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Mar 29, 2024

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Chicken Broth

Chicken Broth is yummy, rich and healthful. There's a reason that it's called Jewish penicillin.

You'll want to start with either a whole chicken, or a bunch of chicken parts that you've been saving for the purpose (you DO save your chicken backs and wing tips and necks, DON'T YOU?).

Remove the livers, if they have been included, because they will make your broth taste nasty, but everything else, neck, giblets, heart (OK, I cook the heart for me and eat it as a snack, but if you don't) can go in the pot, eventually. I cut off the breasts and trim off the thigh meat and set it aside for making chicken noodle soup or chicken stew and if chicken wings? are in my future, I cut them up also for later. But all the bones, skin and other meat goes in the pot and gets covered with water.

I chop off the tips and ends of a pound of carrots and a bunch of celery and throw those into the pot: the ends, not the main part of the vegetable. In this process we are going to extract all the goodness and throw away the rest, so you don't need picture perfect diced carrots. Add an onion, rough chop, including skin/paper on the outside. Weird, huh? I smash a couple of cloves of garlic and throw them in also, including skin. I also add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to the water. You won't taste it, but it will help get some of the goodness out of the bones. And if you are REALLY wanting to get everything, crack the bones.

If this is a regular pot, bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer and let it go for a few hours, skimming the foam from time to time and adding water whenever the level drops below the top of the "stuff". I use a [[Equipment/pressure cooker]0 and it only takes 45 minutes.

Let the broth and "stuff" cool enough to handle it without scalding yourself and strain through a colander? or wire mesh strainer? into another pot that can fit into the refrigerator. Use a wooden spoon to press out as much liquid as possible. Discard the "stuff". Nothing to see here. It gave its all.

If you have time, put the broth in the refrigerator overnight. The fat will rise to the top and harden and you can use a spoon to peel it off. If you need it right away, let it sit for five minutes or so and then use a ladle to dip the excess fat off the top.

If you refrigerated the broth you will see that it jiggles. It is chock full of gelatin and goodness. If you don't need it all right away, you can warm it enough to melt and then pour into ice cube trays. When they are frozen, you can pop the cubes and put them in a plastic bag, ready for next time you need a little chicken broth, rather than opening a can of store brand.