Homemade Chicken Stock

I've been wanting to do this for awhile and I finally added the items to my grocery list and went at it. I used Ina Garten's & Martha Stewart's versions online as guidelines. Martha didn't use enough herbs nor any garlic and Ina uses parsnips & 5 whole chickens at a time. I didn't need THAT much stock.

Here is what I used :

1 whole chicken (insides cleaned out)
5-6 stalks of celery (I bought organic so they were smaller)
5-6 carrots (I bought organic so they were smaller)
1 head of garlic cut in half
3 tbsp peppercorns
2 tbsp salt
sprigs of fresh dill
sprigs of fresh thyme
sprigs of fresh parsley
2 onions, quartered
6 cups water

Add everything to stockpot and simmer for 4 hours.

Here is what it started out as :

After 1 hour

After 2 hours

After 3 hours

After 4 hours

After it simmered for 4 hours I strained the entire pot & collected the liquid in a saucepan. I discarded everything except the chicken. The vegetables & herbs were too mushy and mangled to do anything with. I pulled all of the chicken off the bones and set aside. Then I made chicken soup with the stock and the saved chicken. First I sauteed onions, celery & carrots, added potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, salt & pepper. Second I added the stock and chicken and let it simmer just until the vegetables were tender.

It was good eatin' that night!