Making your own broth for soups and other dishes is easy and provides a very healthful food. Since people often have left over ham bones or turkey carcasses from holiday or other large meals, this is a great time to start. Fish bones and meaty beef soup bones can also be used.
Ingredients
- Meaty carcass remains or bones
- Two and a half to three quarts of water
- One or two washed, chopped large carrots
- One or two large, peeled quartered onions
- Two stalks of chopped celery
- A bay leaf or two if available
- 7 or 8 peppercorms
Directions
- Place the carcass remains or bones in a large pot (six quart pot is a nice size.) If the carcass doesn’t fit, either crush it down, or as it cooks it will soften and can be mashed down then.
- Add the water, but don’t add too much water or the broth will be thin and tasteless.
- Add the carrots, celery, onion and seasonings.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least eight hours. You'll want this mixture at a slow, low boil, not just sitting in hot water.
- After eight hours or so, drain the mixture through a colander into a large bowl, capturing only the broth.
- Discard the cooked vegetables. If you want to add turkey or chicken meat to the broth, wait for the carcass to cool and then take the meat from the bones and add it to the broth.
Freeze, Can, or Use
At this point, you have a beautiful broth filled with vitamins and no additives, such as MSG, autolyzed yeast extract (another name for MSG) or “natural flavorings” (yet another name for MSG). (MSG is an excitotoxin that destroys brain cells among other things.) The only chemicals the broth might contain are those that were in the chicken or turkey when it was purchased, or in the added vegetables. The only way to avoid these chemicals completely is to buy organic products from a reputable source.
To freeze the broth for later use, pour the broth into portion sized airtight containers and freeze.
Canning requires a pressure cooker, jars, rims and lids. Pressure cook according to canning guide directions. When processed this way, the broth can be stored without refrigeration and has a lengthy shelf life.
Making Home Made Soups
Now that you have a beautiful, healthful broth, you can add your favorite vegetables, cooked rice, quinoa, noodles, etc. You can also simply serve this rich, satisfying broth as is, or use it as a base for gravy or other recipes.
Helpful resources for making soup broth can be found in the cookbooks Nourishing Traditions and One Pot Galley Gourmet.
 |
 |
