For my birthday last year, I got this electric combination pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice, and yogurt maker. Mostly, I think, because my husband loves risotto, and it is wicked easy to make in this pot.
We can’t, really (well, reasonably) eat risotto every day, or even several times a week, so, for Christmas, I asked for, and received several pressure cooker cook books; and so began looking for ideas of other things to make. Things like, chicken stock mebbe.
And it worked out perfectly, too. I was planning to make a batch of Sherry Peppers Chicken Wings, but we don’t really care for the wing tips. One market in the area used to sell just the trimmed “drumettes” but then they changed ownership and stopped carrying them; so now I buy a couple of trays of the wings and trim ’em myself, saving the wing tips for stock. Cool idea, no?
And, as it turns out, very nice stock!
INGREDIENTS
•2 lb chicken wing tips
•3 tbsp vinegar
•1 onion, chopped
•3 garlic cloves, crushed
•Celery, chopped (I include the leafy tops)
•12 cups water
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce
•1 tsp salt
•3 bay leaves
•1 tbsp veggie oil
Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the vinegar and set aside in a bowl for ten minutes or so.
Heat the oil in the pressure cooker on the “brown” setting, then add the half the chicken and brown on all sides – mebbe six minutes total. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
Transfer one tablespoon of the fat from the pan to your pressure cooker and heat on the “brown” setting.
Add the onion and celery cook until the onion is tender and browned; ten minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for about one minute more, until fragrant.
Add one cup of the water and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Stir in the remaining water, Sherry Peppers Sauce, salt, bay leaves, and the browned chicken, plus any juices in the bowl the chicken was resting in.
Lock the pressure cook lid in place, set to high pressure, and cook for one hour.
Turn the pot off, quick release the pressure lock, and carefully remove the lid.
Be careful of the steam.
Strain through a fine meshed sieve into a container, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
Discard the solids and skim fat off the top of the stock.
Store in the fridge for two days before using, or freeze for about three months or so.
I got a bit over three quarts of stock, which was just about perfect for what I had planned; first, a riff on Thanksgiving stuffing, but packed into individual balls and baked, so every serving has some crispity edges, and then, when you have stuffing, you’re gonna want gravy, so a mighty fine chicken gravy is comin’ up, too.
Later…
Note: this stock is pretty light on the salt; but I did that on purpose, so that when I used it in other recipes, I could tailor the seasonings to the finished dish(es).