Thursday, October 30, 2008

Take Stock

In my quest for healthier, preservative free food, I have decided to throw away my soup mix powders and make my own soup stock. After reading a couple of recipes, one of which is at Fabulous Foods.com, it seems easier than I thought. The recipe I'll be using, though, is from Annabel Karmel as it is more child friendly. It is as follows:

Chicken Stock
MAKES APPROX 2 ¼ LITRES

Stock cubes are unsuitable for babies under a year as they are high in salt, so I make my own chicken stock and use it as a base for chicken and vegetable purées. It keeps in the fridge for 3 days. For babies over one year you can add 3 chicken stock cubes for a stronger flavor. Instead of a boiler chicken, you could use the carcass from a roast chicken.

1 large boiler chicken, plus giblets
2 large onions
2 ¼ litres water
1 celery stalk
2 parsnips
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
3 large carrots
1 sachet bouquet garni
2 leeks

Cut the chicken into eight pieces, trimming excess fat. Trim, peel, wash and chop the vegetables as necessary. Put the chicken pieces into the large saucepan together with the giblets. Cover with the water, bring to the boil, and skim the froth from the top. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 3 hours. It is best to remove the chicken breasts after about 1 ½ hours if you are going to eat them; otherwise they will become too dry.
Leave the soup in the fridge overnight and remove any congealed fat from the top in the morning. Strain out all the chicken and vegetables to make the chicken stock. You can puree some of the chicken breast in a mouli, together with a selection of the vegetables and some stock to make a chicken and vegetable puree. This also makes a wonderful clear chicken soup (with added stock cubes and seasoning) for older babies and you can add some thin noodles.


Bon Appetit!

0 thoughts for today: