Recipe for homemade chicken or turkey stock

Home-made turkey or chicken stock (also known as broth) will make any soup, stew or main dish taste better, and you won't get all the salt, msg and other by-products that are found in commercial products. Plus, this is a great and tasty alternative to throwing away your necks, bones, skin and organs from that Thanksgiving turkey. Turkey, chicken, pheasant or any fowl can be used to make this delicious broth, which will enhance almost any dish that requires stock. The stock is, literally, the foundation to the best soup or stew!

Special tools: Large stock pot; we use a 20-quart pot
Preparation time: About 10 minutes
Cooking time: Several hours, the longer the better
Yield: 4 or more quarts, depending on how many ingredients you have on hand

Skin, bones, wings, backs, necks, etc. from as many chickens or turkeys that you have
1 onion, diced (optional)
1 carrot, diced, peeled (optional)
1 celery stock, diced (optional)
6 garlic cloves, chopped (optional)
Water, as needed

Combine all ingredients in the stock pot, and add enough water to cover generously. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Cook, uncovered for several hours at low heat to blend the ingredients and intensify the flavor. Check every half hour and add water as needed, to cover the ingredients by a couple of inches.

Let stock cool in the pot. Drain and discard solids. I like to store my stock in 1 quart freezer bags and freeze until needed. It will keep for several months in the freezer.

You don't need to measure the ingredients and you don't need precise measurements to make good homemade stock. Just dump it all into the stock pot, fresh or frozen, and cook low and slow.

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