Saturday, May 17, 2014

Faster Chicken Stock

Although nothing beats the flavor of homemade chicken stock, I don't always have the time (or inclination) to make it. When homemade isn't on hand, I follow this simple procedure, adapted from a cook book by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, to improve the taste of broth purchased at the grocery store. This is easy, it takes little time to do, and dramatically improves the flavor of boxed chicken broth. I urge you to try it!

This recipe makes 12 cups of stock. I divide it into two freezer containers. When I am ready to make soup, I just pull one of the containers out of the freezer and I'm ready to go.

Faster Chicken Stock 

Ingredients

3 medium onions
1 and 1/2 large celery stalk
1 and 1/2 medium carrot
6 garlic cloves
3 whole, canned tomatoes
6 whole cloves
3 bay leaves
1 tsp dried basil
1 and 1/2 cup dry white wine
Three 32-ounce boxes of Swanson Organic chicken

Slice the onions in half. Place the onion halves under the broiler and broil until dark brown. This step adds wonderful color and flavor to the broth.

Coarsely chop the celery and carrot and crush the garlic cloves. Combine these vegetables with the broiled onion and the remainder of the ingredients in large pot. Bring to a simmer, partially cover, cook 30 minutes. Pour through a strainer for beautiful broth.