A reader named Lauren recently asked me what my chicken feet stock recipe was. I was delighted to share it with her in my comments section and further inspired to post it here, illustrated, Hipsta style. Thanks for the inspiration, Lauren!
Bone broth, stock, whatever you want to call it, is SO GOOD FOR YOU, makes you feel nourished and your food taste fantastic. I’ve been using it in curries, stews, to cook rice for my non-Primal geezers and drinking it in the morning to gently wake up my digestive tract and smooth my skin. Calling it elixir would not be far-fetched.
This is the first recipe I’ve ever shared on my blog, and I’ve been blogging since 2006. So this is big for me. (Woo!) Recipes and cooking in general were never my thing until I started eating real food, and specifically, cooking with animals.
sous chef
Before I dive in, I want you to know that the next time I make stock I will be tweaking it to maximize my gel content. This batch did not gel and from what I’ve learned, it’s most likely because I A) added too much water, B) cooked it too long and/or C) cooked it too hot.
I was talking to my farm connection over at Yolks, Kefir & Gristle about my ungelled stock and she said she’d heard that the collagen may break down if it cooks too long. If this is the case, does that mean I’m not getting the cellulite-curing benefits? This sounds like a good question for Dr. Cate or Paleo Hacks. Or YOU. Feel free to weigh in. I can’t find anything definitive.
Whether or not I find the answer, I’ve since put a jumbo slow cooker on my Hanumas list. Or is it Chrismakkuh? Whichever it is, I remember that whenever I cook chicken (or pork or beef) in my little crock pot, it always gels. Granted I use less water when slow-cooking. But I also use less energy. Win-win, right?
Okay, so!
Without further delays through the worm holes of my mind, here it is, adapted from Sally Fallon’s recipe in Noursishing Traditions.
You will need: (Click on the photo above to view it larger.)
For my stock, I varied slightly from Sally’s recipe. I used an extra tablespoon of vinegar since I used more water and more chicken.
I also doubled my carrots and celery.
I used about 3 or 4 pounds (note to self: add food scale to Chrismakkuh list) of backs and necks, plus ten little alien-looking feet.
I put my parsley aside to save for last. It goes in ten minutes before you turn the heat off. My parsley is limp and old but I wanted to use it up.
I listened to Paleo Talk throughout. Very inspiring.
I threw everything into my giant stock pot and poured filtered water over it. Probably too much, like I said before.
You’re supposed to let everything sit in the cold water for 30 minutes to an hour before turning the heat on. I was in a hurry and skipped this step. Another possible reason my stock didn’t gel.Bring your ingredients to a boil and then skim the scum.
Then turn the heat down low so it simmers, and walk away. For like, a day. Or anywhere between 4 and 24 hours. The longer it cooks, says Sally, the more flavorful the broth will be. I like flavor, so I gave this broth 23 hours. There’s my low heat. I checked the stock to make sure there was movement. Tiny bubbles are a good thing.
Check on your stock every once in a while to make sure the heat is not so high that the water evaporates. I add a little water if this happens. Maybe not the best idea? Always learning…
Ten minutes before you turn the heat off, add the parsley. When the time is up, the stock looks something like this. Golden. Glistening. Done.
Now you’re ready to strain it into some big bowls. I use tongs for the big stuff, then a big strainer.
You can see the fat.
Let it cool slightly. Then ladle it into storage jars. This batch yielded 6.5 quarts.
This is some of what’s left over. In the past I have dumped it all into my composter, which I now regard as a tragedy and a sin.
I’m thankful that this time I was curious to see what I could salvage.
I extracted a quart of meat from my backs and necks.
The shoulder blades have choice meaty nuggets that look like big garlic cloves. I used this meat, like Sally suggests, in a curry. I made mine with garam masala that a neighbor friend gave me from Bangladesh, and coconut milk. And chicken stock of course. It was so good I didn’t stop to take its picture. Next time, curry. Next time.
I also salvaged the skin and threw it in a hot cast iron skillet. I added a teaspoon of coconut oil and a generous sprinkling of Celtic Sea Salt and fried the hell out of it.
We found this skillet in our street incidentally. It’s a once-chrome-plated Griswold. Maybe nickel. When I heard that Dain Sandoval (Paleo Talk dude) loves them, I felt like I’d won a prize.
The skin crisped up coppery-brown and tasted so good I thought I’d stumbled into heaven. It also gave me an incredible amount of energy throughout the day—like caffeine but without the jitters. I’m already salivating for another batch. I want to serve it with guacamole for an even more decadent treat. I think about this often.
That’s it, thanks for joining me! And don’t forget to salt your broth when you’re ready to enjoy a steaming mug.
Cheers!
I’m gonna cook this recipe so hard next week when I am at home. Thanks so much for posting!
Woo M! Love it.
Eh, Little did I know that one day you would be a second ‘Julia Child’. You did a good job. Guess I will have to save up my chicken necks and backs. I used to make pickled pigs feet where you cook the feet, add vinegar and let it gell but never tried gelled chicken feet stock. Good job on the recipe. Love, Ca
Aw, Ca! You made my day. Now I want to try picked pig’s feet. For sport at least but you never know. I might love them as much as fried chicken skin. Love you! Eh.
Aw Ca, you made my day! Now I have to try pickled pig’s feet. For sport at least. But who knows, maybe I will love them as much as fried chicken skin. Love you! Eh.
Hi! Thanks for sharing I have a few questions. When I make Sally’s stock I use a lot more vinegar. In beginning my stocks weren’t gelling so I asked her and she said use more vinegar. I use a lot more. I also started using a little more meat and bones especially feet. I recently started using a whole chicken WMD that really helped in gelling.
Do you freeze those glass containers? If not how long do they store in fridge or how quickly do you go through them?
I’m constantly making big batches of beef and chicken stock because we live on soups in winter. But I use plastic containers to freeze in event I don’t get to use the broth right away!
Oh and I simmer mine but always lose a lot of water so either I need to recalibrate my flame or I add more water which like you said is that diluting all the effort???
Would love feed back.
Hi Freda, thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate your info and feedback. I have not heard to increase the vinegar but I will try it. It turns out my stock did thicken quite a bit but nothing like when I cook meat on the bone in the slow-cooker and find that I’ve created brown jello.
I do freeze the glass containers after keeping them in the fridge for a couple days. I thaw them in the fridge or in the sink. We’ve had breakages before so I make sure I change the temps on those jars s-l-o-w-l-y.
I’m still learning re: water addition and flame recalibration. After I add more water from simmering too high I stand there until it starts to boil and then bring it down. Or I get antsy and walk away and find that it hasn’t simmered at all. Those few times when I check the broth hours later and the water is high and it’s simmering just right are what I call happy accidents at this point. It can feel like a crapshoot. But it always tastes good.
I’ve started adding garlic to my chicken stock which is not in the NT recipe. It is very good on its own and in recipes.
Also made beef broth for the first time this week (mmm, marrow!) and saw that the recipe calls for twice the vinegar. That is a great tip. Thanks again!
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