Broth Making

Right now I'm making broth from leftover roast chicken with vegetables. Recipe to follow. I have developed a ritual of using every last scrap of a leftover roast. Whether crock pot beef or venison roast or roast turkey or chicken, I use the pan drippings, every bone, and every vegetable.

I had 2 legs and 2 thighs leftover from the scrawny chicken roast from last Thursday night. Just a bit of meat, maybe 1/4#, so I just froze it. I also froze the potatoes. I'm saving the delectable roasted onions, red peppers, and artichoke hearts for an exquisite puree. I'll top some roasted meat or potatoes with it. The bones, roasted garlic, and every bit of chicken fat I could find were tossed in a pot with water to cover. I boiled it quickly and simmered about an hour. A touch of salt, and I have a nice thick broth.

You don't have to have raw chicken to make broth. Cooked meats make great broth, too. Steak scraps, roast bones, leftover vegetables, fish trimmings, a turkey carcass, all these are rich with hidden flavor only revealed in a boiling water bath.

If you are poor, like me, you learn to make flavor when and where you can. Rice and mashed potatoes both benefit from chicken broth added either in place of water or as a finishing touch. Anytime you want to bring out the flavor of a stir fry, just add a cup of chicken broth a few minutes before serving. Reduce to 1/4 and you'll find it brightens the final flavor of all other ingredients. Try chicken broth when you make a vegetable side dish. After blanching the frozen or fresh vegetable in boiling water, simmer in a warm pot of equal parts salted chicken broth and water.

I've developed a habit of saving meat trimmings and making broth on a back burner while I'm preparing another meal. Freezes well. Thaws quickly. And you can always boil your zipper bag of frozen broth in a pot of water to thaw it even more quickly, if you're in a hurry.

If you want an even richer flavor, make stock, which is a deeply concentrated broth made with vegetables and herbs, as well as bones. Try using a pot full of leftover bones, a carrot or two, some celery, half of an onion, and garlic. Add a sprig of thyme, or some dried thyme and black pepper in an improvised cheesecloth bag. Salt to taste. The key is to fill the pot with ingredients, boil quickly, and simmer for a long time. After about an hour, drain the broth and press the colander to extract as much extra liquid a possible. Put the broth back on the burner and simmer for an hour or so. You'll notice the broth deepening in complexity as it concentrates.

If you'll simmer a leftover turkey carcass for about an hour on very low heat, the first batch of broth will always be worthy of being called stock. So rich and mellow. Then, take the same carcass and simmer for another hour. This time, you'll have a thinner broth. Also delicious and very useful.