Broth Diary 2015

Well, I’ve put up some posts about Broth in the past, and after several years now of doing this almost weekly, I have come to some conclusions:

1.    Start with cold water.

2.   A pressure cooker (Instant Pot) works the best for carefree, quick and tasty broth.

3.   Raise chickens, or if not, buy whole organic chickens. The carcasses are what you will use.  Chicken feet and necks make amazing additions to broth.  Keep them if you are butchering or find them in your organic co op.

4.   Add spices and herbs to finish (after straining and while reducing--about 1-2 hours), not during the cooking.  My favorite additions for poultry broth are star anise, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, allspice berries, cloves, thyme stems, red pepper flakes, and if needed some 5 spice powder.  If I’m feeling saucy, I might add a half lemon and a knob of ginger.  Favorite additions for lamb broth are bay leaves, cardamom, rosemary, lemon, cloves, cinnamon, more garlic, and cumin seeds.  Favorite additions for beef broth are bay leaves, garlic, red pepper flakes, cloves, oregano, thyme, coriander berries, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, and dried tomato skins or powder.

5.   Onion skins (red and yellow) make the broth deeper colored and flavored.  For really deep color, add mushrooms.  Don't  use potatoes to make broth.

6.   It’s OK to add a tablespoon or two of fish sauce to your broth to bring up the umami.  No one will know. 

7.   Before simmering, beef and lamb bones benefit from a hot trip in the oven on a tray. . .about an hour at 300.  Shmear with tomato paste if you are into super rich red meat broth.

8.   Using bones your family already gnawed on is perfectly OK.  I know, I know. . . but there is no way any bacteria could survive a pressure cooker.

9.   Salt after reducing.

10.  You do not need to buy expensive cheesecloth.  Get a loose weave kitchen towel and use that.  Just rinse it in the sink, ring it out and toss it in the washer when done.

11. Storing:  freezing in straight sided jars is best.  Use pint or 3/4 quart jars or other straight sided jars.  Regular quart jars have a shoulder/neck that is smaller.  When you want to thaw the broth, that neck will be a problem . . . a bottleneck to your scrumptious broth going into your recipe.  You can also pressure can this.  Follow directions, but keep in mind some folks think pressure canned broth is less nutritious.  I think it’s pretty tasty anyway, and I do some of mine this way. The point is that you CANNOT water bath broth.  That could lead to tragedy.  Don’t do it. DON’T DO IT.   If you don’t yet know the difference between pressure and water bath canning, then please just FREEZE it.   (Ok well, now that we finished that liability section, we can move on.)

12. Taste it!  It had better taste good before you store it.   If it is bad tasting—and this happens occasionally if you are experimenting—simply give it to your dogs.  They’ll love it.

13.  LABEL the jars with something descriptive:  Super Chicken and Turkey Broth, Asian Chicken Broth, Goose and Stupid Guinea Hen Broth, Sort of OK Basic Chicken Stock, or Mild Beef and Onion Broth.  Date it by month and year (if you remember).

14.   Good luck and may the broth be with you.

Broth Pageant #1

This weekend I made another batch of broth, something I do every 2-3 weeks.  I was out of leftover chicken/turkey carcasses and only had a ham bone from a relic of a spiral sliced ham we had around Christmas. So, I was faced with buying some bones.  My local market regularly has these.  Imagine my surprise to find that they are no longer cheap or free!  After paying $1.90/lb for 4 lbs of bones (most of which appeared to be upper femurs and pelvises from young cows) I trundled home along with the rest of my groceries.

To get the best flavor, you need to roast the bones.  I wacked mine with some olive oil and salt and stuck them in the oven at 350 for about an hour.  They did smell delicious and rendered off a nice bit of fat (that I gave to the chickens). 

Then, they and my old ham bone went into the stock pot with the usual suspects:  onion, garlic (fresh and some leftover roasted garlic), celery, carrots, fennel, star anise, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, tarragon, rosemary, bay leaves, a quarter of a lemon, sea salt and pepper corns.  After 4 hours simmering, it was ready to be strained and filtered. Then I gave it another hour to reduce.  It was a pretty brown, but I wanted it darker and sweeter, so I added a tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet (shhh. . . don’t tell anyone!) and a tablespoon of sugar.  Owing to the all the marrow, the broth was/is really rich.

It yielded 20 cups of shimmery and gelatinous, mahogany broth.  But I forgot to take a picture!

But, have no fear; I have pictures of many other broth adventures.  You know, some people take pictures of sunsets or cats, but I take pictures of broth . . . well, at least some of the time. 

So, here is my first installment of the Broth Pageant!

p.s.  I gave the leftover meat/cartilage bits, carrots, celery and garlic to the dogs.  No wonder they hang around the kitchen! (Sorry, no cooked bones or onions for dogs!—a different post.)



