Stewed Chicken

Use this recipe to prepare chicken and chicken stock to be used in other dishes, such as Chicken 'n' Biscuits and Chicken Pot Pie.

A good basic stock should not have any particularly strong or unconventional flavors. The goal here is versatility, so we want to make sure it will work with all kinds of recipes. An infusion of ginger or aroma of tarragon may be lovely in certain applications, but they're also very specific flavors that we may not want in a basic stock. Stick to celery, onion, carrot, and parsley for flavor, unless you have a specific recipe in mind, such as a Chinese soup. Do not add too much salt as the water/broth will cook down and concentrate the flavors.

Note: One of the ways restaurants arrive at such deeply layered broths and sauces is to start with a stock (instead of water) and then enhance it further, cooking even more aromatics and meats into it and reducing it to fully concentrate the flavors. These are almost like double stocks, with whatever specific ingredients the chef has built into them.

A 3 1/2 pound whole Chicken = 1.5 kg = 3 cups of cooked, cubed meat

1 chicken
2 sprigs parsley
4 celery stalks, cut into pieces
1 carrot, sliced, cut into pieces
1 thick slice of onion
salt and pepper

Cut the chicken up into pieces. Add, along with the vegetables, to a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Then simmer gently. Remove the chicken meat from the bones once it registers 160 degrees so the meat does not get stringy. Add the bones back to the broth and continue to cook for 1 - 2 hours more. Add more water when necessary.

Let cool, then remove the meat from the bones. Strain the broth to be used for gravies and sauces.