Callum Hann's Chicken Stock

I have a not-so-secret guilty pleasure. I LOVE cooking. And I'm fanatical about from-scratch cooking in particular. Sure, I use the occasional jar pasta sauce as readily as the next cook when I'm in a hurry, but nothing beats spending a few hours in the kitchen, cooking up a delicious meal from scratch. Which is why I can't believe it's taken me this long to make one of the most basic from-scratch ingredients.

Stock!

Callum Hann posted this recipe on his blog last month and I've been waiting till I had a few hours up my sleeve. It's not hard to make, just a little time consuming because of all the simmering. But, by the smell of it, soooo worth it!

Without actually copying and pasting his recipe here, I'm going to run you through this in picture form. Apologies for what may be the very worst, blurriest pictures I've ever posted!! I've got to get into the habit of pulling out my proper camera instead of using my iPhone. It's pretty shameful.

First, throw a whole chicken and some wings in a big pot and cover them with water. Callum suggests 6, I used 4 because I am apparently bad at counting when I'm grocery shopping.

Once that's just starting bubble, but not yet boil, give the surface a quick skim and then chuck in these babies:

That's half a carrot, half a celery, half a brown onion, some thyme (from my herb garden!), some parsley, 4 garlic cloves, a bay leaf and 6 black peppercorns.

Now you just lower the heat and... wait! I simmered it for about 90 minutes, but Callum's recipe seems to be fairly flexible.

This is my pot of stock simmering away. Almost as soon as you throw in the vegetables and herbs, it starts to smell freaking amazing. By the end of the 90 minutes of simmering, the kitchen smells so warm and inviting!

I cooled it in the fridge overnight, and just skimmed the globs of fat off the surface this morning (gross! Trust me, you don't want a picture of that!!) Then I stored it in 1-cup serves in small plastic containers, and threw them in the freezer. I got 16 cups out of it.

You should make it.

Also, you should check out Callum's Kitchen! For those who have been living under a rock (ie didn't watch Australian Master Chef Season 2), Callum came runner-up and has some fantastic things to share. He shares some amazing recipes, and is a master at macarons... something that I'm still trying to become brave enough to attempt!!