Chicken Stock: A Good Beginning

These directions will give you a start on any number of chicken recipes, which I will post on the days to follow. Strain this and you will have chicken stock.

1 stewing chicken (or a fryer), whole

1 cup celery, cut up

1 medium onion, cut up

Several carrots, peeled and chunked

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (just like the song)

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Put everything into a good sized stock pot, add water to cover and bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the chicken is tender. It will begin to fall off the bones at that point.

Remove from heat, let cool slightly. Strain, discarding vegetables and bones and keeping the chicken.

Now you have some chicken stock, a base for many recipes.