Chicken Broth

Buying gluten-free chicken broth is a real pain. Forget about the old days of using bouillon cubes. Finding a gluten-free canned broth is rare or impossible and buying boxes of broth is expensive and you can easily end up throwing it out if you don't use it within a few days, that is why I started making my own chicken broth. Once I make it I freeze it in ice cube trays (perfect one ounce containers) and keep the cubes in an air-tight container in the freezer to use whenever I need them for soups and sauces or stir-fry. I also use this broth often to give flavor to rice.

These days since the price of chicken breast is so high I just buy whole chickens. I cut-up the chicken, set aside the leg quarters, wings and breasts and use all of the rest (except the excess fat) for the broth. Often I'll include one of the breasts in order to use it for chicken salad (my wife's favorite). I like to make the broth and let it cook while I'm working in the kitchen on other things since it doesn't require much attention. Here's my recipe:

Chicken Broth:

yields about 4 cups broth

Cut pieces of uncooked chicken, including neck, bones, etc...
2 cloves of garlic- smashed
1/2 onion- cut in large pieces
1 carrot- peeled, cut in large pieces
1 stalk of celery, including leaves-cut in large pieces
1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
@1 Tsp salt
1 large bay leaf

Several sprigs of fresh parsley or other fresh herbs (optional)

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• Fill a medium sauce pan around three-quarters full of filtered water
• Add all of the ingredients and bring to a boil
• Once it boils reduce it to simmer and let it cook for 1 hour uncovered
• Occasionally remove the foam that forms on the surface with a slotted spoon.
• Once done remove from heat, put a top on and let it cool and place
it in the refrigerator to cool.
• Later, discard the layer of fat that forms on the surface, strain and it's
ready to use, or freeze for later