Quality chicken stock from a whole chicken

Making stock always seems so time consuming that I have never bothered. I now realise it's worth the effort and a batch of good quality stock goes a long way.

You can freeze the stock as you're unlikely to use the whole lot at once.

I used a whole chicken as it has been recommended that this will produce a stock which is great for your immune system and well being. Also using a whole chicken means that you don't have to deal with all the messy small bones.

I made it without salt as prefer to add the desired amount of salt to whatever I'm cooking but it could be added upfront as well.

1 small free range chicken

2 carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks

2 sticks of celery

3 bay leafs

3 sprigs of thyme

Put all of the ingredients in a stock pot and bring to boil. Then turn it down to a very low heat, cover and let it simmer for 8 hours or so. You can periodically check on it from time to time and scoop off any residue that forms on the top.

Put the stock through sieve and leave in the fridge overnight. The next day you can skim off the white layer of fat and you will be left with a jelly like good quality stock.

Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Syrup

An adapted recipe from Good Chef Bad Chef

I had mine with maple syrup for an indulgent Sunday morning breakfast.

The blueberries melt into the pancakes which will give you some seriously yummy pancakes!

Makes 8-10 pancakes

Serves 4

2 cups self-raising flour
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup muscovado brown sugar
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 punnet of blueberries
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
butter for cooking

To serve:
maple syrup

Sift the flour into a bowl and mix it with the eggs, milk, sugar and bicarbonate of soda. Mix until it is smooth batter without any lumps and leave to rest for half an hour.

Mix the blueberries into the batter. Put a knob of butter into a medium size pan on a low to medium heat. Ladle out the batter into the pan and cook on both sides.

Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!