Saturday, January 14, 2012

Chicken Broth



Chicken broth is so comforting to me. I buy chicken bones from Lunardi's, make stock, strip the chicken from the bone, skim off the fat, and try not to let anything go to waste. My chicken broth includes bones, an onion, some ginger, and a handful of cilantro if I have it on hand. If I'm going to make it pho style, I'll throw in some pho spices (star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander). Broth needs to be crystal clear, so all that scum on top will need to be skimmed off. It takes time, but there is something beautifully comforting about standing over a stock pot and fussing over it, tasting it, and skimming it.

The fat is delicious, and when I'm lucky, there's a lot of it. When the broth cools, I pull off the disk of fat that floats to the top and keep a jar of it for cooking.

The meat I strip off the bone is tender, and I pull off all the cartilage with it, then put the bones back in with the broth to continue extracting flavor and nutrients. With the chicken meat, I make chicken pancakes to freeze for snacks. Some of the shredded chicken I just freeze plain for future use.

I'm very busy these days, and since my diet is so restrictive, I need to have a food stash available so I can eat even when I don't have time to cook.

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