Making bonebroth at home
and a French comfort food recipe using leftover chicken.
Christmas time was festive at the house. I was really feeling the spirit and writing up about the “French cocktail hour”… Then, and our family got sick. It seems the rest of the world followed… So I thought wiser to write up this PSA post instead… (Cocktail hour coming soon…Once you are all healed up!) Today, I’d like to share how I make a yummy and healing bone broth. Keeping nutrient dense broth handy at all times during the winter will help your family stay healthy or recover faster.
Roast chicken tips;
Chicken is the glue to our family’s menu! I usually roast 2 each week and often use the leftover meat in a recipe from home called “vol-au-vent” (Fly to the wind).
I like to season the inside of the chickens with herbs like thyme and bay leaves… As well as quartered tomatoes or onions pricked with a clove. My secret to a more homogenous and tasty sauce is to add a few shallots halves in the roasting pan.
Prepping your bone broth;
After the meal was served and the chicken carcass has cooled a bit, be sure to remove all the meat from the bones. You will need to dig with your fingers and inspect the carcass all around. The bones go in a large pot and are set aside. Keep your leftover chicken in the fridge for now.
Heat a dry frying pan and place a halved onion face down until it burns a bit. you can then add the onion to the large pot, pricking one of them with a clove. Now is the time to add all the yummy veggies from your fridge that need to go. Carrots, leek, celery give so much taste and nutrients! Add salt and pepper as well as a small bunch if various fresh herbs. Cover everything with water, bring to a light boil and simmer for 6 to 12 hours. The longer, the more nutritious!
Drain and let cool. You will know you have a nutritious broth if it is gelatinous!
Vol-au-vent;
You will need; broth, butter, flour, mushroom, (bacon), lemon and nutmeg.
The first step will be to make a bechamel sauce. You will need to melt a generous tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan and add the same amount of flour. Mix vigorously as the mixture starts to cook a bit and add the hot bone broth one ladle at a time. You will want to reach a thick but pourable consistency. I usually stop adding broth once it stops thickening…
Peel and slice a small box of fresh mushrooms and cook in olive oil in a separate frying pan. I sometimes like to add piece of bacon so if that sounds good to you. I would fry the bacon in the pan before the mushrooms.
Add everything to the sauce as well as the cut up leftover chicken, some nutmeg, salt, pepper and the squeeze of a lemon. Add some fresh parsley before serving. Et voila! I like to serve the vol-au-vent in puff pastry cups like these and over rice. I hope you enjoy!
We don’t raise the chickens we eat but we do have 8 beautiful layers that have been working hard through our cold Hudson Valley winters. They lay for about 4 years only but I love tending to them! Besides giving me a good reason to get outside early each morning, it’s a pleasure to visit with them. I like to catch an egg being laid or see which scraps they fight over... Our ladies lay just under 1 egg per day, which is great for this time of the year!
Soon I will share some delicious recipes I make to use up older eggs. Did you know that an unwashed eggs stays fresh longer out of the fridge than a washed egg IN the fridge??? Eggs are laid with a protective coating, allowing you to leave them at room temperature (handy for recipes!) anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months!
Thank you for reading me this week! Next time I will share tips on the best way to decorate a simply sophisticated home. See you soon!