Chicken Broth..... good for what ails you...

Last week my dear mother in law was stricken with a nasty case of diverticulitis, so the doctor ordered lots of rest and a liquid diet. I couldn't let my dear mother in law suffer through canned chicken broth! Yuck. So I set to work making some delicious homemade chicken broth to help her recover (and to save her from the nastyness that is canned broth) Then this week my sister in law had her wisdom teeth removed. Another liquid diet! More broth/soup to the rescue. Do you want to know how to make the tastiest broth ever? Of course you do. Here's my never fail recipe....

4 pounds chicken breasts, skin and bones intact. Or you can use thighs.
10 cups cold water
1 tsp salt (you can add more later, to taste)
a few sprigs fresh parsley
2 carrots - leave peel on
6 shallots, halved, leave peel on (you can sub one onion for this, I just happened to have some shallots from my garden)
2 ribs celery
sprig of thyme
sprig of sage
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns left whole

Use a large pot for this, I use my LeCreuset pot, I'm not sure how big it is...

Drizzle a teaspoon of oil on the bottom of your pan, heat the oil and add the chicken, skin side down, let brown for several minutes. Add the onions or shallots, cut side down and let them brown too. Once the chicken and onions are good and brown, add the rest of the ingredients. Pour the cold water into the pot slowly. Set the temperature to medium high and bring to a gentle simmer. Don't let the broth boil! This will break up the fat particles and make your broth cloudy and greasy. Yuck! Once the broth is simmering, lower the heat and let the broth barely simmer for 30 minutes. Periodically skim all the nasty stuff that floats to the top. You know what I'm talking about... At this point, your chicken should be just perfectly done. Remove the chicken from the broth and let cool for a few minutes. Use a fork to take the meat off the bones and reserve for another use (green chicken enchiladas, anyone?) Return the bones back to the broth and let simmer slowly for another 30 minutes or up to an hour. Taste and add more salt if you need it, the broth will have such a rich flavor, it's better not to add too much salt in the beginning.


Let the broth cool in the pot for a while or until it won't burn your 4 year old when he insists on ladling it into the strainer. Want to know a secret? Line your gravy separator with cheesecloth or a coffee filter so it captures all the little gunk in the broth that will slip through the strainer.

Eww... see what would have been floating in my broth? Not appetizing....

See? Nice clear, delicious broth, ready to use for your favorite soup. I made chicken noodle for my sister in law. To make the chicken noodle, after you discard the chicken bones and soggy, greasy vegetables left over, clean the pot and add the broth back in. Chop 2 fresh carrots, 2 ribs celery and cook for about 15 minutes, then add 1 1/2 cups dry noodles, cook until tender, then add some of the reserved chopped chicken and a tablespoon of chopped parsley. Delicious!!

Enjoy!