rechelle's lifelyrics

The thing that makes this so easy, is the little baggies of chicken stock ingredients I keep in my freezer. For instance, I usually have a few celery ends left that are starting to age that I stow in a snack baggy instead of tossing them. And I always have a small baggy ready when I’m making roasted vegetables for the mushroom stems. Basically, any washed vegetable or fresh herb that might get tossed in a couple of days can be bagged up and preserved in the freezer! When I debone a whole chicken, I save the wings and bones in a baggy, but I think my favorite base for bone broth is from the bones pulled from seasoned, baked chicken thighs.

This habit has proven to be a huge time saver, and a true blessing when I’ve been ill and needed some homemade broth for comfort and nutrition!

Last night, I had plenty of roasted veggies left over from Taco Tuesday, about 1/2 can of tomato paste from my Italian Style Braised Brisket that I made for our Christmas dinner, a bit of molé from our tamale-making day, and a few other tidbits that were begging to be combined in a soup. So I got my baggies out of the freezer and started my bone broth. After about 40 minutes of doing some other prep work in the kitchen and folding some laundry, I was ready to start assembling my soup and using a bit of the freshly made broth. (I let the stock pot continue to simmer for the full hour and a half, even though I was using some of it early for my soup.) On a day that I got dinner started way later than normal, it was really nice to have delicious, comforting, homemade soup in a little over an hour!

A few weeks ago, I promised I would post about how I make my homemade bone broth. I have a wonderful 5 quart stock pot with pour spouts and a strainer lid that is perfect for making things like stock or broth. The following guidelines are based on what I normally do, using that pot.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-2 T Olive Oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pot for browning the onion, garlic, and then the bones)
• 1 Onion, peeled & quartered
• 3-4 large cloves garlic, peeled & cut in half
• Chicken bones pulled from cooked chicken (enough to create a layer of bones about an inch thick at the bottom of the pot)
• Celery leaves & pieces – approximately 1-2 full stalks of celery
• 1-2 Carrot, ends cut off & rinsed, but does not have to be peeled – cut or break in half so pieces easily fit in pot
• Mushroom stems from 6-10 mushrooms
• Water to generously cover – up to the 4 quart mark (I always reduce the stock to at least the 3 quart mark)
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 handful fresh parsley with stems and leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 – 4 generous sprigs fresh thyme (I can always use more “thyme”!)

GUIDELINES:

1. Heat the oil in your stock pot, and lightly brown the onion and garlic.
2. Add the bones and stir so the bones get a light coating of the oil and begin to brown. (See picture, below.)
3. Add the remaining large ingredients and water so the contents are about 4 quarts.
4. Add the salt, peppercorns, and herbs while the liquid is coming to the boil.
5. Once the liquid has begun to boil, reduce the heat and allow to simmer 1-2 hours. The longer it simmers, the more your liquid will be reduced which creates stronger flavor.

This homemade broth is wonderful to have on hand for making soups (of course!), rice, steamed or boiled vegetables (instead of using plain water), and many other recipes. Please bear in mind any unused portion will need to be frozen after 3-4 days to make sure it doesn’t go to waste!