A Chicken in Big Mama's Pot

Have you caught Rachel Ray's new show on the Cooking Channel called "Week in a Day"? Even though all the recipes except for one are mine, her show gave me the idea. 

I watched her poach a whole chicken last Saturday and realized I've never, ever cooked an entire chicken.
I do have sort of a "bone phobia" and most of the meat I cook is boneless. 

So I took myself down to Fresh Market and purchased the biggest old chicken I could find...



Then I got out my big enameled cast iron pot and surrounded him with a bunch of yummy aromatics.  I used the following because I had them on hand:

2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 lemon, sliced
1 large onion
1/2 clove of garlic, peeled and smashed
12-15 peppercorns
1 bunch parsley stems
1 bunch fresh rosemary
1 bunch fresh thyme
and the tops to a fennel bulb I had purchased for another recipe.

I used the parts of the herbs that you'd normally throw out, like the stems and herbs that were just shy of needing to be thrown out. 

Our CSA provides us with lovely fresh herbs every week and sometimes it's a challenge to get them all used with out busy schedule.  This was a great way to use them before I had to toss them.

Cover the chicken with water and put the lid on.  Cook on high heat with the lid on until it reaches a boil.  Then uncover and simmer for 45-60 minutes depending on the size of the chicken.

When cooked through, allow to cool a bit and remove chicken.  This was a little tricky because it was literally falling off the bone.

Strain chicken stock and chill or freeze.  Don't spill a drop.  This is liquid gold!

I used chicken stock in many of my recipes and most of the time it is store bought for convenience.  But my-oh-my homemade stock is worth the effort if you have the time. I've made it from chicken pieces and parts that were on sale at the grocery, but never from a whole chicken.  This was a great because not only did I get a gallon of lovely stock for my efforts, I got chicken for two spectacular meals later in the week.