It's not just fun to say, it's also delicious - and thrifty!
Having gone gluten free this year, one of my new favorite convenience foods is the grocery store rotisserie chicken. You know the kind, they come in a plastic clamshell and sit under heat lamps, usually somewhere near the store entrance (where they entice the unwary).
These rotisserie chickens are fast and easy (and fun to eat Barbarian Style). But they are not a very good value, pound for pound. If you read the label carefully, most of them are small - we're talking a three pound chicken at most. Subtract the weight of the carcass, and there is not a lot of meat on that little thing!
One great way to stretch your budget when you buy one of these is to make chicken stock the next day. I find the best strategy is to strip the meat as soon as you get home, when the chicken is still warm. If you pop it in the fridge and wait to do it until later, it's not only more difficult to get the meat off, it is also a much less pleasant task. All that cold congealed chicken goo.
The easiest way to make chicken stock is with a slow cooker. But you can make it on the stovetop too, as long as you can simmer it on low and keep checking it to make sure the pot hasn't run dry.
The basic ingredients are:
- One chicken carcass
- Some water
- Salt to taste (no more than 1 teaspoon - you can always add more later)
How much water? Depends on how much stock you want to make. I would say 4 cups at a minimum. If you make too much, you can always freeze the extra for use later. I typically add 1-2 pints of water (as measured by a mason jar).
If you want your stock to taste better, add any or all of the following:
- Chopped carrots (about a cup)
- Chopped celery (about a cup)
- Chopped onion (about half a cup)
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 3-5 whole peppercorns
- 1-5 garlic cloves
- 1-2 T tomato paste (this gives it a wonderful rich color without affecting the taste)
Toss it all into the water and let it simmer for 6-10 hours on low. When it's done, the easiest way to strain it is to put a colander inside a larger bowl. Pour the whole thing into the colander, then lift the colander out, so that the broth remains inside the larger bowl. Delicious!