Feel Better Broth (AKA Cold Potion #9)

Cold and flu season has officially arrived in my neighborhood. This warming broth will make everything better. You don’t even have to peel or finely chop the veggies, just drop them in. You don’t even have to measure.

If you want you can add the chicken back into the broth along with some noodles for a hearty soup. You could also lightly beat an egg and whisk it into a mug full of the hot broth for a hit of protein, but I’m a big fan of sipping on a mug of plain old broth when I’m ill.

Ingredients:

64 ounces good chicken broth

5 cups water

2 pounds bone-in chicken

2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole

1 big onion, quartered

2 stalks of celery, cut into big chunks

2 chubby carrots, chopped into big pieces

1 big chunk of fresh ginger (oh, about an inch long), cut into 2 or 3 pieces

2 thin dried red chili peppers (I’m using Japones, which are a 7 on a 1-10 heat scale, but use what you like)

6 whole black peppercorns

1 teaspoon kosher salt (more or less to taste)

1 cluster of fresh parsley, tied with kitchen twine

Directions:

Pour the broth and water into a big stock pot. Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 2 hours. Stir occasionally and skim off any foam that forms on top.

Remove the chicken to a plate and let cool. Take the meat off the bones (discarding bones and skin) and save for another use. Pour the broth through a strainer and discard the solids. Serve the broth hot.