by Darlene Mokrycki

Created on: January 13, 2009   Last Updated: February 02, 2012

Making a broth is one of the simplest ways to stretch the food budget. Broths are both nutritious and healthy, and can be added to soups, gravies, and stews or braised meats. After the entree is gone and you have sliced the leftovers for sandwiches, don't discard the scraps - not even the ends of vegetables you cut off while preparing your meal. Throw them all into a pot and make broth with them.

Whether your meal was beef, chicken, turkey, pork or simply vegetables, you can use these for a broth base. Place the remains - bones, carcass, scrap meat - including fat and skin, or veggies into a large pot. Use the veggie scraps, onion ends, celery tops or whatever you have left from your dinner for the broth. For beef or poultry broth, simmer bones in water, add a little celery, and onion, and you have the basis of your broth.

Fill the pot a bit more than halfway with water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium low, cover the pot and allow to simmer for an hour. Strain the solids out of the broth, and add salt and pepper to taste. Freeze the broth for future use, labeling the container before you freeze it.

If you are making soup, start with your broth, add your favorite fresh veggies, and any uneaten meat or poultry leftovers. Simmer until veggies are tender, and serve. You can cook noodles, pasta, or rice in this broth, making a quick and simple meal for your family. Using similar technique, you can simmer shrimp or lobster shells in water as a base for shellfish or seafood chowder, shrimp or lobster bisque, or Cajun gumbo.

For seafood chowder, dice a chunk of salt pork or bacon and saute in a Dutch oven with a half cup of chopped onion. Cook over low heat until pork or bacon is crispy but not burned. Add your fish, shrimp or lobster broth and 2-3 peeled, diced potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are nearly done. Add your favorite white fish - cod, haddock, tilapia or other white fish. Simmer until fish is cooked. then add a tablespoon of arrowroot to thicken the broth. Using arrowroot eliminates the floury taste often noticed when thickening with flour. To this mixture, add a half stick of butter (not margarine). When butter is melted, add a pint to a quart (more or less depending on your own preference) of light cream and some fresh tarragon and turn off the heat. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve with crusty French or Italian bread. A splash of white wine is optional and can be added before the fish.

Use broth as a basis for gumbo, or add to beef short ribs or pot roast as the braising liquid. Add to pan drippings for gravy. Reduce with wine for delicious sauces to use on your entrees. Don't throw away any scraps, broth them and make the food budget go surprisingly further. All this at no extra cost to you. Don't buy those cans of broth, make broth in a jiffy, after each large meal you cook. They will be handy in your freezer when you need them and you will save the cost of the prepared cans and storage space as well.

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