Chicken Stock and Tender Chicken

I’ve always wanted to make my own broth but always thought it was such a long and difficult process compare to walking into a grocery store and grabbing a carton off the shelve.  The problem with store bought chicken broth is that it’s high in sodium. (btw I was wrong, this is super easy)

I feel much more at ease making my own broth and using it as the base of my soup.  I know what’s in it and it taste so much better  knowing I’ve  made it from scratch….No foreign ingredients.

Ingredients:

A whole chicken (organic, grain fed) cut into 4

1 onion chopped

1 leek thinly sliced

3 celery ribs, thinly chopped

2 carrots, thinly chopped

1 bay leaf

7 whole black peppercorns

4 whole cloves of garlic

12 cups of water

Instructions:

Place chicken in big stock pot, add all vegetables around the chicken. Let simmer on stove top for 2-3 hours turn chicken once while cooking.  Remove chicken pieces from stock.  Remove all chicken from bones and return bones and skin back to the stock.  Ladle 1/2 cup of stock over meat to keep it moist and refrigerate in an air tight container for later use. 

Continue to simmer broth and carcass for several more hours.  The longer you let simmer the more flavor it will develop. 

When the desired flavor is acheived ( I let mine simmer for another 3 hours), let cool for an hour then ladle broth through a fine mesh strainer into a storage container. 

At this point the possibilities are endless.

I made chicken vegetable soup.

I added the chicken, turnip, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery and onion along with the chicken a simmered on low until vegetables were tender.  YUM and very filling.

Be creative and share your recipes.

Spiced Apple Butternut Squash Soup

 This recipe for Spiced Apple Butternut Squash Soup is a little of both sweet and savory.  As the leafs are changing colors and the evenings are getting cool there’s nothing like coming home and warming up to a tasty hot bowl of soup.  We added shredded pork to our soup right before serving.

Ingredients

1 Med. butternut squash

1 Rib celery chopped

1 Carrot chopped

1 Small onion chopped

1 apple, cored, peeled and chopped

1 Clove of garlic

1 Teaspoon of cinnamon

1/8 Teaspoon of nutmeg

1 Teaspoon of fresh thyme

pinch of fresh ground pepper

1 Box of organic chicken broth (or use your own)

olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Cut Butternut squash lengthwise and again in half. scoop out the seeds and discard.  drizzle with olive oil and peper and place faced down in a baking dish.  Bake for 40 mins (still soft).

Meanwhile, heat up oil in frying pan and sautee onions, carrots, celery for approx 5 mins, then add apple, garlic and spices for another 5 mins.

 When Butternut squash is fully cooked, pour chicken broth in a large stock pot.   Add mixture and  butternut squash to broth and bring to a boil for 2 mins. 

Transfer soup to blender (depending on the size of blender you have, devide the soup in 2 batches) blend until smooth.  ENJOY!