Poultry Stocks and Demi Glace

You will find here both a great poultry stock (the only difference is the type of bird you use) and a great demi glace (which is far better than a plain Jane beef stock).

Poultry Stocks

This is the major cost-saver. Essentially, you want to keep all your carrot peels & butts, celery butts, onion peels, garlic peels, and parsley stems. (This stuff is called mirepoix.) Add to the bag all chicken parts (necks, wings, bones, cartilage, etc.) that you would normally throw away (or set a different bag up for turkey parts, duck parts, or goose parts; know that if you mix birds, the stronger flavor will win out).

Save this stuff in a large freezer-safe bag until full. Do not save anything moldy or seemingly rotten.

Dump the bag into a huge stock pot (the biggest pot you have); add bay leaf, more garlic (whole cloves), and other, if any, desired herbs (thyme, basil, marjoram, whatever).Toss in 3-4 whole peppercorns. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, for 6 hours.

Strain through colander into a very large bowl. The larger bones should look pitted and bleached. This is a good thing (you want to get all the marrow and cartilage possible pulled from the bones). Discard all but liquid. Pour through strainer back into the stock pot and return to a boil until it has cooked down about 1 inch (or so).

Cool and portion into freezer containers or, if you want fat-free stock, cool in fridge first. Then the fat will all come to the surface and harden so that you can peel/scrape it off (if you want to) before portioning and freezing.

I totally recommend making hot & sour soups with duck stock, cooking rice in chicken stock, and making gravy from turkey stock.

If you have roasted a bird and the bones are not totally dried up, toss them in the stock! The flavor variations are always fun to discover.

note: different birds give distinctly different-tasting stocks. I don't recommend mixing turkey and chicken, duck and turkey, chicken and duck, etc. unless you want the stronger flavor (chicken will always loose out, and chicken is the most user-friendly flavor).

Demi Glace

This is essentially the same as poultry stock, but has a much stronger flavor.
Your stock will cook much longer, so dont use the bag of frozen stuff or it will all become a horrid mush that you can’t strain out. Instead:

6-8 beef soup bones (with lots of visible marrow and a bit of meat).
4 medium onions, halved 4 carrots, halved.
4 celery stalks, halved1 bunch parsley, tied together.
1 bay leaf 5 whole cloves garlic.
1 6-oz can tomato paste garlic powder.
salt pepper.
whole peppercorns.

Season the bones all over with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Roast in a 400¡F oven, tossing occasionally, until brown and smelling like a broiled steak. Dump bones into stock pot; add everything else (maybe 8-10 peppercorns), cover with water. Bring to a boil. With a long spoon, stir to break up tomato paste. Reduce heat to low; cover; simmer for at least 30 hours (I am not exaggerating!), stirring seldom (but enough to see how your demi is coming along). This will cause a very distinct smell to penetrate your kitchen (be warned).Strain into huge bowl through colander. Reserving bones, discard all but liquid. Return bones to liquid and simmer, covered, for 2 more days. Remove bones, strain out any stubborn non-liquid particles. Return demi to pot and bring to a boil until reduced by 1Ú2 inch (or so). Refrigerate. After cooled, carefully remove all fat from the top; there is absolutely nothing worse tasting than demi fat. Your demi should have the consistency of Jell-O. If not Ð never fear Ð it's just that you didn't get enough marrow; next time, cook longer or use more bones. The flavor will be fine. Portion and freeze for later use.