What’s a good recipe for using homemade chicken broth?

Cafe Society
1

I made some bodacious chicken stock / bone broth, nicely jellified after being in the fridge overnight. Wondering what I could use it for that highlights the broth. I can and have added homemade broth to stuff like gumbos and chicken curries, and while the homemade broth probably adds some depth of flavor, it often seems to get lost in the flavors of roux and spices. I feel like I may as well add commercial stock in that case and freeze the homemade for something better down the road.

One meal I make to highlight homemade stock or broth is a version of chicken piccata where I reduce the stock down to 1/4 of its original volume or more. It makes a sauce with fantastically concentrated chicken flavor that complements the capers and lemon juice. But I make piccata pretty often. Some sort of soup is an idea but I don’t think I’m in a soup mood today. Feeling uninspired and in need of ideas.

2

One, freeze and set aside for future use (one cup increments or so is what I do).

Two, add to cheap ramen replacing an equal amount of water.

Three, make GOOD ramen, but that’s a good bit of work.

Four, use as a fluid base in almost any slow-cooked or braised dish depending on what you have available.

( Slow cooked / pressure cooked green chili chicken or pork, briskets, jerked chicken or pork, etc)

And of course, adding a bit to any cooked grain dish can add a ton of flavor.

3

You can’t go wrong with good ol’ Chicken Stew & Dumplings, especially if you make it in a pressure cooker with bone-in chicken pieces, big hunks of vegetables, and big fluffy dumplings. Mmm mmm, good!

Here’s a recipe that’s close to how I make it (and how I learned from Mom):

4

Chicken and dumplings is my go-to, but that’s rather soupy.

I freeze my stock in ice cube trays and store it in gallon bags, so I can add any amount easily and it doesn’t take forever to melt.

5

Risotto? Or any rice dish where you cook the rice in the chicken stock instead of the usual water; really gets that chicken flavor front and center.

Or sauce veloute or sauce supreme? Or go balls to the wall and do an aspic of eggs or asparagus or whatever.

6

Tortellini Al brodo.

7

Always a good way to use some stock, but wasn’t in a soup mood

Good call, I have made and very much enjoyed that, but wasn’t in a chicken & dumplings mood either.

Another good call, but I make risotto all the time too. I’m stuck in a gosh darn cooking rut.

Mother sauces to use in a meal, not the meal itself, but good sauce suggestions.

Heh, I did make accidental aspic a few weeks ago that was pretty good…

Again, not in a soup mood, but that sounds freakin’ delicious, and I will keep that recipe in mind for the future.

I ended up making chicken tikka masala, and it was outstanding, but I decided to use commercial stock and freeze my own. The recipe I was loosely going by called for just water. It seemed a waste to use my homemade stock. What do y’all think— when you make something that calls for stock but has a lot of other stuff going on, like a curry or a gumbo, if you have homemade stock on hand do you use it, or save it for something better suited to the stock?

8

When I have plenty, I use it for any excuse, since I normally end up with 3-4 turkey carcasses after Thanksgiving and render them down in a slow cooker. If I run low for any reason, time to buy, cook, and render a whole chicken rather than pieces. And supplement from the bone bag in the freezer if needed.

I actually came back to suggest making butter chicken, because using a heavy gelatinous stock reduces (not eliminates) the amount of cream I normally use. :slight_smile:

But when in doubt, I absolutely go with braised options. One I’ve enjoyed is the following:

9

I always use homemade stock because Mr. Legend has to watch his sodium intake and commercial stocks have a ridiculous amount of salt. Also, hilariously for someone who feels so comfortable weighing in on the cooking of meat dishes, I’m a vegetarian. All of the commercial vegetarian “stocks” I’ve tried have a really off taste, so I only use homemade.

10

Care to post the recipe? Please?

ETA: I’m just now eating a nice simple potato soup, and fresh chicken broth would have been excellent!

11

Use it to make French Onion soup:

QtM French Onion Soup

4lbs yellow onions, sliced thinly
PAM cooking sprain
3tbsp unsalted butter
1tsp salt
3/4cup room temperature water (divided)
1/2 cup cooking sherry
2.5 cups beef consummé
4 cups chicken stock/broth
6 springs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 baguette sliced into ½ inch rounds
8oz gruyere cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400F
Place onions, butter and salt in a well greased dutch oven and bake for 2hrs 45min, stirring every 45-60min
Place the dutch oven over medium heat, uncovered, for 20 more minutes. Deglaze with ¼ cup water x 3, and a forth time with the cooking sherry, reducing over 10-15min each time
Add the consummé, chicken stock and herbs and simmer on low for 45 minutes
While simmering, toast the baguette slices.
Spoon the soup into 4-6 soup crocks, top with the toasted baguette and a generous amount of cheese and broil in the oven for 4-5 minutes until browned and bubbly. Cool for 4-5 minutes, serve hot.

12

I like to make a big batch of rice pilaf using homemade chicken stock. I add browned orzo pasta in with the rice, and peas and bits of carrots and mushrooms. The good stock makes a superior pilaf! Then I freeze the remainder in serving-sized amounts, because it freezes extremely well and we have easy-serve pilaf for dinners for weeks.

13

Here’s the recipe I loosely followed. I started with whole spices, toasting and grinding them. I also added red and green bell peppers for extra color and vitamins.

Thanks for the recipe! Will definitely make this sometime.

Nice pilaf hack to use orzo! Will have to try that. I usually just break up spaghetti noodles.