Wynette Richards

Turkey Broth or Chicken Broth

Simple Recipe

This recipe is SUPER easy if you leave out all the ingredients marked optional. And they truly are optional. The broth is very good made with only the chicken bones and skin. That's how we usually make it.

Ingredients:

Bones and skin and drippings you've saved from a roast chicken or turkey that you've cooked yourself or bought at a deli. (Here we assume you've already processed the chicken, removing the meat from the bones to use in stews, sandwiches, etc..)
Optional: an onion cut into 4 big chunks
Optional: 2 or more carrots cut into big chunks
Optional: 2 or more celery sticks cut into big chunks, including leaves
Optional: a bay leaf
Optional: a few peppercorns
Cold water

Steps:

Put skin and bones into a large pot.
If you wish, add onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns.
Cover with cold water.
Simmer for 3 to 9 hours. Add more water as needed.
Strain the liquid (while it's still warm) and save it to use as broth.

Storage and Use:

After the broth has cooled, store in refrigerator. If you are in a hurry for it to cool down, add some ice cubes. The broth is concentrated and you may want to dilute it with water when you use it anyway.
Remove any fat that congeals on the top.
Use within a week or so in your favorite soup recipe or roasted vegetable stew or green chile stew or lentil soup or Thai soup or black eyed pea stew or chile.

Slightly More Complicated Recipe

Or if you want to spend more time and make a slightly richer broth ... We learned to make this broth via this good New York Times recipe for turkey gravy. We've made this with turkey legs and found the turkey meat tasted fine even after boiling 6 hours. We used it (along with the broth) to make turkey chile.

Ingredients:

4 T. butter, melted
6 pounds of dark turkey or chicken (legs, thighs, backs, necks)
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
3 large carrots, cut into large chunks
3 stalks celery, with leaves, cut into large chunks
2 bay leaves
12 peppercorns

Steps:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Put turkey or chicken in roasting pan; salt, pepper, brush with the melted butter.
Roast 1-1/2 to 2 hours, depending on size of meat pieces. (Watch closely, don't let them burn, but be sure they are cooked thoroughly.)
Put the cooked meat, skin, bones and all, into large pot. Add vegetables. Add water to cover everything in the pot. Start it simmering.
While the above is simmering, deglaze the roasting pan with 1 cup water. Cool and remove fat, put rest into stockpot. (The New York Times gravy recipe gives details about how to deglaze.)
Simmer the broth for 6 hours.
Strain (while it's still warm) and refrigerate the liquid (after it cools off). (As mentioned above, save the turkey meat and use in stews, etc.)
Remove any fat that congeals on the top.
Use as needed in recipes that call for broth. Freeze what you won't use soon.

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