Title: Wildfowl Stock
Categories: Game Poultry Ceideburg
Yield: 3 Quarts

3	qt	Cold water
5	lb	Game bird carcass, wings, legs, neck, other spare parts
2		Or 3 stalks wild celery, cut in chunks
1/2	c	Wild onions, chopped
1/2	c	Wild carrots, chopped
1	sm	Bunch watercress

Place cold water in a soup pot. Place game bird pieces in cold water. Soak for 1 hour. Add other ingredients. Do not stir. Soak for 1 hour. Place pot, uncovered, at the back of a cook stove far from the fire. On a conventional stove, place the pot on an asbestos pad over very low heat.

Allow pot and it's contents to warm very slowly. You need to draw as much as possible out of the ingredients and into the stock. Skim off scum as it rises. When the pot is uniformly warm, move it closer to the fire (or increase the heat) and very slowly and carefully bring the liquid to a simmer. Do not boil. Do not rush. Skim off all the scum immediately, as it rises within the first 30 minutes of simmering. After 30 minutes and after skimming, use a clean piece of cheesecloth to wipe the pot at the level of the liquid.

Simmer very gently, uncovered, for at least 3 hours.

Taking great care not to disturb the ingredients, carefully ladle the liquid through clean, moistened cheesecloth into a large screw-lid jar. Do not pour the stock. Leave the unstrained stock uncovered until cool. Cover cooled stock tightly and store in refrigerator. Do not remove grease at this time.

Skim grease from stock. Reheat for use, or freeze.

This is from the cookbook on wild foods. I've copied as it's written because I found the style of writing and ingredients interesting. If you try to use wild ingredients, be careful. I seem to remember that both wild onions and wild carrots have close relatives that look much the same but are toxic. Personally, I'd do my stalking at the supermarket.

Posted by Stephen Ceideburg Feb 6 1990.

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