Homemade Chicken Stock

Andrew and I are often surprised to find out how easy it is to make a homemade version of a product we're used to picking up in the store like enchilada sauce, salsa, etc. Some ... not so much. (Side note: Anyone got a good, easy homemade ice cream recipe?) But, many are so, so worth it in terms of deliciousness, ease and finances.

Homemade chicken stock is one of them. It's so easy to make, and as long as you've got a chicken carcass you can just use what you've got in the fridge. An added plus? Your house will smell wonderful while it cooks! (Disclaimer: Your dogs may whine and claw at the stove.)

There's lots of easy recipes out there like this one and this one. We like to customize ours to our tastes and end up kind of just throwing things into the pot. Here's how we do it:

You'll need:
Chicken bones with some meat still on them - (We use the carcasses we've got leftover from a Crockpot chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken)
Water
Onion (cut in half or chopped)
Carrots (handful)
Celery (if you've got it - we didn't have any this time)
Peeled garlic, smashed or minced (handful)
Peppercorns (palmful)
salt to taste (many recipes recommend to save the salting part until you're using the stock, so you can skip this if saving for later)

Directions:

1.) Throw everything into a pot.

2.) Add water so that it just covers the carcass(es)

3.) Bring to boil on medium -high

4.) Simmer on medium-low for at least 2 hours - the longer the better

4.) Let cool - skim fat off if desired. (We didn't)

5.) Use immediately, refrigerate or freeze for later! (Or all three - we used two carcasses from a double batch of chicken salad I made last week for lunch and had plenty to use for dinner and to save for later!)

What's something you've found incredibly easy to make from scratch? Do you make chicken stock? And, again, who has an easy homemade ice cream recipe?