Your Best Shortcut to Being a Real Gourmet Cook of Real Food, Right Now: Turning Trash into Treasure

Dec 7, 2008 by Anna Migeon

The easiest and most direct way I know of to raise the level of my cooking a notch is to make broth. I give myself points on a several different levels when I throw bones into a pan and produce my own homemade broth.

1. Making stock is easy and quick. Got a turkey or chicken carcass? With no more than water and some bones that you were going to throw away, you can create the wholesome, homemade base for your next delicious dish. I collect bones in the freezer and get them out when I have enough to turn on the stove for or I’m in the mood.

If you really want to get ambitious, peel a carrot and an onion and throw them in, too, with maybe a few leafy stalks of celery. Salt and pepper are good. The more bones and other stuff you put in, the better it gets. Bay leaves or parsley are nice additions. A few tablespoons of an acid like wine or vinegar not only extracts the calcium from the bones and into your broth but also adds to the flavor.

Just put it all in water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for an hour or two or more. Let it cool and it’s ready to freeze. I put mine in 32-ounce plastic yogurt containers.

2. Making stock is thrifty and smart. You can feel great about making this quick, mistake-proof recipe that gets the maximum value out of your food purchase. Turkey leftovers are great, but making broth takes it one big step further. Factory-made broth in cartons and cans are expensive. For basically no expense, you will have usable Real Food, ready in the freezer whenever you need it.

I think of it like recycling or reusing. It’s efficient, it’s environmentally friendly. Like composting, I’m taking trash and turning it into treasure.

3. It’s better for you. Without the artificial flavorings and additives that contrive to make store-bought broth taste like the real thing, homemade broth is the real thing. You know what’s in it. It’s Real Food—stuff your body can actually use.

4. It tastes better. Real homemade broth adds tasty authenticity to a recipe. It looks real, tastes real, smells real.

5. It’s impressive. It’s From Scratch. It sounds like something only serious and superior cooks would make. You can mention it casually in passing, “While I was making broth the other day. . .”

I think everybody wants to be a good cook, down deep. I take as many shortcuts as I can to get there.

When I’m making broth, I am creating a delicious, nutritious, real food. I am equal to any cook.