“Doum, for the broth, there …”
For all things food, as far back as I can remember, I’ve always called Doum. He’s a butcher’s son. He fell in love with food when he was very young.
Chicken, fish, sauce, cooking, selection of vegetables, where to find an exotic spice: call Doum.
There was a time when he covered Formula 1. I called him, I heard vroum-vroum filigree.
“I forgot the chicken on the counter after grocery shopping.
– How long ?
– I don’t know, three o’clock, three and a half.
– Throw it.
Vrouuuuum, vrouuuuuum.
– OKAY. Where are you ?
– Kuala Lumpur, bye. “
Vroummm, vrouuuuuum.
Doum cooks like others in war. One day, he took control of an oyster party at my place. He cooked the oysters with cheeses and breadcrumbs. Afterwards, there was garnish all the way to the ceiling, but they were the best oysters ever ingested by each guest.
Another time in Mexico he made chocolate chicken, a local specialty if I remember correctly. There was chocolate everywhere, even in the curtains, but on the plate, it was a triumphant supper.
“I never manage to sear steak like people on the stove.
– Don’t you have a BBQ?
– It doesn’t work.
Vrouuuum, vrouuuum.
– OK, put the empty pan on broil for 15 minutes in the oven.
– To broil?
– On broil, it will be hot afterwards, be careful not to burn yourself.
– And ?
– And then you grab your steak on the stove.
Vrouuuuum, vrouuuuum.
– Where are you ?
– In Spa-Francorchamps.
– Where is it ?
– In Belgium. “
I always say food is like reno. You need the tools, and someone needs to show you the basic stuff. Then you build on it. My mom introduced me to cooking as a kid to do the basics – steak, pasta, broccoli and daisy – when I kept myself alone while she worked in the hospital on the ‘4 to’. midnight ”, the evening shift.
And when I met Doum 30 years ago in college, he took me to the next level …
My mother, by the way, called him her youngest.
Then, him and I, we fell out a bit, by my very big fault of course, because I could be a hell of a knot sometimes. All that to say that it took a few years before the mayonnaise resumed between the butcher’s son and me, when I finally saw the light and did a mea-culpa.
So I called Doum recently: “For the broth, there …”
I make no worse chicken broth, I don’t say that to brag. I’m the type who freezes chicken carcasses and bones, along with carrots and celery, to make broth when needed. I even bought a huge pot with a built-in strainer to make broth easier. Hop! balance everything in the freezer, throw salt, and then let it reduce …
Yum.
But something told me that Doum undoubtedly had some secret recipe to take my chicken broth to the next, maybe even legendary level. Doum does everything better than I do (in the kitchen, anyway). So I called the butcher’s son to see if I could spice up my broth with one of his tips.
“Are you home?
“Yes.
– I’m coming. “
And Doum came to my kitchen, he had an hour and a half to kill before he went to get his third dose. He first sprinkled my chicken carcasses with spices, salt and aromatics before tossing them in the oven, with half a fennel bulb: “You have to roast the chicken BEFORE you boil it.” ”
And while the chicken was sunbathing at 400, the butcher’s son put butter in a skillet before adding the carrots, celery and onions. And a few cloves of garlic.
I opened a bottle of wine admiring it as you admire a craftsman in his element.
Then I took out a wooden spoon.
“OK, I will bra …
– No ! Don’t touch anything! It has to stick! ”
We let the vegetables cook, even the frozen vegetables, we let them stick a little to the bottom of the pan before peeling them off and letting them stick a little longer, it had to brown …
“Worse, we’re going to deglaze with water …
– Why ?
– That’s what will get the juices … ”
We did the same thing with the drip pan containing the chicken, we deglazed with water and we balanced the liquid in the boiling pot, with the vegetables and the chicken …
Race score, after a few hours: I made the best chicken broth of my life, thanks to Doum.
Lesson in life from a near-fifty, at the dawn of 2022: preserve your chicken carcasses, make soup with your own broth and cultivate your old friendships; it’s like chicken carcasses, don’t waste them.
My friend Dominic fugère’s broth recipe
So, on Friday, I suggested that you save your turkey carcasses, carrots, celery, fennel and spices, for this column.
Here is the recipe. Adapt the quantities to the size of your pot.
The vegetables
In your largest saucepan: a quarter cup of butter and olive oil. Add two large onions, 2-3 carrots, 2-3 stalks of celery with leaves if possible, 2-3 cloves of garlic.
Chop everything roughly.
Cook over high heat, while everything is coloring.
Let stick a little, then deglaze with half a cup of water. Let the water evaporate, then let the vegetables stick to the bottom of your pot again. You can repeat the stain-de-icing cycle two or three times.
Meat
In a drip pan, sprinkle the bone and chicken carcass with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add herbs. And put the half-bulb of fennel under the chicken. Bake for 30-45 minutes at 400 ° F, until it turns chocolate brown in places.
Deglaze the drip pan with water and place everything – fennel, chicken carcass and bones and the liquid to be deglazed – in the saucepan with the vegetables. Add the water.
Salt and pepper to taste (all tastes are in nature).
Bring to the boil, then after 5 minutes, lower to medium heat to obtain a small simmer.
Simmer for three hours, add water if needed, don’t let it reduce too much.
Pass everything through a colander.
It freezes easily.
It will make good broth for your soups.