Liquid Gold

Chicken broth is amazing. There is something about it. It's like magic. Probably my very favorite thing to make is chicken broth. It is the beginning of many good things seen and unseen.

Broth can be made many different ways and if you are going to get technical there is Stock and then there is broth.

This particular broth-stock I call "Liquid Gold." I have adapted this recipe from SimplyRecipes.com who credit "Cook's Illustrated" and "In Pursuit of Flavor."

Ingredients:
4 lbs of chicken (use a cleaver to hack up pieces into 2 inch bits)
1 large brown or yellow onion
olive oil
2 quarts of boiling water
(optional additon of vinegar or lemon juice)
2 teaspoons of salt
2 bay leaves

Procedure:
1. Hack up those chicken pieces. Cleavers are kind of scary but they can also be empowering
2. Heat up the oil and saute your chopped onion until softened and slightly colored 2-3 minutes, set aside.
3. Add half the chicken pieces to the pot, saute till no pink shows, about 4-5 minutes, set aside.
4. Repeat with the other half of the chicken.
5. Boil 2 quarts of water. (That's 8 cups of water, remember 4 cups to a quart.)
6. Return the sauteed onion and first batch of chicken to the pot, reduce heat, cover and cook 20 minutes to allow the chicken to release its juices.
7. Add the boiling water, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 bay leaves to the chicken. Simmer slowly and scrape up all those yummy bits at the bottom of the pan as you simmer slowly. (Don't break a boil or your stock will get cloudy)
8. Strain, first with a slotted spoon then with cheese cloth. Someday I am going to get one of those chinoises.