Pilaf with Chicken Carcass Stock

📝 Ingredients

• 1 roast chicken carcass (with the remaining skin and bones)
• 300 g leftover roast chicken, skin removed
• 1 L cold water (for the stock)
• 2 brown onions (1 for the stock, 1 for the pilaf)
• 3 carrots (about 100 g each: 1 for the stock, 2 for the pilaf)
• 1 bay leaf
• 300 g long-grain rice
• 250 g button mushrooms
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large stockpot
• Ovenproof casserole dish with lid
• Fine sieve
• Measuring jug
• Chopping board
• Knife

📖 Steps

1. Break the carcass into 2 or 3 pieces so it fits in the stockpot. Cover it with the cold water, then add 1 onion cut in half (skin on, for colour), 1 carrot cut into chunks and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil over a high heat.
2. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat down low and leave to simmer for 45 minutes with the lid ajar. Skim off the grey foam that rises during the first 10 minutes with a spoon. The stock should barely simmer: if it boils hard, it turns cloudy and greasy.
3. Meanwhile, finely chop the second onion, peel the 2 remaining carrots and cut them into 1 cm dice, and wipe and slice the mushrooms. Shred the leftover chicken, removing any small bones. Preheat the oven to 180 °C 15 minutes before the stock is done.
4. Strain the stock through the fine sieve, then measure out 600 ml in the measuring jug (top up with a little water if needed; keep the surplus for a soup). Season it lightly with salt and keep it hot over a very low heat in the rinsed stockpot.
5. Heat the oil in the casserole dish over a medium heat. Fry the onion, carrots and mushrooms for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and are starting to brown.
6. Add the dry rice and stir for 2 minutes over a medium heat, until the grains turn pearly (translucent at the edges) and are well coated in oil: this is what keeps them nicely separate. Scrape the bottom so nothing sticks.
7. Pour in the hot stock, add the shredded chicken and the thyme, season with pepper and stir just once. As soon as the liquid simmers, cover and bake for 20 minutes at 180 °C without opening: the rice steams and absorbs all the liquid.
8. Take the casserole dish out and leave to rest for 10 minutes without lifting the lid, so the rice finishes swelling. Fluff up with a fork, taste, adjust the seasoning and serve piping hot.