Easy Chicken Stock (meat)

INGREDIENTS:

4 Liters spring water

1 Chicken thigh

1 Large carrot

1 Yellow onion

1 Bunch celery leaves

Few sprigs of fresh thyme

This is an easy recipe for chicken stock, which is always great to have on hand to make your dishes more flavorful.

In a large pot, on a medium-high flame, heat up your spring water. It is very important to use the best quality of water when making chicken stock as unfiltered tap water can leave a metallic after-taste that is rather unpleasant and will take away from all your work in preparing and making this broth.

Wash all vegetables thoroughly. Dirt can hide in the celery leaves and in the onion, and since all parts of the vegetables will be used, you don't want a gritty, dirty stock.

While the water is heating, add your chicken thigh to the pot whole. Peel the carrot and slice it in quarters length-wise, adding skins and quarters to the pot. Do the same with the onion. Chop the celery leaves if they will not fit into your pot well as is. Add your sprigs of thyme to the mix. Give the mixture a good stir, cover the pot, and reduce the flame to low.

Cook covered for 3-4 hours, checking every so often to make sure that nothing has stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Once your stock has achieved a rich and deep color, remove the pot from the flame. Remove the chicken and place on a cutting board. Pour the contents of the pot through a sieve into a bowl large enough to hold all the liquid. Discard the vegetables. Separate the chicken meat from the skin and bone, adding meat to the separated liquid and discarding the bone and skin with the vegetables. Allow the stock to cool completely before storing. Will stay for several days in the refrigerator, or for several weeks in the freezer.