Homemade Chicken Stock

1 whole leftover roasted chicken carcass, bones and all
2 chicken breasts, raw
1 medium yellow onion, cut in quarters
3 celery stalks, broken in half
3 carrots, broken in half
1 handful of raw mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 red pepper, seeds removed
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
3 sprigs fresh parsley
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil

Combine all ingredients in large stock pot. Cover with cool water. Bring to boiling point, then reduce to simmer and cover. Simmer until all vegetables are reduced to near-mush (about 4 hours), stirring occasionally to keep anything from burning to the bottom of the pot. Water loss may occur due to evaporation, check once an hour and add more as needed to keep all ingredients covered. Remove all ingredients, pick out chicken meat and set aside for soup later. Pour liquid through a fine strainer. If stock tastes watery, boil uncovered to condense until it tastes like chicken stock (this may or may not be necessary)*. Add additional salt AFTER CONDENSING, if needed. Refrigerate stock overnight. Scrape solidified fat off the surface the next day and feed to dogs(do not skip this step or your soup will have a layer of grease on it, and your dogs will be unhappy). Cooled stock may have a gelatinous consistency. Don't worry, this is normal and the stock will liquify again when heated.


*If I'm running short on time or am feeling otherwise lazy, I have been known to skip this step and add boullion cubes to the stock to strengthen it. Be careful if taking this shortcut, as this will increase salt content also.