Let’s face it, we all want to use the best ingredients we can when we’re cooking but sometimes, the spirit is willing but the cook is lazy. I’d be hard pressed to find a cook or even chef, who hasn’t used pre-made stock from time to time. If it’s good enough for Nigella (or even Marco), it’s good enough for me.
None the less, it’s sometimes worth the effort of making a stock from scratch. I store left over bones from chicken meals, roasts and braises in the freezer and when I have enough, make up a fresh batch of stock. I was recently surfing some websites and I saw a fantastic suggestion for making stock on Gina’s Skinny Taste.

Prepare all of your ingredients as per usual. Roasting the bones will help to caramelise and bring out the rich flavour. When you a ready to make the stock, don’t make it on the stove – make it in your slow cooker (crock pot)! Simply put all your ingredients and seasoning into the crock with water, turn on the low setting and let it simmer away from 6 hours or so. Strain, skim and there’s your stock. No pot watching, no mess, no bubbling over. How simple is that?
Glad you liked my idea, I love this method for making shredded chicken too! So easy!