Brother Broth- a Heavenly Ingredient

Nothing is better than homemade broth to enhance your dishes. You can use broth in everything from rice to stuffing to stir fries. Making your own broth is easy- and it makes sense ( or cents ) as it's helps reduce waste and let's you buy one less thing at the grocery store.

Two things are necessary for any good broth- no matter what kind. A good stock pot , preferably 16 quart, and mirepoix (pronounced meer a pwa). No it's not some strange ingredient- its is the combination of three common ingredients that's gives the body and flavor to your broths. Traditionally it is onion, celery and carrots although in creole cooking you will find they use onion celery and bell pepper. but for broth I stick with the traditional.

Once you have these two items your broth possibilities are endless. Cooking a ham this weekend ? Dropthe bone and some of the meat shavings in your stockpot along with the mirepoix and you've got a great base stock for any bean soup, split pea soup, not to mention it's great to cook your rice in next time you make ham fried rice- doubles the flavor!

The next time you roast a chicken or turkey, throw the carcass in the pot with the mirepoix , some white wine and some garlic and you will have chicken stock that any Jewish mama would be proud of ( and I know -I'm 1/4 Jewish). You can simply add some of the leftover de-boned bird to this stock along with some sliced carrots and egg noodles for a wonderfully warming bowl of soup. I suggest a Chardonnay for the stock- it's buttery flavor is a perfect enhancement. There are thousands of recipes that call for chicken stock these days- now you can make them and know you've got an advantage.


For beef broth there are several choices- keep an eye out for soup bones or ask your butcher for some. Oxtail makes great broth but they have become very pricey these days. Last time I made beef broth I use some marked down short ribs- they imparted a really strong beef flavor. I do suggest brown beef in a little olive oil at the bottom of the stock pot before making the broth. The browning process brings out the true flavor of the meat- raw beef will work but the flavor will suffer.

Think it's easier to open a can? Think again. Read the sodium content on some of the premade stocks- it's horrendous. By doing this you can control your salt and flavorings to your needs and taste- a big plus for those of us who have to watch our diets.

So you have big pot of broth- what to do with it? First let it cool at room temp- then strain out the vegetables and carcasses and all the stuff that isn't liquid. I usually use a fine colander inside another pot. I usually ladle the stock into quart or gallon freezer zipper bags and lie them flat on backing sheets and stick them in the freezer. Once they harden you can remove them from the sheets and they will stack fairly easily. You can also store it in containers but after years of doing this I like the bag method better. Don't forget to date and mark what the broth is- trust me once it's frozen it's hard to tell apart.

Don't get hung up on traditional chicken and beef broths. The only limit is your imagination . I pick up marked down veggies at the supermarket all the time, and they provide me an endless supply of vegetable broth. I save my onion cuttings and make onion broth- save the clean skins from the onions it helps enhance the color. There's one store that always has marked down mushrooms-beef stew made with garlic mushroom broth is fantastic!

I would love to hear other ideas and combinations you think of- please feel free to comment .