“Say Chef Hacker, why do you have multiple blog posts that describe making chicken broth?”, you may ask.
Well, it’s because chicken broth is such a useful ingredient to have on hand and it can be made in many ways. Recipes like rice pilaf, pot pie, vegetable and pasta dishes, stir fry and of course sauces and soups all make use of chicken broths and stocks.
You can make broths and stocks by simmering so many cuts of chicken and vegetables. Boneless chicken, backs and necks, whole chicken, legs or thighs or even chicken skin all make great clear chicken broth. Alternately, using chicken bones, either raw or roasted, results in a rich and gelatinous chicken stock. You can even use chicken giblets to make a strong broth to be used in pan gravy for roasted chicken or turkey! So, you see, we have a lot of broth/stock blog posts because their are a lot of ways to make it and a lot of ways to use it!
But why make it from scratch when using caned broth is so inexpensive and convenient?
Truth be told, I almost always have a few cans or a box or two of store-bought stock – chicken or beef – on hand just because it is so convenient and I never know when I’ll need to execute a pantry rescue. Further truth told, I generally have a few quarts of stock in my freezer also.
I keep the cans and boxes for convenience but I prefer home made versions because I control all of the ingredients. This means no MSG, modified food starches or colors, small amounts of salt and only the seasonings I chose in the amounts I prefer. I also can make a greater variety of stocks than I can buy. These include vegetable stocks, fish stock, clam broth and pork broth many of which I make from trimmings that I would otherwise discard or as a by-product of another recipe. An example is that when I make Clams Oreganata I save some of the broth that renders from cooking the clams. That flavorful clam liquor eventually becomes the broth for a Clam Chowder or maybe Linguine with White Cannellini Clam Sauce.
Clams ready for simmer (Left). Linguini With Cannellini Clam Sauce (Above)
Another example is in using “vegetable trimmings”. Whenever I cut celery, carrots or onion I collect the cut ends and store them in my freezer. When I collect a few cups worth I use them to make a vegetable stock. Also, since my wife and I love fresh mixed vegetables, I often find myself blanching green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and other vegetables. I blend the resulting cooking liquids into a flavorful vegetable broth that lasts up to a week in the refrigerator.
When did all of this vegetable broth business start?
Way back during the “Golden Age of Pompous Dinning” I worked in a German restaurant in the northern part of New Jersey called, The Black Forest Inn. My boss, the Chef and owner at the time, was a man called Heinz Aichem who was one of the finest chef’s I’d ever worked with. He was an old-school hands-on chef and he taught me a lot about the art and business of food.
He had a daily menu item called, “Creamed Mixed Vegetables”. Now I grew up in the Green Giant / Del Monte canned vegetable world of 1960’s America so when the words “Creamed” and “Vegetables” occur together in a phrase, my mind immediately serves up an image of sugary creamed corn spreading slowly and relentlessly across the bottom of my plate drowning every other side and entree in it’s starchy yellow lava-like liquid.
Thankfully that was nothing like what we served every day in Stanhope, NJ! No, Creamed Mixed Vegetables were a delightful mix of crisp, colorful veggies and fresh sliced mushrooms in warm fresh cream. The epiphany came when Heinz instructed me to “Slice and then blanch a case of button mushrooms and reserve the mushroom stock.” Mushroom stock? What? None of the chef-instructors at the Culinary Institute of America ever mentioned mushroom stock? What in the European World is mushroom stock? Turns out it is the chameleon of broths – add it to a chicken dish and it enhances it. Use it to fortify a less-than-great beef gravy and all is well. Your soup could use some umami? Mushroom stock will do the trick! Marvelous stuff and thus began my great love of all stocks and broths!
So I’ve gone on about this stock business for way too long but as you can probably tell I am a true stock fanatic. So check out the recipe below and the linked video above and start using your own house-made stocks and broths. Be warned: Once you taste the difference that this makes to your dishes you are going to have to be careful not to become a home-made broth snob!
What’s your view on broths and stock? Did you try this recipe or do you have one of your own? Please use the, “Leave a Reply” section below to let us know or if you would like to start a more in-depth discussion head over to the forum page and start new discussion!
Clear Chicken Broth
Ingredients
- 3 Each Chicken Thighs. About a pound.
- 3 Each Chicken Legs. About a pound.
- 1 Cup Vegetable Trimmings. Or use celery, carrot & onion instead of vegetable trimmings.
- 4 Quarts Water.
- 2 Tsp Salt.
- ¼ Tsp Ground Black Pepper.
- 1 Each Bay Leaf, Clove, Garlic Clove.
- 6 Each Pepper Corns.
- 1 Tsp Chopped Parsley.
- ¼ Tsp Thyme.
Instructions
- Make a broth by combining the chicken, 4 quarts of water, and 2 teaspoons of the salt in a tall pot. Bring it to boil then lower the heat & simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove the chicken & when cool enough to handle, separate the skin and bones from the chicken meat. Return the skin and bones to the broth and return to simmer for 45 more minutes. Save the chicken which can be used in chicken salad, soups or other dishes that use boiled chicken meat.
- Add the vegetable trimmings, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorn clove and garlic to the broth and return to simmer for 15 more minutes. Check for salt and pepper and adjust as desired.
- Strain the both, reserving the liquid & discarding the cooked skin, bones, spices and vegetables.
- Use the broth immediately or store it in containers for up to a week in the refrigerator or freeze it for long term storage.