Easy Tender Chicken Stock

This is so much easier than doing the "old bird" the old way!! and deliciously tender! How it is used is of course up to you, this is what I do: 1. remove chicken, skin it, debone it, use the very tender meat in salads, sandwiches or in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken, it can be frozen for future use. 2. the juice/sauce, should be put in a bowl and in the fridge overnight. The next day, the fat will be on top and can be removed and discarded. the remaining juice will have turned to jelly overnight and can be used as the base for a wonderful "sticky lips" chicken soup, veggie soup etc.,or can be used in any recipe calling for chicken stock. Even watered down, it is better than average. Also can be frozen. Taken apart, used properly with common sense, there is very little chance of it causing a heart attack. Chicken soup is well known as a cure all, spiritual or otherwise. The photos show the "old bird" jelly after refrigeration overnight with the fat risen to the top , then with the fat taken off to show the jelly, then a bowl of soup made from the jelly, the rest of the "old bird" was used for an updated (slimed down) version of chicken and dumplings the remainder frozen for future use. No photo of the old bird in the crock pot, it was quite ugly and turned out fuzzy.

• Ready In: 10 hrs 10 mins
• Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 4 1⁄2-5  lbs stewing chicken
•  salt and pepper
• 1⁄2 medium onion
• 1⁄2 lemon
• 2  tablespoons butter or 2  tablespoons margarine
•  vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
• 1  tablespoon  chopped dried parsley
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  ground thyme
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  ground marjoram
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Pat bird very dry, hook wings underneath body to form a rack, sprinkle cavity with salt and pepper, place onion and lemon in cavity, dot breast with butter or margarine.
2. Place chicken in bottom of a 4 to 5 qt crockpot sprayed with veggy cooking spray.
3. In a small bowl, mix herbs and seasonings, sprinkle mixture evenly over chicken, cover pot.
4. Cook on high setting for 2 hours, change setting to low, cook for a further 6 to 8 hours.
5. If desired, the bird can be transferred to a roaster and browned in the oven.