Basic Chicken Broth
Yield: approximately 8 cups
one chicken carcass
1-2 pounds chicken wings (Amounts up to you. 2 pounds=about 10 wings)
2-3 carrots, scraped and cut into coins
1 large brown onion, peeled if not organic, roughly chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled, and roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
5-10 black peppercorns
pinch sea salt
Optional additions:
Chicken giblets and necks (no livers)
saved cooking juices from chicken (the gunge)
leek greens, well washed
scallion greens, well washed
parsley stems
chard stems
corn cobs
pea pods
chopped celery
parmesan cheese rinds
While tall, narrow stockpots are best for making broth, you can only use what you have. Place your largest stockpot on the stove. If you have cooking juices, add those first on low heat with the bones and wings.
Now add your vegetables and just cover everything with cold water. If you must measure, you’ll want 8-12 cups. You want neither to swamp nor stint. Add the peppercorns, bay leaf, and salt.
About salting broth: most broth recipes are violently against salting. If you plan to reduce your broth to demi-glace, don’t salt it. But for a plain, light broth, a little salt won’t hurt.
Bring to gentle simmer. Don’t allow to reach a rolling boil, as this allows the proteins to bind, creating an unpleasantly muddy broth. For the first 10-15 minutes, skim any scum rising to the surface. After 15 minutes, you shouldn’t need to skim any longer. Go about your business for the next 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Your broth is ready when it’s pleasantly golden. Oddly enough, I find broth doesn’t taste all that great until it’s settled down a little.
You need to strain pretty quickly, as nothing ferments faster than cooked matter in broth. It’s best to do this in the sink. Set a strainer over your largest bowl, or have a couple large bowls ready. Strain the broth and get it into the fridge or freezer within the hour. For some reason, room-temperature broth collects bacteria like nobody’s business.
You now can either eat your broth within three days or freeze it within three days.
Freeze in ice cube trays, then leave them as is or tip into freezer bags. You can also freeze broth in measuring cups, tip them out, and freeze in portions.
DO NOT keep broth in a stockpot on the stove for days on end. That’s a sure route to food poisoning, which makes phlebitis look like a mosquito bite.
To eat: The permutations are endless. Add some noodles, orzo, or cooked rice. A spoonful of miso, some chopped scallion, or a little soy sauce. Mince lemongrass and squeeze in fresh lime juice for a refreshing Southeast Asian soup.
Or leave it perfectly clear and drink it down.