About Me

My photo
Im 30 yrs old very happy married to a wonderful man (Nathan) i have a 7yr old son (Lochlan) and one on the way! We live in a town called Davistown. Im an aussie that use to live in the states! But have recently returned back to Australia! And im VERY passionate about cooking and my family!

Blog Archive

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

~Home Made Chicken Stock/Broth~

Why buy canned broth anymore when u can make your own stock and broth at home! Benifits of doing this? Besides your house smelling DIVINE! And everyone entering your home wanting to know what that amazing smell is you have simmering in the pot! Its also alot cheaper then buying canned broth from the store! You also will know exactly what goes into your broth/stock! You can put whatever you like into your pot! I dont make plain veggie stock i dont see the point in it :P but thats my opinion! Ive yet to venture into beef broth but one of my best friends had attemped it a couple of times and hasnt been to impressed with her results, me i will stick to yummy chicken stock! Why? cuz i use it in almost everything if i need to add liquid to a dish! I can not say that i have had one batch turn out the same because depending what veggies i have used over the past month or so is what gets tossed into a frezzer bag and saved for stock! But i can tell you that the darker my batch comes out the better it is! I know in these pictures you can see the "fat" on the top of the stock but thats beacuse i have not yet skimmed the top of my broth yet in all of these pictures! I love making my own broth and i cant thank my bestie Angie enough for showing me how! Since shes shown me i have made 5 batches of my own stock! (i know thats alot isnt it?!?!) I skim the top then i freeze the stock in small 2 cup containers and ice cube trays! I have to admit this last batch i made i will be freezing the whole lot in ice cube trays because you have no idea how much of a time save it is just to toss a couple of cubes into a sauce or a casserole dish! Anyway here is a guideline to follow if you like :) But like i said use what you like and i always taste it to make sure it has enough flavor to it but i only taste after its been boiling for a few hours :D



~Guideline For Tasty Stock~




Take a large pot of some sort that will hold your left over chicken bones (skin/carcasses etc)
I usually throw 2 chicken carcasses left over from a roasted chicken, bones and skin throw it in the pot.


now for veggies....
here is what went into my last batch;
onion ends
carrots
fresh parsely from my garden
roasted carrots
roasted butternut squash
summer squash tops and bottoms
zuchini tops and bottoms
butternut squash pulp
over ripe tomatoes
2 onions roughly cut up
throw all your veggies into your pot now added water to cover your veggies anc chicken bones!
Dont fill your pot all the way to the top leave some room for the yummies to boil!
Now you dont have to add anything else to this if you dont want BUT i do!
I add a handful of bayleaves dryed or fresh is doesnt matter!
I add garlic powder to taste and a lil onion powder as well!
Also you dont have to BUT adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider brings out the marow from the chicken bones!
This last time i added 1 teaspoon of seasalt
2 Tablespoon of dried sage
2 Tablespoon of dried oregano
2 Tablespoon of peppercorns (whole)
1 teaspoon of english curry powder
and a pinch of ground fennel powder
Bring your pot to a boil, i usually let mine boil for about hlf an hr then i turn it down to a simmer and stir it everyone once in a while, i boil the pot for about 24hrs then i strain the contents of the pot and taa daa!




P.S i will soon be posting a recipe for some extremely tasty fall chicken and veggie soup i made with some of the stock!

~The Local Farmers Stand~


The local farmers stand is full of all sorts of locally grown goodies! In the summer we found the sweetest corn around our area! Tasty Tomatoes which we were able to pick ourselves! All sorts of peppers, onions, spuds summer squash and much much more! On my way home from work today i stopped at our lil local stand which is now "self serve" currently the stand is stocked with beautiful tasty pumkins and squash! So today i returned home with 6 butternut squash 6 sweet potato squash and 1 acorn squash! How much did i spend? $10! Why did i buy so many u ask? Because one of the great things about butternut squash is they will last over winter stored in a nice cool place! I know this from experience as i kept a few out in my garage last winter! As for the other ones i plan on cooking the acorn squash for dinner! And a couple of the sweet ones as well so keep your eye out to see what i did with them and how they turned out!