HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH

• 1 chicken, about 3 pounds, cut into large pieces
• 4-5 carrots, scrubbed clean and cut in 2" sections
• 4-5 celery stalks, washed and cut into 2" sections
• 1-2 onions, peeled and cut into 8th's
• 1 head of garlic, peeled and cut in half
• 3 quarts of water
• 1 Tbsp. Emeril's creole seasoning
• 1 Tbsp. italian seasoning

Place it all in a soup pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for two hours. Remove the chicken and save it for another recipe. Strain the rest of the soup into another pot. Discard everything but the strained liquid.

At this point, the broth is ready to be used, refrigerated or frozen. But I do it a little differently. Because chicken broth is susceptible to bacteria while it is cooling over long periods, and because it has a strong flavor as it is, I mix in 3 quarts of ice water right away. That way I can cool it quickly, thin out the flavor and it will make twice as much! I then pour it into clean cottage cheese containers (which are 3 cups) and freeze it for future use.

All the recipes I have on my web site use this broth in it's watered down form. Please feel free to use any broth you wish. After all, cooking is fun because you get to invent and create, right?

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