h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Best buy a good free-range (preferably organic) chicken, the best you can afford, as the intensively reared ones have no flavour (and are ethically indefensible).

Buying a whole chicken means you can roast it and use the carcass, for a brown stock, or hack all the meat off it and use the remains to make a clear stock. It's also a cost-effective way to buy chicken, especially if you've paid a fortune for organic.

Add some coarsely chopped onions to a pressure cooker (lid off) and fry in a little olive oil until soft (and a little brown if making a brown stock). Add your chucky carcass (brown a little if desired) and add a stick of celery, a carrot a bay leaf and a few peppercorns. No salt at this stage. Add water.

Put on the lid and bring heat until the pressure cooker starts to do it's thang. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, then let it rest and strain. Salt to taste at this stage.

Works for me.