Basic Chicken Stock

Once you've finished your roast and washed the dishes, there's more to be done.

Fill a large pan with 3 pints of water, add 1 tablespoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and a bayleaf.

Now take you chicken carcass and spare meat and bones left over from the roast and place in the pan.

Peel and quarter a medium onion and add to the pan.

You can now add any root vegetables you have lying around - if you only used half a swede, roughly chop the other half and add to the pan. Add a couple of peeled and roughly chopped carrots.

Other vegetables that flavour a stock well are leeks, peppers, turnips, squash.

Add about 2 tablespoons of mixed herbs, or some thyme and parsley if you have them, then place a lid on the pan and bring the whole mixture to the boil.

Reduce to a simmer once boiling and leave for about 6 hours (yes, really). Longer isn't a problem as long as you don't boil dry.

Strain the juices through a sieve into a bowl, throw away the residue and clean the stock pan.
Return the juices to the pan and bring to the boil, letting the liquid reduce by about two-thirds (probably about 30 mins to an hour).

Pour the liquid into ice-cube moulds and place in the fridge to cool. When cool, the stock will be like a jelly, full of flavour and ready to use instead of stock cubes in the future.

You can freeze these cubes for future use.