It seems nowadays you can get anything pre-made. Broths and stocks are no exception but, there are so many good reasons to make your own. It is good to know what really went into creating that golden yellow liquid. I like the idea of controlling the fat and sodium content beacuse if you ever reduce canned broth too much the salt will overpower it and you will not be able to eat it. You can also add all organic produce and use the bones from a free range bird. I think it is best to have an almost neutral tasting stock or broth so that it will blend in with whatever food or sauce you intend to use it for. If you desire a stronger flavor than you simply reduce it by half and it will be more concentrated. Also this freezes very well for a few months without loss of flavor. In a lot of old cookbooks you will read chefs tellinging you to bring your stock to a boil for a few minutes every 3 days and it will keep indefinitely. I have never done it more than once and after 6 days it still smelled great. I prefer to take a 2 cup portion out of the freezer and drop it in a saucepan til it melts (about 6 minutes). To me the differences between a broth and a stock are this, The broth is mostly the liquid left from simmering a whole chicken or parts and maybe a vegetable or two. The stock is much more of a flavorful liquid that is made from various bones with little or no meat and a good portion of vegetables, herbs and peppercorns wrapped in cheesecloth and simmered for a good 2 to 3 hours. There are many variations and it is up to you to see what gives you the flavor you most desire. Here is a simple one I made to show you. I started with roughly 4LBS of chicken bones and I rinsed them under cold water after removing most of the fat. I put them in a large pot and filled it with enough water to cover them completely. Bring this to a slow simmer skimming the scum and fat off of the surface. Do not ever let this boil or your stock will be cloudy. When I have skimmed the majority of scum from the surface I will add the vegetables and another 2 cups of water to replace what I removed. The vegetables I used were around 4 cups cut in pieces large enough to handle 2 to 3 hours of simmering without dissolving on you. Here is what I added, 2 medium onions, 1 leek, 2 medium carrots, 2 ribs of celery, 4 green onions whole, 1 fresh bay leaf and a couple sprigs of fresh thyme and parsley stems. You can add a whole lot more than these ingredients like mushrooms or garlic cloves. The classic ratio for a stock is 50% onions and 25% carrots and 25% celery. I like the the flavor I get with more vegetables. Now, I bring this back to a simmer and skim the fat off after it builds up in little blobs on the suface. I let it go until I think it has reduced enough for me and that is 2 to 3 hours as I said. Strain this into a large saucepan if you plan to concentrate the flavor by reducing more. Remember to taste it. If you do not plan to reduce or use this right away then you must cool it down as quickly as possible. Strain it into a large bowl and place it in a sink full of ice. When its cool enough I portion it into 2 cup size freezer containers or you could fill and ice tray up with some and freeze them in a freezer bag when done. You will be very satisfied after you have done this. I hope this helps somebody.

I love the fall. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables to be in abundant supply this time of year. Chickens are also on sale this week and I remember a recipe from Jacques Pepin called “Chicken legs with wine and yams”. I did not see any yams at the store and I had a whole chicken instead of just the legs. So, I did what all cooks should do. I made some modifications. Recipes are only guidlines begging to be altered.  This is what ended up happening. I cut up two small chickens and skinned them. Being a big fan of rustic hearty dishes I added turnips, cabbage and used sweet potatoes.  I put salt and pepper on chicken and began to sear it on all sides, cooking 7 to 10 minutes uncovered.  Add onions for 2 minutes. Add garlic cloves and shallots for one more minute. Finally, add the sweet potatoes, turnips, cabbage and one and a half cups of white wine. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 35 minutes depending on the softness of the vegetables. Halfway through I pulled the chicken from the bottom and placed it on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and eat.