All the goodies at the start of something great!





Looks like lots of carrots in this beef broth.



Love the herbs, star anise, cinnamon and garlic!  Very picturesque.



Yeah, that's a payday!





Broth Tips

With the roaring popularity of the Broth Importantly post (all 250,000 of you who read it—thank you), I wanted to add some information to address questions you may have now and in the future.

Q:  My mom always stuck the cloves into the onions in the broth. Do I need to do this or is it OK to just drop the cloves in?

A:  First of all, your hanging preposition is forgiven.  You can impale the onions or not—your choice.  Sticking the cloves into the onion has the benefit of preventing the cloves and the onion skins from floating loose all over your pot.  This step probably won’t matter anyway if you are adding all the other spices, though.  It has no effect on the taste. (Don’t tell your mom.)   But, it is kind of fun to do, and when your husband is watching you do this, he will think you are really smart.

Q:  After I strained out my vegetables and meat, I tasted my broth prior to reducing.  It was definitely bitter.  Why did this happen, and can this broth be saved?

A:   You have a two part question!  We only allow one part questions.  I am sorry, but an answer cannot be provided.  Oh, what the heck:

Several factors contribute to sour or bitter broth: 

·         Burned bones or vegetables (if you pre-roasted them)

·         Overabundance of bitter vegetables, herbs or spices (celery, parsley, rosemary, cilantro, cilantro seed, cloves, allspice, black peppercorns)

·         Too much citrus for too long (something I really like, but have now learned is best added the last hour of simmering.  Add a half a lemon for some nice zing during the end of simmering.)

·         Impatience in general (you’re not done yet, so don’t give up)

·         Impatience with dried mushrooms (if you used dried mushrooms—a super addition for beef and veal broth—not so great with chicken broth.  Rehydrate them next time prior to adding to the broth.  If you did not, you’ll just have to let them have more time.)

·         Alcohol (not good at the start of any broth.   Wait til it’s almost done before you start drinking next time.)   

Saving the broth—between each of these cures, you must taste.  If fixed, proceed no further!  These cures assume you have a pot of about 10 cups of broth.

·         Reduce and add salt (this may improve the flavor—some sea salt is actually somewhat sweet)

·         Add a cup or two of carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, or parsnips, or a combo of them, to your strained broth and simmer for 25 minutes (you’ll have to strain again, though)

·         Once reduced, if still bitter, add a teaspoon of brown sugar or raw cane sugar at a time (be very sparing with this—you are not making teriyaki and you do not want a sweet taste)

·         Once reduced, if still bitter, add 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar or ¼ C of apple cider

·         If beef or veal stock:  once reduced, add a teaspoon of soy sauce at a time (teriyaki warning above)

·         If beef or veal stock:  once reduced, add 2 teaspoons of Kitchen Bouquet (frankly, this works nicely even if there is not a problem.)

·         Get desperate and put some raw ground beef or raw poultry chopped fine (8 oz or less) and mixed with an egg white (depending   upon whether you have beef or poultry stock) back into the broth.  Let it float to top and do NOT disturb the raft of meat.  Simmer very low and do NOT stir to avoid breaking up the raft.  After 40 minutes on very low, skim off the raft and strain your stock/broth again.  Frankly, this last step is so pathetic, you might as well start over again and use the meat you will likely waste in your new stock.

·         Alcohol  (If all else fails, pour another glass of wine and drink it.  Dump the broth out for the dogs. They’ll really like it.  Gravy Train!   Chock up the experience to one of life’s little lessons.)

Q:  What items in a broth make it sweet? Which bitter?

A:  Carrots, garlic and parsnips add sweetness the broth.  Parsley and celery are more bitter.  Failure is also bitter, but not if you ask the dogs after they’ve enjoyed your failed experiment.

Q:  What is the best container and method to store my awesome broth?

A:  If you are using it within the next 2 days, put it in the fridge.  However, you’ll make so much that you’ll likely want to freeze it.  I like leftover Parmesan cheese or salsa plastic containers from the grocery store. (Question from Mr. Artifact:  “What do those poor Parmesians know about broth anyway?”)  They are each about 2 cups, which is a great size for your individual use and for stacking in the freezer.  If you really won’t use more than a ¼ C at a time, you can freeze it in ice cube trays, then unmold and put into baggies in the freezer.  It will last about 6 months, but you will be unlikely to ever have any that long.  I find that I have to make broth every 1-2 weeks.  Once you have it, you will find it will become indispensible to you.

Q:  How in the world do you use up so much broth in a typical week?

A:  Here are uses in our household over the last week or so that used approximately 8 cups of broth:

·         deglazed pan, reduced juices, and made a nifty sauce with butter to lap stuffed leg of lamb and mashed turnips and potatoes

·         substituted broth for half of water in recipe for fennel and bean soup

·         cooked rice pilaf in broth instead of water

·         made gravy for chicken and apple sausage stuffing dumplings

And, if you make pho (excellent Vietnamese noodle soup), you’ll use up 8-10 cups with that recipe alone!

