2015 has been the year of bone broth or stock, as your grandmother would call it. From Brodo to #boilyourbones, the Hemsley sisters’ catchphrase, it seemed like everyone was getting into the long simmer.
Real talk: I made a half hearted attempt at making bone broth towards the end of last year, but it didn’t turn out very well, so I didn’t bother trying again until recently. Meanwhile, lots of beef bones and chicken carcasses have been thrown out, giving me a regretful, wasteful feeling.
No more. I’ve since realised bone broth is the one of the easiest things to make, especially if you have a slow cooker. Even easier if you have a pressure cooker as it only takes 2 hours.
My chicken broth recipe is really simple and you can easily substitute chicken for turkey (how seasonal!), beef or lamb bones or whack all the bones in together:
- Strip any excess meat off the chicken carcass and place the carcass into the slow cooker.
- Add 3-4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. This helps release the collagen from the bones.
- Add 3-4 garlic cloves, an onion, chopped in half, 3-4 carrots and a leek, chopped in half.
- If you want a deeper flavour, add 3-4 circular pieces of ginger, 3 cm in diameter.
- Season to taste with himalayan sea salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary.
- Cover with water.
- Set your slow cooker to low, cover and leave for at least 24 hours, stirring it occasionally and topping up the water as necessary.
- When you’re satisfied with the taste, or the bones have crumbled, remove the broth from the heat and pour the mixture through a strainer.
- Store it in the refrigerator for up to 7 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Bonus tip: if you don’t have enough bones to make broth, stockpile them from individual meals in a big Ziploc bag in the freezer. After a while, you should have enough to make at least 2 litres of broth.
What can you do with your freshly made bone broth?
1. Sip it. It’s great for helping to repair a leaky gut and as a nutrient source in illness, as it’s full of collagen and protein.
2. Make soup! Knowing the soup has homemade broth in it is such a rewarding feeling.
3. Risottos are even lovelier with a homemade broth.
4. I like to add a little zing to little J’s rice by adding a little broth to it for flavour and nutrients.
What do you do with your broth?