Homemade Chicken Stock - So Easy it Should be Priority

I swear my wife and I have fended off colds this winter by making our own chicken stock.  Whenever we feel something coming on, we take out a jar of this chicken stock, boil it a couple minutes with minced garlic, and chug it down.  Mmmm... garlic cocktails! This is not your average stock from the store.  Slow cooking the bones, organs, and even feet, make this a gelatinous, nutrient packed addition to soups, sauces, rice, and more.  If you're wanting to get into eating real food, I recommend this as one of the first things you make routine.

Chicken Fat

Here in Missouri, I'm lucky enough to have a farmer nearby who raises great pastured chicken.  I buy all of my chicken from him at one time each year, and I also get a couple of other specialty things from him:  organ meats and FAT.  We real foodies tend to share a love of good fats, and the rendered fat from a chicken raised on green pasture is a thing of beauty.  It adds a uniquely rich and savory flavor to anything from Spanish rice to the morning's fried eggs, not to mention various nutritional benefits arising from the pasture diet (B-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, etc.).  This is how I render it:

Menu for 2/25/2011 - Chicken Sauce Piquant (Dude2)

I cracked open one of my favorite cookbooks tonight for this one: Donald Link's Real Cajun. That guy knows how to use fats and spices! Here's my version of his Chicken Sauce Piquant (made significantly milder for the benefit of my 19 month old):

Menu for 02/24/2011 - Grilled Whole Chicken, Green Beans, & Basil Garlic Butter (Dude1)

It was time for some white meat after all the red meat earlier this week : )  I almost always buy a whole chicken now instead of the pieces.  I get more for my money this way and use the leftover carcass to make homemade chicken stock.  This particular bird was a 4 lbs grain fed chicken from my local meat market that uses no preservatives, artificial flavoring, or antibiotics.  I served it with my wife's favorite green beans, and homemade basil garlic butter on homemade sourdough bread.  Keep reading for all the recipes.