Dark Chicken Stock

I do a lot of cooking in stocks; I do this for two reasons both Dad and I are sodium sensitive and Dad is mostly a vegetarian. I say mostly because he has given up meat except around the holidays and he eats some fish. As long as I don't rub his nose in the fact I'm cooking with stock he doesn't comment on it. If you're trying to go light on salt stock brings a lot of flavor to the party.

I make three types of stock: turkey stock, and two chicken stocks. Alton Brown's recipe is fine for my standard chicken stock. I do have some modifications but they are mostly due to the number of people I cook for and my location. We eat a lot of broiler chickens, which are around 3 lbs, when I'm making stock I use a 5 quart soup pot that I put the chicken in, along with the vegetables, amount reduced appropriately. Then I cook the chicken until it's falling off the bone. I remove the chicken from the pot, pull all the meat off and return the bones to the pot to finish making the stock. I use the pulled chicken for things like chicken salad sandwiches. The other thing I do differently is I cook my stock with the lid on. I can do this and still have the stock form a gelatin because of the smaller pot size.

This requires watching the pot a little more attentively to make sure it never boils over. I go through this extra hassle because of heat and humidity. I live in Florida and right now, in December, when much of the North East is experience a "White Out," I'm sitting here in shorts. I know you are all rushing to get out your smallest fiddle. Not to worry, I'm not expecting sympathy I like the heat, if I didn't I know which direction to go to find the state line, but when you live in this much heat and humidity you should take the climate conditions into consideration when cooking. Cooking in an open pot takes longer over higher heat and the evaporation that occurs as a part of the cooking process adds moisture to the air. Trust me I don't need any extra moisture in the air in my house, it's sticky enough around here as it is.

The third type of stock I make, the second chicken stock, is a dark chicken stock. I collect all the gizzards, hearts and livers from the broiler chickens I use and put them in the freezer when I have the parts from four birds I make this stock.

This makes 4 quarts of stock.

• Gizzards, hearts and livers from 4 chickens
• Bones from 1 chicken
• 1 Smoked turkey wing (I know that turkey isn't chicken, but I like the smoky flavor)
• 1 Hot pepper halved (heat and flavor to your taste)
• 1 Ginger root cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 Onion quartered
• 1 Green bell pepper quartered
• 1 Head of garlic separated
• 3 Lemon grass stalks
• 1 Lime halved (If you have access to Kaffir Lime leaves use 3 of them instead)
• 3 Cinnamon sticks
• 1 handful of cloves
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 handful of cilantro
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Put all the ingredients in a stock pot and add enough water to cover. Bring pot up to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 4 to 5 hours. Strain liquid and discard solids. Refrigerate stock overnight. Remove fat layer. Put stock into appropriate size containers and store in freezer until the stock is needed.

I use this stock for most of my Oriental and Indian dishes.