says
Going to try this on Sunday!
Veronica Therawati says
delicious! thanks for this recipe xxx
Maggie Osborn says
Excellent idea for these thrifty times!
Judith Eddington says
thanks for this great post – i’ve wanted to try and make my own chicken stock for ages and this has given me the confidence to go for it next time we have a chicken!
Lisa Williams says
I love to make stock it really is better when you make it at home 🙂
Maya Russell says
A very EASY recipe. Thanks Shared on Twitter – https://twitter.com/maisietoo/status/354517339976376321