I have posted about making chicken stock before.  Having homemade chicken stock on hand is one of my favorite kitchen staples.  It is rich and flavorful with no calories or sodium and-the best part-its free!  What could be a better investment of a lazy day at home?  I save up my chicken parts and carcasses in the freezer until the day I feel like hugging the stove and puttering around the house.  I will admit, though, it is kind of a pain.  I can never seem to keep the pot at the right temperature.  Plus while it is certainly an easy process, you do still have to babysit the stove all day.

Enter: the crock pot.  I have a huge crock pot and I have started using it for my chicken stock.  It keeps the stock at the perfect simmering temperature and doesn’t evaporate as much off, resulting in copious amounts of rich, golden stock-no babysitting required.   I make stock so much more now that I know this trick.  I just throw the leftover chicken and vegetable bits in the pot with water to cover and then 8 or 12 hours later-or whenever I get around to it-I strain it and cool it.  You can start it after dinner and let it go overnight, or you can throw it in the pot in the morning and put it away before bed, whatever works for you.

When I make my stock in the crock pot I easily get 16 cups of perfect broth.  There is no recipe here, you put in whatever you want to flavor your stock with.  Here I have a chicken carcass and some wing tips (both I pulled from the freezer and thawed briefly under running water while I gathered my other ingredients), a red onion, a few stalks of celery, garlic cloves, a lemon, some cilantro stems (when adding herbs the leaves get gunky so just use the stems), a piece of ginger, some peppercorns, coriander seeds, and star anise for making Pho Ga.  Just use what you have on hand, or even just chicken and water!  Remember that what you flavor your stock with will really carry over to the dishes you make with it.

Update: Here’s my method for storage in case you aren’t familiar with making stock.  Strain your hot stock into smaller containers, I use the tall 4 cup Ziplock Twist ‘n Loc containers, then I fill the sink with ice and cold water and chill the stock like that for a few minutes until it is about room temperature. Then it goes into the fridge for up to a week. The fat will solidify at the top and you can remove it and throw it away.  I either make lots of chicken stock heavy dishes that week (a good batch of risotto or tortilla soup will go through a couple of containers) or when I get around to it I scoop the stock out in one cup portions and freeze it flat in freezer bags.  It should be fine in the freezer for several months.

Looking for a great summer appetizer or snack?  Or is it just too hot to think about cooking or even eating much?  Fresh figs and Burrata cheese wrapped in prosciutto is a delicious summery snack, starter or even a light meal with some bread and a good wine.  If you can’t find Burrata any fresh mozzarella will work or any other soft, mild cheese you like.  Fresh figs come in green or purple and are delicious: chewy, juicy, seedy (if that’s a word).  If you have never tried one, just pop the whole thing in your mouth and chew.  Here, paired with a soft creamy cheese, wrapped in paper thin slices of salty prosciutto and spiked with some fresh cracked black pepper their sweetness is tempered just enough to really bring out all the flavors.

I cut the Burrata and wrapped it up with the figs while it was still cold so keep it from smashing rather than slicing.  Fresh figs don’t stay firm long, so buy them the day you are planning to make these (or maybe the day before).

Want stuffed peppers without having to turn on the oven? This deconstructed stuffed pepper is a family favorite.  It is a simple soup, but hearty and filling and yet low calorie.  My mother makes this soup in huge batches and then freezes it in 2 cup containers.  To serve, we heat the soup and make fresh rice on the side.  It is also great fresh and only takes about 30 minutes to make.

One cup of soup is about 200 calories, so served with one cup of rice (200 calories) the total dish is about 400 calories.  It is one of my favorite meals when I am hungry but have exhausted my calories for the day.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

• 1 lb ground beef, I use 93/7 beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced (plus leaves for garnish)
• 1 lb bell peppers, diced (approx 3 large)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced or crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water or low sodium beef broth
• 1 tbsp beef base
• salt and pepper
• rice

1. In a large stock pot, crumble ground beef and stir in onion, celery, peppers, and garlic.
2. Heat over high to brown beef and sweat and soften the vegetables, about 10 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, beef stock or water, and beef base.
4. Simmer 15 minutes or longer until ready to serve.
5. Taste and season with salt and fresh ground pepper.
6. Serve with fresh rice.

This is good with your typical long-grain rice or a wild rice blend.  Feel free to add cooked rice to the pot as desired, but I prefer to serve it on the side so you can adjust the amount in each bowl.  It is a good one to make when bell peppers are on sale and is best with a combination of red, orange, green and yellow peppers.

I got this recipe somewhere, but for the life of me can’t figure out where.  Of course I messed with it enough that you might not recognize it but if it was you-sorry! send me a link.  I had some chicken legs I wanted to grill and I wanted a zippy, fresh flavor, well-charred skin, and juicy, moist meat.   This recipe provided all of that, was easy to put together, and even easier to cook.  Charring your meat over a high flame can be bad for you, so be sure to serve this with an antioxidant rich side like my strawberry salad.  Also, we over-charred our legs a bit, you can avoid this by glazing the chicken closer to the end of the cooking time.  You’ll still get a good char though from the sugars in the glaze, and even the pieces that turn out completely black don’t taste burnt like you would expect, just smoky and juicy and flavorful.

Margarita Grilled Chicken Legs

• 3 lbs chicken legs
• dried coriander, salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/3 cup tequila
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 large onion, finely diced  or 1 shallot
• fresh cilantro
• lime

1. As much ahead of time as possible, sprinkle chicken with coriander, salt and pepper, to cover. Refrigerate until ready to grill.
2. In a medium sauce pan, combine orange juice, lime juice, tequila, sugar, honey, garlic, and onion. Bring to a simmer and simmer uncovered until slightly thickened and reduced, about 10 minutes.
3. Reserve about 1/4 cup.
4. Prepare grill, grill chicken legs about 6 minutes on each side, basting with glaze towards the end of cooking time.
5. Once chicken is fully cooked, sprinkle with reserved glaze, freshly chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Chicken legs are a great economical meat for a party.  They are only about $2.50 per pound and go well with the whole, summery eating with your hands barbecue picnic table motif.  Have a great weekend and a nice holiday, here’s last year’s 4th of July menu.  I hope it isn’t 102°F where you are watching fireworks!