Waste Not, Want Not: Making a Beautiful Chicken Broth

Look at what I just made...from GARBAGE!! I hate to waste food, which is why soups and broths are pretty much my favourite thing to cook. I never throw away a chicken carcass, especially one from a deliciously flavoured roasted chicken. Mmmmmm. I made up this bone broth last night after I carved our chicken chicken dinner. I quite literally threw the carcass (garbage) into my slowcooker with the drippings from the meat...I was in a rush, I had no time for gravy. Rush or not, I had time for a chicken broth. 

To the slow cooker, I added this bag of garbage...

I kid you not, garbage. I keep all of my veggie ends in a bag in the fridge. If you look closely you'll see, lots of carrot shrapnel, zucchini ends, bits of mushroom, broccoli, tomato stems and partial onions. I make soup a few times a week, so I've never worried about these vegetable bits going bad, I simply throw them back into the fridge instead of into the garbage. There is still so much nutrition in these veggies, they can't help it if they didn't make the dinner cut! They sure can be showcased in a delicious broth. 

After all of my garbage is loaded into my slow cooker, I top it up with water, I add garlic, ginger, a couple of seaweed sheets, about two table spooons of apple cider vinegar and an onion.   I can never resist a few bay leaves, a bit of sea salt and some delicious tarragon or some herbs de provence. I turn the slow cooker onto low and leave it happily cooking all night. When we awake, the house smells heavenly. I leave it cooking for the rest of the day or turn it warm. As I prepare dinner that evening, I strain off the broth. 

 

Now those veggies are actually garbage. If I'm making a soup right away, I'll pick some of the meat off of the carcass. If not, I toss it, most of the flavour has been absorbed into the broth. Tonight I'm tossing it! I'm on a cleanse, no chicken soup for me!!  My beautiful broth is going to cool at room temperature and find its way into the freezer. I'll use it later in recipes, soup, rice dishes, you name it! 

Can we just admire the colour of this beautiful broth? 

 

Thanks for reading!!  If you have any questions or you just liked this Big Idea, please feel free to comment below!!