Chicken broth (Recipe: turkey-escarole soup)

For a few years — I'll admit it now — I was a stock snob.

Only homemade chicken stock would make the cut in my kitchen. No bouillion cubes, no cans, no boxes, no (gasp!) dehydrated powders. I made stock from raw chickens and roasted chickens. My freezer harbored baggies of necks and wing tips, and the occasional smashed carcass.

I felt virtuous.

And then, of course, the day came when I desperately wanted homemade soup, but had no homemade stock. Off I went to our village grocery store, where I read the labels on all of the cans and boxes of chicken broth. I purchased a few different ones, including organic, and did a little taste test. And I discovered Swanson's 99% Fat Free, which is lower in sodium and higher in taste than any of the packaged chicken broths I tried. (By the way, the packaged organic broth all tasted like dish water.)

I'm using the terms stock and broth interchangeably, though technically they might be different. In my unscientific way, I distinguish stock and broth by their intended use in my cooking. Both are liquids in which chicken and vegetables have been cooked. Stock will go on to form the basis of more complex dishes; I call it broth when I reduce the stock by one third, to a greater strength of flavor. Stock and broth often are made with chicken feet, necks or bones, which have a higher gelatin content that enriches the stock. More often, I make stock with the carcass of a roasted chicken, tossed in a pot with an onion, celery, carrot, a few black peppercorns and a bay leaf.

Now, like many cooks, I stock up on Swanson's 99% Fat Free in boxes and homemade stock in the freezer. Sometimes I combine them in my favorite soup recipes. My only caution: if using canned or packaged stock/broth, do not add any salt to your recipe before you taste. Some packaged stocks, even those marked low-sodium, are incredibly salty, and will provide all the salt you need for your recipe.

Chicken broth in a box will never be as virtuous as homemade broth, but you can't beat the convenience.

TURKEY-ESCAROLE SOUP
This recipe first appeared earlier last winter in my e-newsletter, and judging by the number of people who've written to tell me they've tried it, this is a great soup. It started, as many great soups do, as a refrigerator clean-out. Don't forget the parm rind; it makes all the difference. Serves 6-8.

1-1/2 lb ground turkey
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 tsp dried thyme leaf
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 large head escarole, washed, roughly chopped
6 oz ground or chopped canned tomato, or fresh tomato
4 cups chicken stock (low-sodium storebought, or homemade)
1 cup water, if needed to cover
1/4 cup small pasta (orzo, pilaf noodles, spaghetti broken into small pieces, etc.)
Rind of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (the secret ingredient) -- any size you have

In a stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, and sauté ground turkey until no longer pink. Add onion, zucchini and mushrooms, and sauté until onions are translucent. Stir in pepper flakes, oregano and black pepper. Add escarole, and stir to combine. When the escarole is just slightly wilted, add tomato and stock, water if needed, pasta, and the cheese rind. After the escarole has cooked down, add a cup or two of water, if the soup seems too thick. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. If you used homemade chicken stock, you may wish to add salt and more pepper, to taste.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

Comments

[Tana]

I would DEFINITELY not use a non-organic chicken stock. The meat's just not clean, and the birds are brought up in the most atrocious environments.

Trader Joe's has a good organic chicken stock that's only $2/carton. That's what I use.

: D

[Lydia]

Tana, my first choice would always be homemade stock from happy chickens, and I try to keep some in my freezer along with the storebought stock. Since you recommend it, I'll pick up some of the TJ's organic next time I'm there and I'll try it. The closest Trader Joe's, alas, is more than an hour from my house -- which raises that whole other question of the gas we spend to get our food......

By the way, I love your blog!