Q:  My broth is cloudy and murky.  Why?

A:  There are several explanations for this:

·         Chemistry:  Murky broth is caused by particulate matter in the liquid suspension.

·         Sloth:  You were too lazy to cut the fat off your meat, it melted and then your pot boiled, creating this mess.

·         Incompetence:  You forgot that you are not supposed to boil your broth after the initial boil.

·         Cheapness:  You won’t buy the cheesecloth to strain the broth because it is too expensive.

Whatever your reason, if you are not out to impress people, the cloudiness of the broth shouldn’t affect the taste.  It is nice to have a clear broth if you are going to make soups, aspics or light sauces, though.  And it will have a cleaner “mouth feel” if more of the fat is out.

Cures can be performed in any order, but first let the broth cool—even chill—and take off the fat that forms at the top.

·         Double or triple strain it through multiple layers of cheesecloth, and finally if necessary through a coffee filter (which will take a very long time—you should be able to listen to an entire Pink Martini CD during this process!).

·         Add a couple eggs shells (don’t wash them out—the leftover whites will help to pick up the impurities) and slowly warm.  Strain afterwards.

Broth . . . Importantly

If you want to cook tasty food, be self sufficient and save money, then you really need to learn how to make your own broth (or stock).

Poultry or red meat:  it’s pretty much the same process.

You will need: herbs and spices, leftover veggies, leftover chicken or turkey carcasses (or steak or lamb bones if you want a dark broth),  and tasty bits, water, salt, a big stock pot, a colander/strainer, cheesecloth, a stove, and some time.  Oops!  Forgot:  you’ll need some plastic tubs with lids and a freezer!

Making broth is much more of a process than it is a recipe.  If you regularly make broth, you’ll develop a system of saving tidbits, so that you have the perfect ingredients without having to run to the grocery store.  Afterall, this is all about economy. 

So, to start off on the right foot, set aside a section of your freezer to save those tasty morsels for the broth.  Dump these into a zip bag and toss in without a moment’s thought:

·        Onion skins and bits (these give flavor and color)

·        Garlic bits and leftovers

·        Chicken and turkey backs, wings, anything left on the plate from your family (refrain from livers, as those cloud the broth)

·        Parsley and cilantro leftovers, such as stems

·        Any leftover herbs

·        If you’ve been very good, you will have saved your chicken necks and feet!

When you are ready to make broth, take all your freezer ingredients and put into a large stockpot (see note below re cooked versus raw ingredients).  About  a 12 cup/3 quart size pot is good.  Pour cold water over the ingredients until just covered with water.

Now, the fun part is adding aromatics, spices and herbs.  Here’s what I add, but you should experiment on your own:

·        2 stalks celery chopped large (use the leaves also)

·        2 large carrots, chopped rough

·        1 rough chopped parsnip or turnip (secret ingredient if you can get them!—do NOT be tempted to use potato, as it will cloud the broth)

·        2 star anise

·        6 whole cloves

·        1 stick cinnamon

·        6 allspice berries

·        3-6 bay leaves

·        1 T dried rosemary or a large sprig of fresh

·        1 clump of thyme sprigs

·        1 t fennel seeds

·        2 T coriander seeds

·        1  t cumin seeds

·        ½ t celery seeds (some people don’t like these!)

·        2 t red pepper flakes (makes it hot—be careful)

·        1 whole garlic head, cut in half (use more if you like!)

·        1  whole yellow onion, cut into quarters (red onions are good too, as are shallots)

·        1 T coarse sea salt or kosher salt (1-2 t of regular table salt, as it is really salty comparatively)

Put everything into the pot if using cooked meat and cover with cold water.  If using raw, hold off ‘til it is cooked—see comments below. 

Cooked versus raw poultry 

Now, here is the trick: if you are using raw poultry, don’t add anything to the pot at first but the bird parts and the water.  Bring to a rapid boil, take off heat and skim off the foam/scum. Then add your other ingredients. If your parts have already been cooked, then go ahead and put everything into the pot at the same time and cover with cold water.

Why do this? Raw meat has blood and other fluids that when heated congeal. These rise to the surface as gray scum.  You don’t want this in your nice broth.  Once released, they are easily skimmed off and given to your dogs as a treat.   If your bird is the carcass of a leftover, then the fluids have already been dealt with.  Proceed with blessings in that case.

 

Skim the scum from raw meat broth.

 

The simmering broth with added vegs and spices!



The cooking part:  best to bring to a boil, skim if necessa, reduce to simmer (don’t boil) with a cover for about  3-4 hours.    You only boil it once:  at the beginning! 

