Chicken Foots

When we had our chickens processed, we asked for the feet. Our daughter June had told us that chicken feet make incredible soup stock. Phoebe finally remembered to get them out of the freezer, and I was the one to turn them into food.

 

This is not going to be a how-to, as I have never done it before, and there are good resources on the web. It is just what I did.

The feet had already had the membrane removed, which was nice. I did clip the toenails off. That was a little odd, as the looked kind like, well, fingernails. But I got over it.

Into the stock pot with some carrots, celery, salt and pepper.

I was working full days, so I cooked it over two evenings. Probably on the heat for about 6 hours. Set outside in the cold overnight to chill, the in the fridge for the day.

After consulting with Phoebe, I strained it into a Pyrex pan. It filled it about an inch deep.

Back into the fridge over night. It set up really solid. I cut it into squares and put them into the freezer. (BTW, this is how you freeze berries if you want them to be loose rather than a single frozen mass.)

A few hours late, voila, hard frozen chunks of yummy stock. Full of collagen for thickening, with micro-nutrients, and a layer of fat on top to use or not. A very rich flavor without adding much to it.

My thought was that we would add a chunk or two to soups, rather than use the whole lot at once. I am excited to try it out!