Easy Grandma-Style Unctuous Chicken Stock

Scary looking, eh? Get over it. Because it gets you THIS:

How sexy is that broth looking, hm? It tastes even better. Rich and gelatinous and magical. I literally said OMG when I tasted it. THIS is the way.

• 1.5-2 lb chicken feet (patas de pollo in carnecerias), sometimes found at Walmart but always found at the hispanic or asian grocer for like $1 per lb. 

Boil madly for 5 minutes, drain and rinse to cool. Trim off the "fingertips" of the feet, it helps let the delicious goodness leach out. I put it in a crockpot with

• 1 head garlic sliced in half
• 2 carrots snapped in half
• 2 stalks celery snapped in half
• 1 inch of ginger, sliced into thin discs
• two bay leaves
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 tsp of thyme or italian seasoning
• enough water to cover

On low overnight. Once it's up to heat after a few hours, remove the lid to let it reduce overnight. My crockpot was full and by morning the level was down about 3 inches from where it was. Let cool and strain it through cheesecloth in a strainer. Simple and easy!

I pick themes every year and try to really really perfect certain recipes. In the past it was grilled steak and asparagus with hollandaise, I did that for like 7 years. Then it was pizza dough. One year it was chicken soup. I tried nearly everything, but never got it nailed. I was ignorant and avoided what should have been obvious. I didn't do what my grandma did: use chicken feet.