When in doubt, cook

I’ve been a little unsteady and uncertain lately. Too many uns, really. Oddly, I’m finding that the only time that I feel at all centered and secure and at relative peace is when I’m in the kitchen, preparing food.

So let’s make some chicken broth.

I usually buy three or four cans of low-sodium chicken broth per week. It’s not terribly expensive, but I’ve been thinking that homemade broth might be more my style, insofar as I actually have a style. The biggest hurdle in this was figuring out the difference between chicken broth and stock, terms I’ve used more or less interchangeably. This is an error, according to my occasional partner in the kitchen, the M5 Multitronic Unit.

Chicken broth is usually made with chicken meat and chicken parts, operator, with a high flesh to bone ratio. Whole chicken or assorted parts can be used. Chicken stock is mainly composed of chicken parts with relatively low flesh to bone ratio such as backs, necks and breast bones.

Even with that clarification in mind, my parameters in cooking were largely predetermined by what I actually had on hand. My ‘raw’ material:

A fair amount of flesh on those chicken remnants, so…broth, yes? But my preferred approach to cooking it up came to me via Elise and her ‘How to Make Chicken Stock’ post at Simply Recipes. I was method-agnostic that day and figured that any approach would yield usable broth…stock…whatever. So we went with Elise’s Method 1. You’ve seen the chicken carcass; these are the veggies:

Parsley, onions, celery, carrots. Just a little kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper. All into a pot of water brought to boil and then left to simmer for four hours. The resultant aroma was extremely pleasant and comforting. After cooking had been completed, I strained out the solids.

Pretty, eh? After the pot had cooled sufficiently, I set it into the refrigerator until the next day, then easily skimmed away the fat that had congealed on top of the liquid. I was left with the best-tasting broth (or stock, whatever) I’d ever had. Much less salty than even the low-sodium stuff I’d been using, but so rich and flavorful. I divvied up the broth between containers – some for the refrigerator, others for the freezer and future use.

Those jars are all empty now; I’ve already thawed one of the containers from the freezer. Very happy with this venture.

Also in the comfort food department: I prepared a cut of beef brisket for the first time, relying on the ‘Red-Wine-Braised Brisket with Cremini, Carrots, and Thyme’ recipe from the latest issue of Fine Cooking. Apart from the tears and irritation that resulted from dicing six onions (I really have to toughen up, or else get a pair of sealed goggles such as I used to own), the experience was satisfying. As was the brisket itself.

High marks from the resident humans.

And…damn. I wish I was in the kitchen right now.