Get the Salt Out (27 page)

170
Condense low-sodium broth to concentrate its flavor.
If simmering poultry parts for 1½ hours produces a broth that’s too bland for your taste buds, try this stronger version.
One Salt Shaker.

Put all the ingredients in a large pot with a lid and add enough cold low-sodium water to cover by 1 inch. Bring slowly to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1½ hours. Remove the poultry parts and vegetables and strain the stock. Return the stock to the pot and cook longer until the stock is reduced by about 25 percent. (This makes the broth richer.) Set the stock aside to cool, then refrigerate overnight or until the fat has solidified on top. Remove the fat and store the stock in the freezer in containers that are the size you use most frequently
Makes about 6 cups.

171
A
tasty addition to stock is defatted poultry or meat drippings.
When you bake a chicken or a roast, simply pour any remaining juices into ajar or covered cup. Chill it until the fat hardens into a solid white layer, then scrape it off. Use this defatted, concentrated juice for extra richness in any salt-free broth.
One Salt Shaker.

172
Keep low-sodium canned broth at home
for those times when you are too busy to make broth from scratch. Brands to look for include Hain’s Healthy Naturals No-Salt-Added Vegetable Broth or Chicken Broth, Shelton’s Low-Sodium Chicken Broth, and Health Valley No-Salt-Added Chicken Broth.
One Salt Shaker.

173
If low-sodium canned broth tastes bland,
jazz it up by simmering it with flavorful herbs and vegetables and reducing it a bit. In the following recipe, Harriet Roth, author of
Deliciously Simple,
puts this helpful tip into action. She also passes along another important suggestion: freeze broth into ice cubes to make low-salt cooking faster and even more convenient.
One Salt Shaker.

Combine all the ingredients in a 1-quart saucepan. Simmer until reduced to 1½ cups. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze. Remove from the tray and seal in plastic bags. (Do not wet the cubes or they will stick together.)
Makes 12 cubes.

174
Don’t use bouillon cubes or bouillon powder.

They’re staggeringly high in salt and sodium and frequently
contain hidden MSG. Avoid even the low-sodium varieties; they contain sodium-based additives and other undesirable chemicals.

175
Instead, to make broth quickly use unsalted stock concentrates.
Perfect Addition is a brand that can be found in the frozen foods section of some health food stores. With wholesome ingredients like fresh vegetables, herbs, and wine, the beef, chicken, fish, and vegetable stocks made by this company are low in sodium but very rich. To make a broth with them, simply combine them with equal amounts of water. What could be simpler?
One Salt Shaker.