Rich chicken stock from scratch

Many really great soups have stocks as their backbone, and making great homemade chicken stock isn't necessarily as hard as it might seem.  In fact, it's actually quite easy.  The main goal is to combine several flavorful vegetables and herbs with meat scraps and bones and boil/simmer the mixture until most of what's good in those ingredients passes into the liquid.  A good stock should really capture the flavor of whatever it is being made from, amplified and accentuated by herbs and aromatic vegetables.  They serve as a way to gain extra nutrition from the parts that might not be used as much as well, the bones in particular.  In fact, a great way to make stock is to save clean vegetable ends and the bones from the meals of the week, wrapped up or sealed nicely and put away in the fridge, and then to boil all of that, adding a little of this or that, at the end of the week.
Why should you invest the effort into making a good stock?  Besides that you're getting a two-for-one with the ingredients you buy, also because if you have good stock, then you'll almost definitely have good soup.  Incidentally, you can frequently get "soup bones" at the grocery store or from a butcher for a really low price if you ask.
Ingredients:

1. Bones with meat scraps from one or two chickens, raw or cooked;
2. Three to four quarts of water;
3. Two or three medium sized carrots, scrubbed and cut into chunks;
4. Two to four ribs of celery (with leaves), washed and cut into chunks;
5. One or two onions, roughly chopped;
6. Several cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled (2-8 depending on taste);
7. Several (3-6) bay leaves;
8. A small handful (15-25) black peppercorns, whole;
9. About a tablespoon of (good) salt;
10. Several sprigs of fresh herbs, particularly parsley, thyme, oregano, and rosemary, stems included;
11. The peels of several potatoes that were scrubbed well before being peeled.

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large pot that has a lid.  Be sure to use enough water to cover all of the meat at least.
2. Heat to a boil.
3. Cover and simmer for several (3-6) hours.
4. Skim the fat and strain out the ingredients, retaining only the liquid.

Tips and Variations:

1. For a darker, more richly flavorful stock (though this isn't always desired), you can begin by browning the bones and meat more thoroughly in the large cooking pot (stock pot) or by broiling them under the broiler. This step is optional and makes a darker brown stock with a more caramelized, cooked flavor.
2. To release more of the marrow into the stock, which is quite good for you, break the bones first, particularly the larger ones.
3. Add mushrooms or mushroom stumps for a heartier flavor.
4. Add sliced ginger for zest and greater depth of flavor.  In Chinese medicine, ginger stimulates and aids digestion.
5. Add flavorful seeds like fennel seeds, but don't overdo it.
6. Include other vegetables like sweet peppers or combine bones from other kinds of meats for a more complex stock.
7. Add semi-medicinal fruit or herbs such as goji berries or elder berries/blossoms.  These, in particular, can have a great effect on boosting the immune system, something that chicken stock is already well known for.  Do not add herbs that you're unfamiliar with, however, as this could possibly be dangerous!
8. For more gelatin and flavor in the stock, though it will make it fattier as well, include the chicken skin with the bones while you boil it.  Most of the additional fat can be skimmed off at the end.
9. Include giblets in your stockpot for a richer, meatier flavor.
10. Use your stock to make delicious soups like homemade chicken noodle soup from scratch!

Buy it locally!  Almost all of the ingredients for great stocks are leftovers from regular kitchen use, so there's little need to search for them, although for really great flavor, consider using premium-quality birds like those available from Laurel Creek Farms Pasture Raised Meats in Sunbright, TN.  They have a retail store at The Market at Washington and High in Maryville and visit farmers markets in Knoxville, Maryville, and Oak Ridge (see the link to their website above).  For specialty semi-medicinal ingredients like goji berries, visit either of the Earth Fare locations in Knoxville and pick some up in bulk.