Carrot and Chicken Broth
Years ago while learning to make chicken and dressing, I came across a Paula Deen recipe that is the basis of this Carrot and Chicken Broth. This broth is very rich, and once made, can be turned into an amazing soup or used as a kicker for any meal.
Beware the color: it’s golden orange from the carrots!
Around the same time, I found a great kitchen hack: freeze broth in ice cube trays then store them in a freezer bag, and when you need a wonderful background flavor for potatoes, rice, or other vegetables, throw in a few cubes from the freezer, and you are good to go.
The key in this recipe is to blend the cooked vegetables. Immersion blenders are relatively inexpensive. I think that we paid $10 for ours at Wally World. And they can change the way that you make sauces and gravies. But if you just have a regular blender on a stand, that should work, too.
Carrot and Chicken Broth
4 – 5 lb. whole chicken
4 – 6 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
4 ribs of celery, cut into chunks
Medium sweet onion, cut into chunks
4 cloves of garlic
Seasoning salt
Pepper
Poultry seasoning, if desired
Remove the gizzard bag from the chicken and discard or save for another use. Put the chicken in a Dutch oven and add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and pepper. Add as much water as possible, up to 2 quarts. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and put the lid on then simmer for 45 minutes. Cut the heat off and let the chicken and vegetables sit for 30 minutes with the lid on.
Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Let it and the broth cool completely.
Once the broth is cooled, blend all of the vegetables with an immersion blender. Be sure and wait until the broth is cool enough as the blending may splash some. Taking your time, work the blender up, down and around and scatter a million bits of the vegetables and flavor into the broth.
Go ahead and add your seasoning, just don’t add too much salt. It is best to salt the broth at the end.
Remove meat from the chicken, putting all bones, skin, and fat, and, ultimately, the whole carcass back into the pot. Use chicken meat for whatever you need, whether you finish the broth and use it for soup or a dressing, or for any other recipe.
Add more water to the pot – around 2 cups or so. We are shooting for 2 quarts of broth, more or less. Bring the broth back to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for another 30 minutes.
Remove all chicken parts. Strain the broth through a wire strainer. Add salt and taste it coming to life!
Let the broth cool and skim off the fat from the top. Use it immediately for any recipe, and freeze any remaining broth in ice cube trays. Once frozen, put the cubes in a freezer and keep there until ready to use!