What are some great broth recipes?

December 5, 2011 1:36 PM

Hit me with some kickass broth recipes for a family member recovering from bariatric surgery.

My mother-in-law will be on a liquid diet for quite a while and I'd like to make sure she gets some variety and doesn't go insane on canned broth. I hope to find three or four recipes that taste fantastic, but also are pretty different from each other. I'll be freezing portion sizes. Doctor's orders are low fat, low sodium, and dairy-free. I have turkey bones, and can get pretty much anything else.

posted by pajamazon to food & drink (12 answers total)

"Beef Tea" was an old recipe for ill people on a liquid diet. A recipe, and an endorsement, are here.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:39 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I still think avoglemono is the way to go here. Put some skinless, boneless chicken breast in water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until done. Take the chicken out (chop it and add it to your soup, if you like, or use for another application). Crack an egg in a bowl and beat with a whisk till yellow. Add in a little bit of stock and whisk again, then add the egg mixture to the broth. Add lemon juice, and voila!
posted by LN at 1:52 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Can she have vegetable broth ? It is very tasty , full of good stuff .
I would cook different veggies : carrots , onions , parsley root , little bit of mushroom ( mushrooms can be dry ) , and any other vegetable you have and like . You can choose different combinations , and get variety .
posted by Oli D. at 2:06 PM on December 5, 2011

Miso broth might be a good change of pace for her, although I have no preferred recipe. Google has tons of suggestions.
posted by vytae at 2:38 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I really recommend reading Sally Falon's stock/broth section in Nourishing Traditions. I'll give the gist here: start with bones and cold water, add a few tablespoons of vinegar and let it sit for an hour. Then simmer for 3-4 hours. I usually also add bay leaves and rosemary. Then strain out the bones/veggies. The book is worth reading if it's available because she gets into why broth is so good for you and how to really get the most out of your ingredients.
posted by zem at 2:42 PM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

1 very large chicken, skin-on, liver discarded
1 large onion, roots trimmed off but unpeeled, cut in quarters
1 head garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
2 large stalks celery,broken in half
2 large carrots, top trimmed, scrubbed but not peeled, broken in half
2 large bay leaves
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
1 tablespoon ground cumin
6 cloves
10 allspice berries
10 juniper berries
12 black peppercorns
2 whole star anise
a little salt

1. Put all ingredients in a large pot, add water to cover, put on lid and simmer slowly for 1 hour. Remove the lid and simmer for 1 hour more.

2. Cool until you can handle it, put a colander over a large pot, put all the ingredients in the colander and let drain, pressing down to get all the liquid out. Discard the solids.

3. Pour liquid through a strainer into a large plastic container. Refrigerate overnight and take the layer of fat off the top.

4. Put gelled liquid in a large pot, heat to a hard boil and reduce by 1/3. Then pour into individual containers and freeze.

Low fat I can understand, but no sodium is nuts. It has to have salt to be kickass. Likewise, chicken broth must have at least a small amount of fat to be palatable.
posted by KRS at 2:46 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

While researching what to do with trotters today I came across this jellied pork stock recipe. Essentially you make a pork stock using chicken stock instead of water. It looks astoundingly rich. (I'm assuming here that your definition of "anything" includes trotters.)

Dashi is also nice. It's mild on it's own or it can be made used to make miso. Be aware that miso paste is very salty so go easy on it. Here's an Alton Brown dashi recipe. He doesn't mention it, but a less refined dashi called simply "second dashi" can be made by using the strained bonito flakes from the "first dashi" and beginning the process again with a new piece of kombu.

I've also made a kombu based soup where you steep and simmer the kombu and then, instead of adding the bonito flakes, you cook clams in the kombu broth. Finish with a little soy sauce and a little miso. You can have the clams and she can have the broth.

The section on stocks from Deborah Madison's book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone has a lot of great advice, if pigs feet, seaweed, and bivalves are not your thing.

Are pureed soups a possibility or are you limited to broth?
posted by clockwork at 3:08 PM on December 5, 2011

This is a great recipe for pho.
posted by Jode at 3:29 PM on December 5, 2011

Mmm. Good ideas. Mother-in-law, meet miso.

Oli D., no ingredients but dairy are forbidden.
zem, thanks for the book recommendation, it looks great!
KRS, I wouldn't dream of serving her something dreadful! I'm going with low, not no salt and fat.
clockwork, puréed foods are on the menu in a few weeks.
posted by pajamazon at 4:24 PM on December 5, 2011

What about something based on coconut milk? If you either use a light version, or (probably better) mix the full fat version in some proportion with chicken or vegetable broth, you would have something delicious and low-fat. Flavor it with some curry paste, lemongrass, galangal, lime juice, and a bit of fish sauce.
posted by punchtothehead at 6:16 PM on December 5, 2011

In a big soup pot, cover a chicken carcass (roasted for 20m after all the meat is off) or 3-4 thighs etc with water. Add lots of chopped up ginger, a hot pepper or two and two full bunches of cilantro. Cook for 90m or so. I usually cool it overnight and remove the fat, but someone on a broth diet might actually want a few extra calories. Drain and serve. It will need some salt.
posted by lulu68 at 7:28 PM on December 5, 2011

Thanks for all the ideas! I think all of these sound delicious.
posted by pajamazon at 6:40 PM on December 6, 2011