Uncover and simmer more if you want to get better color.  Cool and strain twice—first with a colander and second through cheese cloth. Return to heat and reduce til desired flavor/consistency. I find that I need to reduce the broth on a low heat for 2-3 hours or so—NEVER boil—just get some rolly little waves.  Taste for salt and add it needed near the end.

You don’t need to stand around your stove during this. Go about your business, take a trip to town, do the laundry, etc.

Let cool in fridge overnight.  The next day the fat will be hardened on the top. Skim this off and give to the dogs.  (And go through all your leftovers from the stock you strained the day before and give the dogs the meat, celery, garlic, and carrots. Do NOT give dogs onions or cooked bones.)

Package the broth into plastic containers and freeze  (when cool).



Viola! Broth. . . importantly!



Heart and Sole: A Chicken’s Story



Chicken hearts



Chicken soles (feet)



The Post Office called on a Thursday to report the chicks were here.  We picked up our fluffy, white Cornish Cross flock, brought them home and nestled them into the galvanized feed tub with an alfalfa bed, water, feed and a heat lamp.  Each little guy had to be introduced to the water by dipping the beak into the reservoir, after which, their little eyes lighted up and they were now on their own—two  days old and thinking that some large pinkish people and a couple big, black dogs were their parents. 

The Cornish Cross variety is the classic meat bird: large breast, white feathers (about which, more later).  Frankly, they can’t live normal lives, as they grow too fast and too big.  When under 3 lbs, they’re your Cornish game hens.  At 8 weeks they can be 4-5 lbs.  Once, we let them go to 13 weeks.  They were 8-9 lbs—like little turkeys. And, frankly, they could no longer walk at that point.  They just sat at the feeder and ate all day.  So, this breed is really the Jabba the Hut of the chicken world.  They have one purpose in life, and that is to end up on your dinner plate.  We are happy to help them fulfill their destiny.

Two to three times a year, we “harvest” chickens for our freezer.  (Isn’t “harvest” such a nice politically correct word?)  Our goal is to get 26 chickens into the freezer to supply a chicken every two weeks.  When we first began this quest several years ago, we processed 1 chicken at a time. We were rookies and it took some time to get up to speed.  Now, we have this down to a humane and very matter-of-fact exercise, and we can do a dozen or so in one afternoon.  (I know, this is nothing compared to real pros.)    The processing part is the subject of a future blog post. 

Recognizing that the chicken is sacrificing its life for our table, we in turn appreciate that it is important to use every part of the bird that we can to honor its commitment:  the “Heart and Soul “of this blog post.  Below is an accounting of how ALL the parts of our chickens contribute to the betterment of our homestead:

·         Feathers: composted for the garden.

·         Blood: heated into pudding for the dogs.

·         Hearts and gizzards: poached and given to the dogs (perfectly good for people, but not our  favorites).

·         Livers:  used in pates, appetizers, pastas.

·         Feet:  saved for chicken stock (this is what will give it that rich, gelatinous texture).

·         Necks:  like the feet, saved for stock.

·         Entrails:  composted with the feathers.  The cool thing about this is that the maggots that break this down are then fed to the free range egg-producing chickens.  We don’t ever give our chickens the remains of other chickens.  But,  yummmm, they do love maggots.

Did somebody say chicken?

·         Major chicken parts: breast, legs, thighs, wings.  These are turned into tasty dishes!

·         Back and leftover bones from the meals: turned into chicken stock/broth with the neck and feet.  The meat remains from stock, along with carrots and garlic are given to the dogs.

In case you were wondering:  the chickens we raise are able to experience a free range life, flap their wings, engage in chicken politics, scratch in dirt, chase bugs, and dine on wholesome food.  They can see the sky, graze in the grass, nestle into alfalfa hay, or perch on pine limbs inside a secure chicken coop away from predators. They get daily rations of oyster shell pieces (for calcium) and cracked corn (for fun) in addition to their regular feed, garden cullings, and our household leftovers. They are watched over by our Blue Andalusian rooster, General Taylor.    And they snuggle together under a heat lamp at night when the temp drops below 50 degrees F.   When it comes the time for the end, the chicken has to travel about 20 feet in 45 seconds before it is all over in a peaceful non-traumatic way.  This is not the experience of the chicken you will find in a Styrofoam tray in your local grocery store.  Oh, and I didn’t mention. . . our chickens taste like chicken, not just some white, meaty material.

So, here’s to the chickens—heart and sole:

They like the pasture

They like the rolling hills
They like left-overs
I like the daffodils
They  like the heat lamp

When all the lights are low
Boom dee yadda
Boom dee yadda
Boom dee yadda  chow!



A nice chicken with Stacey's Secret Spice Rub and olive oil--shrink wrapped and ready for the freezer.