Homemade Chicken Broth

Photo Credit: A Food Centric Life

This statement may come as a surprise to some of you but I have had a series of failures when it comes to making chicken broth. My first attempt was downright awful. The broth tasted like dirty water and had me skeptical that I would ever find a recipe that met my standards. I stumbled upon this recipe from the blog A Food Centric Life. If anyone was going to prove my negative experiences with homemade chicken broth wrong it was going to be this recipe. So I loaded up on the ingredients and got to work and it quickly proved to exceed my expectations. The broth was delicious, full of flavor, and easy to make even considering the long cooking time that it calls for.   
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Servings: 10 cups of chicken broth

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (~4 lbs.)
3 large celery ribs, roughly chopped
2 - 3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 dried bay leaf
1 handful of parsley leaves and stems
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns
2-3 fresh thyme sprigs
4 quarts of water

Rinse and pat the whole chicken dry. With a sharp knife, remove the leg and thigh pieces and cut them in half. Next cut off the wings. Cut through the center breast bone of the chicken. You should have two halves of the body now. Cut the breasts free and cut them in half. Cut the remaining part of the body in half. You will want to remove as much skin as possible after you have cut apart the chicken. 

Add the chicken into a large stock pot and fill with 8 to 10 quarts of water. Bring the chicken and water to a simmer. Impurities and grey foam will begin to rise to the surface at this stage of the cooking process. Do not be alarmed, this is what is supposed to happen. Skim the foam and impurities off the surface and discard it until it is gone or almost gone. 

Once the impurities and foam have been removed, add the vegetables, herbs, and whole peppercorns to the stock pot. Keep the pot at a low simmer and simmer for 6-8 hours. Add hot water to the pot if the water level gets low.

Strain the vegetables, meat, and bones through a fine wire colander. Strain the broth into a large stainless bowl that is floating in ice water. I filled up my sink with ice water and rested the bowl in the ice water. Stir the broth to help speed up the cooling process. 

The broth will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months.

I hope that this broth exceeds your expectations like it did mine!
'Till next time,
Caroline

Magic Mineral Broth

Photo Credit: Rebecca Katz

 

Magic Mineral Broth in the foundation to any cancer-fighting soup or stew. This recipe comes from The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing, Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Recovery. Rebecca Katz, co-author, describes it as a "rejuvenating liquid, chock-full of magnesium, potassium, and sodium, which allows the body to refresh and restore itself. I think of it as a tonic, designed to keep you in tip-top shape". This broth was used in the previous post Cancer Fighting Minestrone.

 



Ingredients:
6 unpeeled carrots, cut into thirds
2 unpeeled yellow onions, cut into chunks
1 leek, white and green parts, cut into thirds
1 bunch celery, including the heart, cut into thirds
4 unpeeled red potatoes, quartered
2 unpeeled Japanese or regular sweet potatoes, quartered
1 unpeeled garnet yam, quartered
5 unpeeled cloves garlic, halved
1/2 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 8-inch strip of kombu
12 black peppercorns
4 whole allspice or juniper berries
2 bay leaves
8 quarts cold, filtered water
1 teaspoon sea salt

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2-4 hours

Rinse all of the vegetables well, including the kombu. In a 12-quart or larger stockpot, combine the carrots, onions, leek, celery, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, garlic, parsley, kombu, peppercorns, allspice berries, and bay leaves. Fill the pot with the water to 2 inches below the rim, cover, and bring to a boil.

Remove the lid, decrease the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for at least 2 hours. As the broth simmers, some of the water will evaporate; add more if the vegetables begin to peek out. Simmer until the full richness of the vegetables can be tasted.
Strain the broth through a large, coarse-mesh sieve (remember to use a heat-resistant container underneath), then add salt to taste.

Let cool to room temperature before refrigerating or freezing.

*Makes 6 quarts.

'Till next time,
Natalie

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup. It doesn't get any more basic or traditional than that.

I was searching for a new chicken noodle soup recipe and found one with five stars and great reviews.  This soup also included a recipe to make your own broth. Awesome right? Wrong. This chicken broth was quite possibly the worst broth I ever tasted. No lie. It wasn't too watery, or lacking in flavor - the flavor was just off.

Looking back on it, the soup would have been great with some store bought chicken broth or a different broth recipe. The chicken, vegetables and noodles were all amazing. It was the broth that ruined it all.

I've revised the recipe to solve the broth problem. I recommend using canned chicken broth and a rotisserie chicken. Stay tuned for a future post all about broths: chicken, beef and vegetable.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/2 inch. pieces

2 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch. slices

4 fresh thyme sprigs

1 bay leaf

2 quarts of canned chicken broth

8 oz. dried wide egg noodles

1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I recommend rotisserie chicken)

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 handfull fresh parsley, finely chopped

In a medium stock pot heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, carrots, celery, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook the vegetables for about 6 minutes until they are softened.

Once softened, pour the chicken broth into the stock pot and bring it to a boil. Add the egg noodles to the stock pot and cook according to the package, about 5 minutes.

After about 5 minutes, stir in shredded chicken and continue to simmer for a few more minutes to heat through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with cilantro before serving. 

'Till next time,

Caroline