Savory Chicken And Broth Recipes

SAVORY CHICKEN AND BROTH

Steps:

• Remove skin and fat from the chicken thighs.
• Place on the bottom of a slow cooker/crock pot.
• Sprinkle the salt, pepper, thyme leaves, celery seeds and poultry seasoning over the chicken pieces.
• Mix together until chicken pieces are coated with the seasonings.
• Pour in the canned chicken broth and beer and stir well.
• Cook on high for 3 or 4 hours or until chicken is tender and falling off the bones.
• Allow to cool before deboning the thighs and store in a container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Pour the broth into a glass jar and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

SAVORY CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Season with ground black pepper to taste. Top each breast with a slice of cheese.
• Mix together the soup and milk and pour mixture over chicken. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and drizzle with melted butter/margarine. Bake covered in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown.

CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is "smiling": barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
• Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
• When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
• Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
• Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
• Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.

SAVORY CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS # 2 - CASSIES

Steps:

• 1. In a large stock pot; cover chicken with water to half way full. (I used my 12 quart stock pot.) So, with the addition of the chicken, the water came to the half way mark. Add the thyme, sage, bay leaves and vegetables, butter and bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to medium high, and simmer till chicken is cooked; about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• 2. Remove chicken and bay leaves from the broth; set aside to cool. Meanwhile, add more water to the broth if needed to maintain 6 quarts worth of liquid. Now; add the bouillon paste, stirring to dissolve.Taste and add more seasonings if needed. Keep broth hot on low and begin to make your dumplings.
• 3. Dumplings: I used my food processor. If using a processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt...pulse a few times. now add the butter; pulse 5 - 6 times, then add the milk...pulse till forms a ball.
• 4. No processor method: In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork or pastry blender. Stir in the milk, mixing with a fork until the dough forms a ball.
• 5. Heavily flour a work surface. ( I cut dough into fourths.) Roll the dough out thin with a heavily floured rolling pin. Dip your cutter in flour and cut the dumplings in squares about 2 x 2 . It's okay for them not to be exact. Some will be bigger, some smaller...
• 6. Use a floured spatula to put them on a heavily floured plate. Just keep flouring between the layers of dumplings.
• 7. To cook them, bring the broth to a boil. Drop the dumplings in one at a time, stirring while you add them. The extra flour on them will help thicken the broth. Cook them for about 15-20 minutes or until they are not doughy tasting.
• 8. While dumplings are cooking; de-bone the chicken. Chop or I used my fingers to pull the chicken apart, into bite sizes chunks, or whatever you prefer.
• 9. Add the cooked chicken to the pot and you're ready to serve. The chicken and dumplings thicken up as they cool...to reheat, just add a little water. I served mine with corn bread and pinto beans.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in a soup kettle or Dutch oven. Slowly bring to a boil; reduce heat until mixture is just at a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 hours, skimming foam as necessary. , Set chicken aside until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones. Discard bones; save meat for another use. Strain broth, discarding vegetables and seasonings. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Skim fat from surface.