I make my broths using whatever is leftover from trimming vegetables and bones from whatever protein I've cooked and taken the meat off the bones. I'll usually put all those trimmings in a bag or container and put them in the freezer until I need to make broth. This particular recipe has a few accouterments added to make it an aesthetically-pleasing first course dish.
Here's what you'll need:
For the broth:
2 quarts water
1-2 pounds chicken bones or other bones
2 carrots, cut in half
2 celery stalks or just the leaves of a celery bunch, cut into 3-inch pieces
1 onion, peeled and quartered
4 mushrooms, or about 1 cup of mushroom stems (any mushrooms will do)
1 bunch cilantro stems
any other vegetable trimmings you like or have on hand
2 bay leaves
8-10 peppercorns
For the garnish:
1 bunch fresh watercress, just a few leaves
1 oyster mushroom, large julienne
1 cup edamame (frozen is okay)
1 kumquat, sliced thin
Here's what you'll do:
- Bring to a boil the water in a large pot with all ingredients for the broth.
- Then turn heat to low and let simmer for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours (if using a slow cooker, you can leave it on low overnight)
- Once the house smells delicious, strain out all the solids and discard.
- For serving: in a medium pot, add your broth and bring it to a simmer.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls, add the edamame, watercress and top with a few slices of kumquat.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
