This Thanksgiving we did not have turkey. A guest provided a ham, so a turkey would have been 'way too much food. So I roasted a mini-turkey, aka a Wild Pastures whole chicken.
I have to say, it was really, really good. I'm more than ever convinced that mass-produced food is bred for lack of flavor. The day before, I had rubbed it all over, lightly with honey and fresh lemon juice, then heavily with a dry mixture of salt, black pepper, and "Alliums Plus," which is my homemade ground spice blend of various alliums, green peppercorns, and celery seed. I filled the (small) cavity with peeled and lightly smashed garlic cloves, a couple of large springs of rosemary, and half a lemon, and let it dry brine (uncovered) overnight in the refrigerator. The seasoning was light enough to let the chicken flavor shine.
Almost as good is what happened after the meal was over.
I've tried off and on for years to make my own broth/stock, with minimal success. Oh, I would succeed in creating broth, but it would turn out to be no better than I could get at the grocery store for a whole lot less work. But this time was different.
After our Thanksgiving meal, I dug out the crockpot and put in the chicken carcass (which fit perfectly) along with a collection of onion skins and leg and thigh bones from previous meals of Wild Pastures chicken parts, which I had collected in the freezer. I filled the pot with water and let it simmer until the following day. I added no seasoning additional to whatever came with the carcass (minus the half lemon, which I removed).
After removing all the solid material and straining the liquid, what to my wondering eyes should appear was a hearty, delicious stock. You can tell how much good came out of the bones by the way it jiggled when cooled.
Now I am again excited about making stock. It was a small batch, which helped, as did keeping it simple, but I'm looking forward to, rather than dreading, the next opportunity.
