Recipe: Lemony Garlic Chicken & Broth

Lemony Garlic Chicken & Broth

From Kate Heyhoe's A Chicken in Every Pot: Global Recipes for the World's Most Popular Bird (Capital Books, Fall 2003)

Makes 4 cooked breasts and about 1 quart broth

This variation of seasoned poached chicken lends itself well to Mediterranean, Latin, Middle Eastern, and African recipes. You can shred the chicken into the broth, with additions like pasta, rice, vegetables, and so on, to make a quick and satisfying garlicky soup with a slight lemon tang.

The chicken meat is moist and delicate, perfect for shredding into chicken salad or for filling tortillas, pita bread, or sliced to make exceptionally flavorful sandwiches. Use the broth wherever you would use chicken stock, such as for cooking rice or couscous, making gravy, or as a soup base. Chicken may also be skinned and reheated, served with salt, pepper, or a simple sauce made from the thickened, reduced broth.

4 chicken breast halves, with skin and bone
(3-1/2 to 4 pounds)
2 teaspoons salt
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 rib celery, preferably with leaves, cut into thirds
3 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 small bay leaves or 1 large

1. Snugly fit the chicken pieces into a pot just big enough to hold them, allowing for 1 to 2 inches of space above the chicken. Add the remaining ingredients and water to cover the chicken by 1/2 inch. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken immersed in the broth for at least 30 minutes. Chicken will continue to gently cook in the hot broth. (Don't worry: The chicken meat won't overcook even if you let it cool completely in the broth.) Refrigerate the chicken in the broth, which helps keep it moist, and discard the layer of fat that solidifies when chilled. Remove the bay leaves, garlic, and celery before serving. To serve, see the recipe introduction above.