Soup Broth 101: Welcome to Fall!

Leaves on a cliff at the Grand Canyon this past weekend. It was as if God sent me a little love & hope for cooler weather.

I know most of the country entered "fall" maybe a month or so ago, but for those us here in the Valley of the Sun, late October begins our fall season.  Let me tell you, one sweaty person to another, we are ready!!!  Summer clothes have been gone from the stores for 3 months, as though the start of school suddenly means it's time to  wear jeans and long sleeves.  Just a few days ago we were still topping out at 100 degrees. While the stores all have Christmas  decorations up, we're still sweating like it's the 4th of July.  Finally though, the temperatures seem to truly have dropped to a reasonable number for the season and the sizzle is gone from my rock yard. No longer are the pillows on my bed warm from resting against (the inside) of the west wall of my house. At last my dreams of warm, golden delicious soups and oven baked breads are about to become a reality.  But first, let's get to the basics of it all.  The stock.

Soup stock is real simple, whether you do it with chicken, beef, or vegetable.  There's no canned or boxed stock that will ever be as good as the one you make yourself.  You know what's in it and you know it's made with love. Start with water, a pile of aromatics, veggies, a little patience, & plenty of zip lock storage bags to save all that goodness for your fall soup fantasies.  


For starters, I'm working on my chicken stock.  Gather all your ingredients and put them in the largest pot you've got, throw it all in together and let it cook really slow for hours on end.  You'll have a hard time not eating it right away, but trust me when I say don't do it!  If you do, you'll have to go through the process all over again - not that that's a bad thing because like I said, it's easy and your house will smell luscious.


In general, I never salt a stock.  Your salt needs will vary from one dish to another and the last thing you want is to feel like a herd of elk at that giant salt lick, Mammoth Hot Spring Terrace in Yellowstone National Park - another breathtaking place to be. Not, however, in your soup. 


First off, I get my roasting chicken ready for the pot. Anything from a 4-5lb bird will do the trick.  Rinse it good and put it in the pot. In this instance, if you've got an 8 quart pot, that's the way to go. 


I can't imagine a life without onions & garlic.  To me, that would be a sad existence.  So let's use two onions.  I use yellow onions in soup stock because I find they are the most pungent.  You can dice them up however you like, but leave half of one of them in tact so it can be stuffed into the cavity of your chicken. For the garlic, I use 2 full bulbs and I don't peel them at all. I love the flavor of buttery delicious roasted garlic. If you leave the skins on them, this is the flavoring they'll have. You won't have to worry because you're going to strain the whole batch when it's done anyway.  Just break apart the bulbs and drop all of the cloves into the mix.

 Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Next, chop up 4-5 stalks of celery - preferably leafy celery.  I hate that grocery stores trim the leaves off of celery. The flavor in celery leaves is fantastic and a wonderful addition to the pot.  Get them at a produce market if you can.  They're much less likely to be trimmed.  Add to that 3-4 chopped carrots.


As for the rest of the aromatics, bundle up a handful of fresh thyme, rosemary & oregano.  Put them in a pile, tie them up with some kitchen twine & toss them in the pot. Put in 2 bay leaves for good measure and you're ready to add the water. In my old house, I had herbs growing all over the yard, so they were always easy to gather. Nowadays, I have to buy them at the store and I can't get over the price!  Good grief - grow your own if you've got a place for it! Now that the weather is cooling off, I'll be planting some in pots. I can't keep any potted plants alive in the summer heat.  Their little roots just fry in the heat.  Anyway, once again I'm rambling.


Fill the pot with as much water as it will hold without boiling over. In my case, I get about 10-12 cups of water total. Bring the whole thing to a boil before turning down to a low simmer.  Let it cook for a couple of hours, until the chicken just falls apart when you stir it. Then turn of the heat and let it cool.


Once it cools off, strain it. Some people throw out what they strain off.  I don't.  The thought of wasting all that food kills me. My favorite thing to do is to carefully remove the bones then shred the chicken for enchiladas. You could also shred the chicken, wrap it carefully in plastic wrap & foil before labeling it and put it in the freezer for use at a later date.


The strained stuff is where we're headed.  Using quart-size freezer bags, measure your liquid into 1 or 2 cup increments (whichever is most useful for you) and pour it into the pre-labeled bag.  Lay it flat on the counter and remove as much of the air as possible.  If you ever owned a water bed (now I'm dating myself for sure) then you'll know what I'm talking about.  Get rid of the air bubble.  Zip it and lay it flat on a baking tray.  For best results, layer parchment paper between each of the storage bags so they don't freeze together.  Once they are frozen, you've got  thin sheets of broth that are easy to store.  Then when you've got a recipe calling for chicken broth, you've got the best one on the market!


Until tomorrow...be blessed & feed the ones you love!