A Tea Journey
Calling all mini pressure cooker (3 1/2 quarts or less) owners. There is finally someone creating pressure cooker recipes just for you. Christina Lane, of Dessert For Two, is pressure cooking’s newest fan and she is creating small batch recipes for her Instapot mini and sharing them with us.
I really like this recipe because it is almost impossible to find a broth without sugar or soy in it. Why? Why? Why? The batch makes enough for one reasonably sized batch of soup.
The last few weeks I have really struggled to have recipes ready for A Solitary Feast. I am struggling, not because I am not cooking, but because I am cooking in my pressure cooker almost exclusively. I am seriously obsessed with that thing. Although I have posted a few pressure cooker recipes on A Solitary Feast, I really don’t want to turn it into a pressure cooking blog. Pressure cooking, no matter how awesome it is, doesn’t really fit the vision I have for this blog. A Solitary Feast is really about good home cooking without processed ingredients and kitchen gadgets. One of the things I have been cooking without my pressure cooker is soup. So for my eighth recipe every beginning cook should know is homemade broth.
I love making broth and freezing it in one cup portions to use in everything I make that requires broth. If you only have time to make one kind of broth make the vegetable broth as it is more neutral in flavor so it can be substituted for chicken broth if necessary.
1 large onion, quartered
4 carrots, cut into chunks
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
1 lb button mushrooms, trimmed but left whole
4 (or more) whole garlic cloves, unpeeled and crushed
1 bunch fresh parsley, stems and leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or a big pinch of dried
1 tsp whole peppercorns
4 bay leaves
¼ cup tomato paste
¼ cup soy sauce
½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Combine everything in a stockpot with 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles steadily but gently. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. If you have the time, let it simmer for an hour, go for it; the flavor will deepen and improve. Yield: more than 2 quarts.
1 3 to 4 pound chicken
1 onion, unpeeled and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
Several sprigs parsley, optional
Salt and fresh black pepper
Cut up the chicken, if you like. Combine all the ingredients in a large pot with 14 cups of water and turn heat to high. Bring to just about a boil, then lower the heat so the mixture just sends out a few bubbles at a time. Cook, skimming any foam that develops, until the chicken is done, 30-60 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken and whether or not it is cut up. Cool slightly then strain, pressing the meats and the solids to extract more juice. Remove the chicken and save for another use. Use stock immediately or refrigerate (skim any hard fat from the surface). Use stock in 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. 12 cups stock
A Cuppa And Conversation 