Remember President Hoover’s famous slogan “A chicken in every pot”? (Actually King Henry the IV said it several centuries earlier, so this is definitely a time-honored economical concept.)
In the midst of these dark winter days, miserable cold and flu season, and the even darker times of a sluggish economy, a chicken in your pot and the healthful, delicious broth it creates is one the brightest foods you can make. Easily. Cheaply. Quickly (at least in prep time).
Easy: all you really need is a chicken – or its carcass – and water (preferably filtered to keep chlorine and fluoride out of your food).
Economical: hundreds of recipes call for chicken broth or stock – only the ratio of bones and meat used differentiates them. And I can’t think of a single vegetable or grain I cook that isn’t infinitely more flavorful and nutritious with some added chicken stock. There’s no need to buy store-bought which is far more expensive and unhealthy.
Unfortunately, homemade broth has been replaced with bouillon — perhaps the worst item in the market as it is full of sodium and MSG. After WWII, the food industry figured out how to hydrolyze proteins to a base containing free glutamic acid (MSG), a neurotoxin. Some tetra pak containers of “organic” broth also have added MSG and “natural flavorings” which are a negative. They are certainly not cooked in the traditional way to gently extract the minerals, collagen and gelatin from real bones and have very little nutritional value.
Plus, soup cans -- as well as other food cans -- are lined with an estrogen-like chemical called bisphenol (BPA) to help prevent rust and keep your canned goods from having too much metallic taste. But this chemical doesn't just sit there in the can lining -- it breaks free and leaches out into the soup. That means you're getting a secret burst of hormones with every spoonful.
Starting Simple
Use a whole chicken (preferably organic, pasture-fed or from a reputable supplier) or parts – backs, necks, wings, and especially feet. Yes, the feet -- they’re an extremely nutritious gelatin provider. Note: every meat purchase does at least double duty if you buy it bone-in. Meat closest to the bone is more flavorful, and those bones will make excellent soups and stocks, no matter which animal they come from.
Really basic: Put chicken and a splash of vinegar or other acid (to help extract minerals from the bones) in a large pot and cover with water. Cook on the stove top at a low simmer (liquid not visibly moving but pan is too hot to touch), or uncovered in the oven at 170-180 degrees for 6 to 24 hours. Especially with factory-farmed chickens, you may want to quickly boil first to release any scum that you will skim off.
Stock 1.0: Add a large onion, chopped, at the beginning.
Stock 2.0: Additional vegetables. If you plan to toss mushy vegetables away or blend them as a base for soup and gravy thickeners, add 2 carrots peeled and chopped, and 3 celery ribs chopped, at the start. If you plan to include them in a bowl of chicken soup or casserole later, add during the last hour.
Stock 3.0 and more: If you have them, and like additional layers of flavor, at the start add peppercorns for spiciness, garlic for added sweetness, 2 bay leaves for savory depth, and parsley and/or thyme at the very end for floral, herbal notes.
Store broth in your refrigerator for several days, or save space by freezing in an ice cube tray. Each cube would nicely flavor a couple of servings of cooked vegetables, provide a steaming cup of drinking broth, or provide a rich base for rice, quinoa, couscous, wild rice or other grain.
Building Health
Almost a thousand years ago (remember our “time-honored concept” above), physician Moses Maimonides prescribed chicken broth as a treatment for colds and asthma, thus the name “Jewish penicillin.” Recent scientific studies confirm what we’ve known all along.
Meat stocks contain the minerals – especially calcium, magnesium and potassium -- of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes that are easy to assimilate. The gelatin produced allows the body to use the complete proteins you consume – especially important if you can’t afford large amounts of meat. Gelatin also helps in treating many chronic disorders such as diabetes, muscular dystrophy, gut problems and even cancer.
Good Resource: Soup of the Day: 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year, by Kate McMillan. (Weldon Owen and Williams Sonoma, 2011). Includes 26 chicken-broth based soups.
Allison St. Claire loves to dream about, study, grow, play with, prepare and ultimately enjoy eating great food.