Here are my accumulation of chicken feet notes.

How to Make Stock from Chicken Feet
After a lot of digging, I found a few old recipes, including one in an Adele Davis book. All recipes call for boiling the feet first, and then draining the boiling water. I think the point of this step is to get most of the extra protein and impurities to leave the feet and come to the surface. Another step that all the old recipes take is to cut off the claw tips. I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing that by cutting off the tips of the toes, it's easier for the marrow and therefore the gelatin in the bones to come out.
Expect to get a lot of stock out of the chicken feet. A pound of feet will yield about a quart of stock, pretty much a bargain at $1 a pound for feet.
2 pounds of chicken feet
 2 large carrots, cut in half
 1 onion, cut into wedges
 2 celery ribs, cut in half
 1 bunch of fresh thyme
 1 bay leaf
 10 peppercorns

1 Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Put the chicken feet into a large stock pot and cover with boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes. Use a large metal spoon to skim and discard the scum that rises to the surface.

2 Drain the chicken feet completely. Rinse with cold water so that the feet are cool enough to handle. Using a sharp knife, chop off the tips of the claws and discard. They should cut easily if you cut them through the joint. If any rough patches of claw pad remain, cut them away with a pairing knife.

3 Place chicken feet in a clean large stockpot. Fill with cold water to cover the feet by an inch. Add carrots, onions, celery, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer, immediately reduce the temperature to low.
Partially cover, leave about a half inch crack or so, and keep the stock cooking at a bare simmer, for 4 hours.
Occasionally skim any foam that may come to the surface. Uncover, increase the heat slightly to maintain a low simmer with the pot now uncovered.
Continue to cook for an hour or two. At this point you are reducing the stock so that it is easier to store.
Strain the stock through several layers of cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer (ideally both) into a pot. Pour into quart-sized jars. Let cool for an hour or so before storing in the refrigerator. When your stock has cooled, it should firm up nicely into a gel. Makes approximately 2 quarts.

Recipe for great chicken soup starts with homemade broth

Karen Miltner
Staff writer
In my book, a chicken soup only earns the homemade moniker if the cook has made the broth from scratch.

Here are some tips for making the best chicken broth you can.
 Chicken broth is best when made with a combination of meat, bones and skin. Neck bones, backbones, wing tips and all giblets except the liver can be thrown in the pot as well.
 The older and larger the chicken or hen, usually the more flavor for your stock, though the meat will be stringy and dry. A 5- to 7-pound roaster works well, but more practical for most families are the 3½- to 4½-pound fryers or broilers, which are a good compromise of size, tasty meat and affordability. You can also buy a combination of chicken parts.
 Bones contain collagen, which adds a velvety richness to broth. Some chicken soup recipes add veal bones or beef marrow bones for the extra shot of collagen. If you want to keep your chicken soup as chicken-y as possible, an extra pound of chicken wings will work equally well. Collagen-rich chicken feet also make great stock, but they are harder to find.
 Start with cold, fresh water for your broth. Hot liquid will make the proteins in the chicken coagulate and the starches in the vegetable to gelatinize too quickly, writes the authors of Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups (Lebhar-Friedman Books, $35). Ideally, the pot should be taller than it is wide so that the entire chicken is submerged below the water, but if you are using a wide-mouthed large sauce pan or Dutch oven, simply cut the whole chicken into quarters or eighths so the meat is completely covered.
 Bring the liquid to a vigorous simmer, not a hard, wild boil. If the chicken cooks too quickly, it gets tough and clouds the broth. Once the liquid reaches a simmer, turn the heat down so that the liquid continues at a gentle simmer. Mimi Sheraton refers to this kind of simmering as a smile, and in her 1995 book The Whole World Loves Chicken Soup (no longer in print), she describes it as "a sort of twinkling, trembly, faint rippling just below the surface."
 As the chicken cooks, foamy impurities will rise to the surface. Skim the foam continuously until your broth becomes clear. Most foam is given off during the first hour of cooking. Then add your herbs, spices, vegetables and other aromatics.
 Be careful when salting the broth, writes Pittsford's Marcie Ver Ploeg in her 1995 cookbook, Chicken Soup. The broth may be reduced further in soup making so if you add too much too soon, the final product could be overly salty.
 If the broth tastes weak after you've strained out the solids, you can reduce it by continuing to simmer until the flavors are suitably concentrated.
 If you are going to use the broth right away, skim the fat off with a spoon after cooking. If you are saving the broth for later use, chill it overnight so the chicken fat will congeal in a single layer on the top and can be easily removed. Like bacon grease, this congealed fat is a delicious cooking medium.
 Once cooled and chilled, a well-made broth with ample collagen will be jelly-like. This is a sign that you've done it right.
 For recipes that call for small amounts of broth, freeze cooled broth in ice cube trays overnight, then transfer to freezer bags.
Basic Chicken Broth

Adopted from the Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups (Lebhar-Friedman Books, $35).
A 4-pound chicken or chicken parts (legs, breasts) that equal that weight ½ to 1 pound chicken wings (optional)
3 quarts cold water
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
5 to 6 whole black peppercorns
3 to 4 parsley stems
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Place chicken and water in a large pot (the water should cover the chicken by at least 2 inches; add more water if necessary). Bring water slowly to a boil over medium heat.
As water comes to a boil, skim any foam that rises to the surface. Adjust heat once a boil is reached so that a slow, lazy simmer is established. Cover partially and simmer 2 hours, skimming as often as necessary.
Add remaining ingredients. Continue to simmer, skimming surface as necessary, until broth is fully flavored, about 1 hour.

Remove chicken and cool slightly. Dice or shred the meat and reserve to garnish the broth or save for another use. Discard skin and bones.
Strain broth through a fine sieve or cheesecloth-lined colander into a large metal container. Discard the solids.

If you are using the broth right away, skim off any fat on the surface. If you are not using it right away, skip the skimming and cool broth quickly by transferring it to a metal container and placing the container in a sink filled with ice-cold water. Stir the broth as it cools and then transfer to storage containers and chill overnight. The fat will congeal in a layer at the top and can be easily removed before using or freezing. Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days, in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Makes about 2 quarts.

Here is the link to the original post from gardengrl.

A couple of posts down she links to the recipe source.

David

Looks like Cathy beat me to it. : )

I hope you don't paint the nails for fun like Peppi did...LOL!

David

Thanks, both! I think first time I'll try 100% chicken feet just to see what it's like, but at $1.50/lb they're almost three times what I pay for carcasses so I might go for a mix down the road. Looking forward to my experiment - thanks again!

David, I tried to polish the toes but the darned birds wouldn't hold still!

FOAS, the addition of the feet do make for a richer stock, so they are worth it. And you don't need that much, just a pound or so.

Here the pedicure is done when you buy the chicken at the butcher's stall, who does it with a large cleaver...whack...whack...whack...whack...repeat for the other foot and it's done lol!

SharonCb