Stock success

These days I am all about butterflying chicken to make things like Chicken Under a Brick. Unfortunately hubby doesn't share my passion for chicken, so my secret plan is to get him to eat the leftovers by putting it in his favorite food--soup. While I was making the chicken I threw the trimmed pieces into a stock pot with the extra compound butter I used on the chicken skin (thyme, garlic & lemon zest) and sauteed them with some onion, celery and carrots. When it was all nice and brown I added about 4 cups of water, some salt, peppercorns, parsley stems and some bay leaves and let it simmer for a few hours while we had dinner. I felt very Barefoot Contessa as I strained my nice brown stock into an empty yogurt container.

I know you make stock all the time Tracy, but I have never had much luck, mostly because I overestimate the power of one picked-over chicken carcass to flavor gallons of water. So I was surprised that the chicken back was able to make such a rich looking stock--I think it was the browning I did at the beginning and the fond that developed in the pan (as well as limiting the amount of water). Today I am going to skim off the fat and make my soup--I hope it tastes like chicken!