Remember President Hoover’s famous slogan, “A chicken in every pot?” 

In the midst of these dark winter days, miserable flu season and the even darker times of a sluggish economy, a chicken in your pot and the healthful, delicious broth it creates is one of the brightest foods you can make. 

All you really need is a chicken or its carcass, and water.

Hundreds of recipes call for chicken broth or stock. Only the ratio of bones and meat used differentiates them. I can’t think of a single vegetable or grain I cook that isn’t infinitely more flavorful and nutritious with some added chicken stock. There’s no need to buy store-bought, which is far more expensive and unhealthy. 

Unfortunately, homemade broth has been replaced with bouillon, which is perhaps the worst item on the market, as it is full of sodium and MSG. Some pre-made liquid broths also have added MSG and “natural flavorings” which are a negative for me. They are not cooked in the traditional way to gently extract the minerals, collagen and gelatin from real bones and have very little nutritional value. 

Plus, soup cans, as well as other food cans, are lined with an estrogen-like chemical called bisphenol (BPA) to help prevent rust. But this chemical doesn’t just sit there in the can lining. It breaks free and leaches out into the soup. That means you’re getting a secret burst of hormones with every spoonful. Mmm? Yuck!

START SIMPLE

Use a whole chicken or parts, such as backs, necks, wings and especially feet. Yes, the feet are an extremely nutritious source of collagen! Every meat purchase does at least double duty if you buy it bone-in. Meat closest to the bone is more flavorful, and bones make excellent soups and stocks.

Really basic: Put chicken and a splash of vinegar (to help extract minerals from the bones) in a large pot and cover with water. Cook on the stove top at a low simmer, or uncovered in the oven at 170-180 degrees for 6 to 24 hours. Especially with factory-farmed chickens, you may want to quickly boil first to release scum that you will skim off. 

Stock 1.0: Add a large onion, chopped, at the beginning.

Stock 2.0: Add vegetables. If you plan to toss mushy vegetables away or blend them as a base for soup and gravy thickeners, add two carrots, peeled and chopped, and three celery ribs, chopped, at the start. If you plan to include them in a bowl of chicken soup or casserole later, add during the last hour. 

Stock 3.0: If you like additional layers of flavor, at the start, add peppercorns for spiciness, garlic for added sweetness, two bay leaves for savory depth and parsley and/or thyme at the very end for floral, herbal notes.

Store broth in your refrigerator for several days, or save space by freezing it in an ice cube tray. Each cube would nicely flavor a couple of servings of cooked vegetables, provide a steaming cup of drinking broth, or provide a rich base for rice, quinoa, couscous, wild rice or other grain.