Homemade Chicken Broth

When I was young, I assume everyone made their own broths and stocks for soups and other recipes but I remember one Thanksgiving I was helping my mom grocery shop and noticed canned chicken stock. I was excited and told my mother she could save a step by using this instead of making her own. She didn’t take my suggestion and it wasn’t until I made Thanksgiving dinner myself in college did I understand why. Making your own broth and stock not only has a a better flavor but you also have the knowledge of knowing what is in your food. So here’s a homemade broth for you, if I gave you my mother’s recipe she would kill me. Feel free to play around and tinker with some of the items below.

What I Used:

• 4lb whole chicken, cut into pieces or 4 pounds of chicken leg quarters
• 1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 small onion, root end trimmed, peeled and chopped
• 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced (You can use less if you don’t enjoy garlic as much as I do)
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
• 4-6 sprigs fresh parsley
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon of peppercorns, whole
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt (optional)
• 4-5 quarts of water

What to do:

1. Combine your chicken and all other ingredients into a large stockpot. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours. Occasionally, you may want to skim the surface to remove any foam and fat that forms on the surface.
3. Remove from heat and let cool a little.
4. Strain the contents through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container.
5. If not using right away, let liquid come to room temperature and remove any extra fat from the surface.
6. Before you place in an airtight container and then into the fridge or freezer, make sure your broth is completely cooled.

Sweet Shrimp

I wasn’t sure how this meal was going to turn out, so I didn’t take any pictures during the cooking process. Bummer. It actually turned out to be really good, even though my husband said the sauce was a little too sweet for his tastebuds. Below is the recipe I will use next time to make it less sweet. Enjoy.

What I used:

• 1 pound of Raw Shelled Wild Shrimp (but I am sure any shrimp will do)
• 2 Sweet Potatoes
• 1 large Ruby Red Grapefruit
• 2 teaspoons Honey (optional)
• Parsley, chopped
• Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper
• 1 clove of Garlic, minced
• Olive Oil

First, devein and clean the shrimp. In a sauce pan, heat up about 1 teaspoon of olive oil on medium low heat and add the minced garlic. After about a minute, add the grapefruit juice (I just cut it in half and then squeezed each half over the sauce pan), honey, cayenne pepper, and a few sprinkles of parsley. Add as much cayenne pepper as you like, I started off with a small amount and as the sauce cooked I added more for taste. Turn the heat on your sauce down to low.

While my sauce was cooking (with small bubbles forming), I added some olive oil to a pan and cooked my shrimp. Once the shrimp was fully cooked, I plated my mashed sweet potatoes with the shrimp on top and poured the sauce over it. I think I will try this sauce again but with salmon or chicken, I thought it was good.