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Thursday, December 15, 2011

My First Broth

Free, too!

People on their blogs talk of making broth. I never have and never have bought broth, except for chicken broth when I have sinusitis. It is good for my head, so I drink it and rather enjoy it. This should be different.


Today, I baked a hen. Exbf was given the thighs, legs, and wings. I kept the breast and carcass. His portion will make at least four meals for him. So will my breast portion.  That makes 8 servings from one hen, a tiny hen at that! Actually, a possible 10 meals is more like it.

All the skin, bones and meat left on the carcass went into a pot, along with the juices from the baking. Next, celery, dehydrated carrots, dehydrated onions, red peppers, and a bit of pepper went into the pot. Right now, it's boiling away. Only the bit of celery was something I had to pay for. I should have gotten the rest of the meat from the carcass. I will strain the whole pot of broth, cool, remove grease on top and give grease to the chickens. I can salt my broth when I am ready to use it if it needs salt. Tomorrow, I will remove the skin and rest of meat. Hens will get the bones with bits of meat left.

I have someplace to go all day on Thursday, so they need food for the day left in the morning. It helps them not to get bored if they have something to pick at all day. This carcass and a head of discarded lettuce will be just the thing for them.

Now, I don't know what I will do with the broth. Maybe I will use it to cook brown rice. Maybe I have let this romantic, homey notion of making broth go to my head.

Your turn
All of you broth-makers, what do you do with this now?  I have made chicken and dumplings, but don't want these seasonings in that dish. The one thing I know I won't do is to make a soup with beef in it with chicken broth....ewww. 

6 comments:

  1. We freeze it for use later on. If you think you will just need it for flavoring, you can freeze it in ice cube trays. If you think you will make soup, then freeze it in larger portions. I have added the ice cube portions to things like stir fries for example.
    It does look really good! I think I might make broth today now that I see that. I can nearly smell it!

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  2. I drink broth when I suffer from sinusitis as well. It is definitely one of those psychological comforts that help get you through the day. Your recipe looks rather delicious. I tend to make mine using my mother-in-law's stock cube recipe.

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  3. PracticalP - i make all of our own broth. i use carcass, bones, organs and extra meat. don't be shy - after boiling all of that for several hours - pick off the good meat and re-use in soups or other things. i always brown carrots, celery, onions, garlic, vinegar with the mother in it, non-pasteurized honey, sea salt and pepper first in a large dollop of butter. then i add some of my own already made broth and filtered water. i bring it to a boil, and once at a boil i lower the heat and let it simmer for 6-8 hours. this condenses your broth. once you have a nice thick broth, strain it and put it in the fridge. the next day - skim off the fat and save it for use in a million other ways - so much flavour in that fat! freeze the broth in ice cube trays and/or containers.

    as an example - i made a bunch of broth out of our turkey carcass in november using the above method. i have 3 one half litre containers filled with the broth. i will take one of those out tomorrow and defrost in the fridge. the following day i will add frozen turkey meat, fresh potatoes, carrots, broccoli, brussel sprouts, wild rice, a cup of cream and about a litre of filtered water and voila - delicious turkey soup!

    if you have any questions - just yell. sometimes i am rushing and don't make much sense!

    your friend,
    kymber

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  4. I will have to keep this information of yours in mind.I think mine is not that good because I did not do all the butter bit, making it rich tasting. But, it will work for me this time. I had all the carcass and the little bits of meat for the hens this morning. I heated the pan with carcass/scraps and ended up eating the carrots myself. But, I left plenty for the hens who had warm food for breakfast. Thanks.

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  5. LindaM
    It does smell delicious. Tomorrow, I may make soup for me. Actually, I have wanted an open-faced sandwich for so long. I might make a bit of gravy and toast bread. It is hitting my taste buds just thinking of it.

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.