A lot of my friends have been asking me about my homemade chicken broth and I can't wait to share this easy recipe. My mom always made broth growing up and as I started cooking on my own I now understand why she never bought broth from the store. I can't say I never use boxed broth but I can say that there is a MAJOR difference in the taste of boxed and homemade (I know.. duhhh). Here is my recipe:
1. Get a rotisserie chicken (if you are hardcore you can roast your own, I don't have time for that, I get mine at my local WFM. It doesn't matter where you get it- You can use turkey too! Leftover turkey from Thanksgiving is the best, I will even take my friends bones!)
2. Clean the majority of the meat off the chicken, it is ok to have some on. I usually don't cook the chicken right away and will eat the meat for a day and then a few days later I will make my broth. Just make sure to not throw away any bones or skin from the chicken!
3. Place the chicken in a large pot and fill it with water, water should cover the entire chicken.
4. Place uncooked onion, 2 stalks of celery and carrots, 4 cloves of garlic, thumb sized peeled ginger, sea salt and pepper (I add a tablespoon maybe? Depending on how long you will be cooking it.. more time=less salt), parsley with the stems, whatever other spices you want (I add thyme sometimes... you can add whatever you think would taste great, I added a tomato last night because it was gonna go bad!)
5. Bring to a boil and then lower on the lowest setting and cook for the longest you can, ideally. I usually will start the broth after work at 6:00 and then stop cooking at 10:00. Last night I stopped it at 11:00, just for fun! You don't need to cook it that long but try to at least for two hours! SET A LOUD TIMER, I always forget about it cooking if I don't!
6. Let the broth cool. With a strainer, pour the broth into the strainer with a large bowl under it to catch the liquid. The meat and veggies will stay in the strainer. I always keep the extra meat that falls off and the veggies for my dog, she loves the veggies saturated in chicken juices (minus the onion) !
Sometimes I want the chicken pieces that are small if I am making a chicken tortilla soup. In that case, I usually keep a lot of the meat on the chicken and it makes for the best chicken tortilla soup- I will post that later!
7. I got this awesome container at The Container Store and I keep my chicken broth in it and use it all week.
Now, you might be wondering... what do you use broth for? EVERYTHING!!! I am too cold to keep writing, but chicken broth is great for everything from soups to strews to risotto and pasta dishes. It's important to always have garlic, onions, ginger, celery and carrots in your kitchen at all times! I don't cook all the time but I always have those things. I buy them in the largest bag and use the celery and carrots for smoothies in the mornings. You can also use leeks instead of onions. Often times when I get leeks I will use the white part of it for a dish I am making and keep the stems in the freezer for my broths! It is a perfect replacement for onions. Now go make broth!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment