Broth and Stock from the Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther

I make a lot of homemade soups during the winter months. I also have been interested in making more healthy broths for drinking. Broth and Stock by Jennifer McGruther of the Nourished Kitchen website sounded like the best of both of those interests.

Broth and Stock starts out with some interesting history on the making of broth in the introduction and first chapter, "the broth maker's kitchen." Both sections were worth taking the time to read before jumping in to make the recipes. I learned several new historical tidbits and helpful tips.  McGruther explains the difference between broth, stock and bone broth in case you weren't sure what the difference was. McGruther furthers offers advice on selecting the type of bones and other ingredients you want for your stocks/broths and where to purchase them. The first chapter also offer good advice on the type of equipment needed to cook with and how to best store your homemade broth. I found a lot of good information here, especially for a beginner cook. While I knew a lot of the equipment information, I thought it would be helpful to some people. One thing I did not know was that I could dehydrate my own stock powder for future use and found that how-to information to be especially helpful to me.

McGruther follows that chapter offering general information with chapters on making master broths and stocks, poultry, meat (beef and pork), fish and vegetables. Along with making the delicious broth recipes that McGruther shares in Broth and Stock, she also includes several other recipes using the broths/stocks: Irish vegetable soup, New England Clam Chowder, Turkey soup with root vegetables and wild rice, quick pho, black bean soup and salisbury steak with mushroom sauce. I have several recipes in mind that I want to try. I can see me using this cookbook a lot next fall/winter.

I thought the recipes in Broth and Stock looked easy to follow. McGruther shares that one needs patience to make good stock as it does take time. While I know that is true, it certainly doesn't look hard to follow the recipes she includes. I would like to have my own broth on hand rather than buying store bought broth as a base for my homemade soups. Even being self-taught in making broths on my own, I know those tasted better to my family than much of what we have bought in the store. I believe this book will help my soups taste even better. I also liked that there were good photographs to go along with the recipes. I would recommend Broth and Stock to anyone looking to make their own broths, stocks and soups. It could even be a nice wedding gift  for those you know who like to cook, along with a few of the kitchen items needed to make homemade broth and stock.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

About the Author

Jennifer McGruther is a food educator, the creator of the award-winning traditional foods website, Nourished Kitchen (www.nourishedkitchen.com) and the author of The Nourished Kitchen. She teaches workshops on traditional foods, fermentation, as well as food activism. Jennifer lives with her husband and
son in Washington State.