Broths
Just a little aside about broths. I am a big BIG fan of making your own broths if you can. I suggest if you want to make your own broth to save any food scraps that could be used in stock in the freezer. I will save them until I have two or three large bags which usually takes about one to two months which is about when I start to run out of my stock. So I know my ramen broth is pork based and there are people out there who cant have pork. So here are some substitutes. All these stocks I don’t add much salt or pepper because if you do you run the risk of over salting whatever meal you end up putting the stock in. You are better off saving the salt for when you’re cooking. Remember a broth is only a base that you use to make other things.
This is a picture of my Freezer right now, i have my broth’s freezing and a big bag of scraps for my next batch.
Chicken broth can be cooked in about 4-6 hours and does not require the same 12 hour cooking time. The cooking instructions are simple. Everything goes in the pot and you cook it for the 4-6 hours.
Ingredients can be flexible generally you want to make sure you add
- Onions
- carrots
- celery
- garlic
- bay leaf
- herbs: parsley is a great herb for stocks
- lemon
- leeks
- ginger
- mushrooms
Beef bones cook for about 6-7 hours, the same ingredients and directions as chicken. Although I personally don’t like lemon with beef broth it doesn't taste as good or come through as nicely as it does with chicken. I like to add potato skins sometimes to my beef broths to help enhance some of the flavors of the beef broth.
This cooks the fastest because you don’t have to cook any meat bones! I usually still like to give 3-4 hours to get all the delicious flavors into the stock. I add basically any and all veggies. the following are what I suggest you add but you can experiment with other vegetables.
- onions
- carrots
- celery
- garlic
- bay leaf
- herbs: parsley and thyme are great
- mushrooms
- kombu
- potato skins
- leeks
So like I have continued to make my own broth, but I want to let you all know that lately what I do is save everything. Any vegetables I use or have scraps for they go right into a ziplock in the freezer for when I make stock. Ive been adding other herbs and spices. I add mustard seed, sometimes all spice, cardamon, and whatever else happens to fit my mood. I also now mix meat/bones. I do about 2-5lbs of chicken backs 2-3 lbs of pork and if I happen to have beef bones. I dont add lemon as much anymore since im mixing the bones. I save the lemons for when Im making chicken soup specifically. I’ve been continuously making stock now for a few years and I have to say I think its one of the things I love making the most. I only spend money on bones once every 2 to 3 months and I feel really good using up all parts of the vegetables I buy and I love how warming the stock makes my home.