Monthly Feature
Lyndi knows what it’s like living without certain foods due to allergies, sensitivities and conscience.

This isn’t your first rodeo. You already know that homemade chicken broth outshines canned or boxed every time.

There is nothing like reaching in and tenderly pulling a chicken out of the oven or opening a crock pot lid and viewing the glistening sparkle of deep, rich, bountiful broth.

Lovely.

Want to take your broth-making to the next level?

Instead of filing a large pot or slow-cooker to the brim and adding a whole fryer chicken, may I suggest leaving out the water?

The other day I was baking chicken for use in recreating Whole Food’s chicken tortilla soup. I purchased cut-up fryer pieces and baked in the oven on low-heat for 2.5 hours.

In went a plethora of seasonings including onions, cilantro, cumin, salsa, and jalapenos. I wanted a subtle imbibing of flavors nestled deep within the muscle of the chicken.

I left out adding water.

The end result yielded an intensely concentrated juice that packed a wow of flavor!

Preparing chicken broth in this manner allows you to customize the flavor. In this case, since I was making Chicken Tortilla Soup, the broth was bursting with subtle salsa undertones. If you are planning to make an Italian soup, change your herbs accordingly by adding oregano, basil, arugula, garlic, okay you’re “feeling it” now, aren’t you?

Another added benefit of this no-water cooking method is that you end up with gorgeous crispy chicken. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Happy Eating!
Lyndi

Editor’s Note: Please check out Lyndi’s popular food blog NWA Foodie!