I do my own cooking. I’m a damn good cook and used to cook professionally – no, not as any fancy chef. Hash slinger is more like it. But, as I have heard that often happens to people who do a lot of their own cooking, I get a bit weary of the same things or similar flavors. So, I turned to the possible wisdom of the SDMB, where, judging from what I have read in here for quite some time, there have to be a lot of single people eating their own lonely meals in front of computer screens.
So, I need a really excellent recipe for beef broth and chicken broth. I LOVE soups – they help me keep the weight off – believe it or not. I’m just tired of my own variations of those two basic stocks and some better ones resemble Chinese cooking with like 50 assorted ingredients to be added. Too much trouble! I just want any simple, basic, good tasting recipe.
Think you can help me out?
CAREFUL! We don’t want to learn from this!(Calvin and Hobbs)
From “Cook’s Illustrated.” This actually makes chicken soup, but you can just make the stock and use it for whatever you want.
MASTER RECIPE FOR HEARTY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
Makes about 3 quarts, serving 6 to 8
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), breast removed, split, and reserved; remaining chicken cut into 2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, cut into medium dice
2 quarts boiling water
Salt
2 bay leaves
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 celery stalk, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 cups (3 ounces) hearty, wide egg noodles
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Ground black pepper
Heat oil in large soup kettle. When oil shimmers and starts to smoke, add chicken breast halves; sauté until brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add half of chopped onions to kettle; sauté until colored and softened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl; set aside. Add half of chicken pieces; sauté until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with onions. Sauté remaining chicken pieces. Return onions and chicken pieces (excluding breasts) to kettle. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until chicken releases its juices, about 20 minutes. Increase heat to high; add boiling water along with both breast halves, 2 teaspoons salt, and bay leaves. Return to simmer, then cover and barely simmer until chicken breasts are cooked and broth is rich and flavorful, about 20 minutes.
Remove chicken breasts from kettle; set aside. When cool enough to handle, remove skin from breasts, then remove meat from bones and shred into bite-size pieces; discard skin and bone. Strain broth; discard bones. Skim fat from broth, reserving 2 tablespoons. (Broth and meat can be covered and refrigerated up to 2 days.)
Return soup kettle to medium-high heat. Add reserved chicken fat. Add remaining onions, along with carrot and celery; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme, along with broth and chicken; simmer until vegetables are tender and flavors meld, 10 to 15 minutes. Add noodles and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings, stir in parsley, and serve.
Whenever you cook a chicken, save all the aft and backbones and wing tips abd gizzards and necks and hearts and skin.
Put them in a saucepan while you’re prearing the rest of the meal, covered with water and simmering away. After an hour or two throw in the leavings from the veggies you’ve been making: onion ends and skins, carrot peels, celery ends, parsley stems are best, NO broccoli or other strong-flavored thing. Strain it, shill it, take the fat off the next day, and freeze the stock. Use as needed.
Beef stock is trickier, more work, and an EXPENSE, as opposed to the free chicken stock. You have to get beef and veal bones from your butcher, cut up, and roast them in a hot oven until brown with carrot and onion. Then cover with water and simmer for at least six hours (chicken is done in three or four.) You can make the stock with bones only, but it has more flavor when you add some cheap beef as well.
You can insure that your stock comes out lovely and clear by including some eggshells or shrimp shells (seafood stock only) while you boil it.
If you pour it into icecube trays before you freeze it you can make very convenient size pieces. Very handy when making stir fry or sauce for pasta. Drop in a ‘broth cube’ and watch it melt while adding a wonderful flavour to your meal.
Wisdom is the boobie prize,they give you when you’ve been --unwise!