Don’t throw away your chicken carcass or the package of giblets. Here’s a way of making a simple chicken stock (or broth—I use the terms interchangeably) that you’ll be using in all kinds of soups. This will produce only about 4 cups, so you may want to freeze the chicken elements until you have enough to make at least twice that amount.

Ingredients

　　A packet of giblets, heart, and neck of a chicken

　　1 onion, quartered

　　1 small carrot

　　1 rib celery

　　Several fresh parsley stems

　　Salt

　　Put the chicken carcass, the neck, and the packet of giblets (but not the liver) in a big pot with the vegetables and parsley, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then reduce the heat and cook at a lively simmer, semi-covered, for at least an hour, or longer if you want a more intense flavor. Season with only about 1/2 teaspoon salt halfway through cooking; you don’t want it too salty, in case it is going to be reduced later in a soup or a sauce. Strain the stock, cool, and pour into whatever size containers you wish. You can refrigerate for 4 or 5 days and freeze for up to about 6 months.

　　Cooks' Note

　　Preferably uncooked, but if you have only a cooked carcass, by all means use it, as long as you add some fresh uncooked parts, such as extra giblets and neck, and maybe one or two wings.

　　The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Copyright © 2009 by Judith Jones. Published by Knopf. All Rights Reserved.Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the author of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food and the coauthor with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, and has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.