A Simple Stock

Last Saturday I was trying to figure out my Wordle puzzle. I had one letter left of ROTH and Zeke said B for Broth, a good guess. I tried it and it was wrong. For the first time since I’ve started playing Wordle, I didn’t solve the puzzle and it gave me the correct answer, which was FROTH. I have a couple friends that I share my Wordle score with and I told my friend Katy: “I like broth better than froth.”

My friend’s Wordle. I didn’t get it!

As revenge on my Wordle, I decided to make broth. What else was there to do on a rainy, depressing Saturday? I had most of the ingredients, but asked Zeke to pick me up two pounds of chicken wings on his way home and I started my broth. This recipe is from the cookbook Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman.

While the title is self-explanatory, the cookbook takes one basic recipe and then adds to it, in increasing levels of complexity and taste. The first recipe in the cookbook is for One-hour Chicken Stock and it’s a good and easy one. It’s so good and easy in fact, that I haven’t tried the other three versions and haven’t really gotten past this one recipe, on page 3 of the cookbook. I want to though!

For now, here is this recipe.

I let the Stock sit in the fridge overnight, skimmed the fat off the top and stripped some of the chicken meat off the wings and added it back in. I also added back some of the carrots and boiled some angel hair pasta in it, to make a Chicken Noodle Soup. While I almost always use a bouillon cube to any soup to amp up the flavor, I find this recipe doesn’t need it. Just a little salt and some bread or crackers on the side and you’re good to go. As a bonus, it makes your house smell wonderful as it simmers; which is just what you need on a dark and rainy Saturday afternoon.

A Simple Stock

Recipe by Jean-George Vongerichten u0026 Mark BittmanCourse: SoupDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

5

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 large onion

  • 4 cloves

  • 2 pounds Chicken Wings, cut into 3 or 4 pieces each

  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped

  • 1/2 stalk celery, chopped

  • 1/2 leek, trimmed, well washed and chopped

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 10 peppercorns

  • 3 sprigs thyme

Directions

  • Stud the onion with the cloves and combine all the ingredients with 6 cups water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so that the mixture bubbles steadily but not rapidly. Cook, skimming any foam that accumulates, for about 1 hour.
  • Cool slightly, then strain. Refrigerate (you can skim off the fat after the stock cools completely) and use within 3 days.

Notes

  • If you don’t have a leek, you can substitute green onions.
  • You can substitute 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, if you don’t have fresh.

Sipping once, sipping twice, sipping chicken soup with rice.

Maurice Sendak

Published by gleeguilford

Born and raised in Miami, the daughter of a pilot and stay-at-home Mom, I love food in all forms. My great grandfather opened the first Italian restaurant in Miami in the 20's, The Boathouse on the Miami river. I love exploring my heritage and linking food and recipes to personal stories. I've been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Food and Love and wrote restaurant reviews and news as the Miami Dining Examiner for three years. I love exploring Miami's latest hot spots, hole in the walls and institutions. I'm always looking for innovative ways to use the plethora of tropical fruits and vegetables South Florida offers, especially from my own garden.

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