Taking Stock...

I got up at 6:00 AM on Saturday. I went outside in my bathrobe and turned the sprinkler on. After 30 minutes, I turned it off and started a load of laundry.

I started doing some semi-serious cleaning up. I got a phone call from a friend checking in on how I was doing and we talked for a while. I hung up and folded the now-dry laundry. Then I decided to make some breakfast/lunch. So, I warmed up some roast beef hash and then made two over easy eggs to top it with (still having to use a spatula instead of just flipping them - Dammit! That makes me feel so inept!)

Around noon, I took about an hour nap. When I got back up, it was time to start the chicken stock. On Friday, I dug out the last whole chicken from the freezer and thawed it (I need another big sale to replenish my freezer for winter, I guess).

I washed out the new stock pot and set it on the stove. I rinsed off the four pound chicken and then discarded the innards. In their place I stuffed some fresh-snipped parsley and thyme and a dried bay leaf. I put the chicken in the pot and covered it with 1 1/2 gallons of cold water (6 quarts or 24 cups), a little salt and a little cracked black pepper.

I brought it to a boil, then reduced it to a medium simmer (I like to see the occasional bubble rise to the surface, myself). I spent the first hour skimming the foam off. Then I hauled out the bird and cut off the two perfectly poached breasts and set them aside to cool. The rest of the chicken went back into the hot tub.

I let that simmer for another two hours. Then I rough-chopped two carrots, some celery, a yellow onion, all the leftover onions in baggies in the fridge and two cloves of garlic (nothing peeled, of course. I will strain it later). That all went in the stock pot and the timer was set for the last hour.

When the timer sent off, I got to work. Using tongs, I fished out the carcass. Of course, it had pretty much disintegrated, but that went on a plate to cool. Then I used my spider to get out the solids. The vegetables and bones went in a big "garbage" bowl and the meat went on the carcass plate. This process takes a while and can't really be hurried if you want the meat (and I did).

Finally, I just had pure stock left in the pot. I put the small strainer in a quart freezer container and ladled the stock into it. I ended up filling five quart containers. I left them sitting on the counter to cool, rinsed out the pot and went to watch some TV.

I watched several shows, one of which was "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." This is a show where a variety of Food Network Chefs tell you their favorite food (and where to get it) within a theme (like, say, sandwiches or burgers). Well, today's theme was pizza and that got me thinking. It's been a hell of a long time since I've had pizza and my kitchen's a total wreck from making stock...

So, I ordered my favorite pizza from the Pizza Hut down the road (cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and yellow banana peppers). But, since it's been such a long time, I forgot you have to specify the crust (I like the thin crust, myself).

So, when the guy showed up 30 minutes later, he had a pan pizza (thick crust). Dammit! Oh well, it didn't stop me from eating it, lol!

I watched TV until I noticed I was starting to doze off. So, I shut it off, put the now-cooled stock in the fridge and went to bed. Kitchen cleanup will have to wait until the morning...