With hens, ducks, and geese in the courtyard, my grandmother never worried about making a particular kind of broth. When she needed broth for a soup or a sauce, she might dispatch a skinny old rooster or an old fowl whose useful days were done. If she had a pile of bones and trimmings saved from a big meal with several roasts—chicken, ducks, or a goose—she’d make broth. If the bones were from different kinds of birds, it made no difference: they would go into the pot together. That’s the way I encourage you to think about making broth with this recipe (or even without a recipe). You may not have a skinny old rooster running around, but you can certainly search the supermarket meat case for packages of bony poultry parts, such as drumsticks, wings, and backs, or ask the butcher for backs and ribs. Gizzards are good, too. And you should save and freeze the neck and gizzards that you’ll usually find in a package tucked into a roasting chicken (they’ll all be good in your broth except for the liver). Also, use trimmings and the remnants of your holiday roast. If there’s not enough of one kind of poultry, buy two kinds and cook them together. If you should come across a nice beef or veal bone that you’ve frozen and forgotten, could you use it? Though my recipe does not call for it, here’s what my grandmother would tell you: “So the broth has stronger flavor? That’s good. Throw it in.”

　　

Ingredients

makes 5 quarts

　　3 pounds chicken, turkey, or other poultry parts (see above suggestions), fat removed

　　2 medium-large onions (1 pound)

　　4 large carrots, peeled and cut in 2-inch chunks

　　4 big celery stalks with leaves, peeled and cut in 4-inch chunks

　　6 garlic cloves, peeled

　　3 or 4 plum tomatoes (about 3/4 pound), fresh or canned

　　A handful of fresh Italian parsley, about a dozen long stems with lots of leaves, left whole

　　2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

　　1 tablespoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt

　　6 quarts water

　　

Recommended Equipment

An 8- or (preferably) 10-quart stockpot with a cover

　　

Step 1

Wash the poultry pieces, and put them in the stockpot. Peel and cut the onions in half. Place them, cut sides down, directly over an open flame, resting on a stove burner grate. Cook until the surface is well browned, about 3 minutes, shifting them with tongs so they’re evenly seared. Drop them in the pot with all the other vegetables and seasonings and pour in 6 quarts of water.

　　

Step 2

Cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil over high heat, then cook uncovered for 15 minutes or so, skimming off any foam or residue that rises to the top. Set the cover ajar, and adjust heat to keep the broth boiling gently and reducing slowly.

　　

Step 3

Cook for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, and taste for flavor and consistency. If it has a good brothy taste, stop cooking, or, if you want a stronger flavor, continue boiling, uncovered.

　　

Step 4

Turn off the heat, and lift the cooked poultry and vegetables from the broth with a spider or a slotted spatula, into a colander set in a big bowl. Press down to squeeze out all the broth. Strain the broth through a wire-mesh sieve to remove any small bits, then skim the fat off the surface. Or chill overnight, and then remove the layer of solidified fat. Pour into containers, seal, and refrigerate or freeze until needed.

　　From Lidia's Italy by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. Copyright (c) 2007 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. Published by Knopf.Lidia Bastianich hosts the hugely popular PBS show, "Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen" and owns restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Also the author of Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, she lives in Douglaston, New York.