Bone Broth

I use bone broth in almost all savory dishes. Soups, stews, sauces, cooking water or to add additional flavour to sautéed veggies. I tend to use chicken most often, as I roast one every Sunday. The carcass goes straight into the slow cooker on Sunday night, after any leftover meat has been removed, and I then have stock for meals throughout the week. The kitchen smells amazing heading down on Monday morning, too.

Beef and lamb bones also work well, as do things like shellfish and even fish heads. You’ll get different flavors depending on what you use, but all have a richness of flavour that pairs well with most recipes. I think real, homemade broth adds a dimension to a meal nothing else can. It lifts even the most basic of recipes to another level of flavour.

While it’s become popular recently, bone broth is a traditional food well loved by our ancestors. It is also a nourishing, nutrient powerhouse. It contains gelatin, glycine, collagen and more. In Sally Fallon Morell’s words, author of the book ‘Nourishing Broth’, “Broth’s unique combination of amino acids, minerals, and cartilage compounds aids in quick recovery from illness and surgery, the healing of pain and inflammation, emotional balance, better digestion, lessening of allergies, and the treatment of many autoimmune disorders. And in addition to helping skin stay supple and bones remain strong, the elements in bone broth can help the symptoms of diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, psoriasis, and digestive disorders.”

Broth is really easy to make. I use a slow cooker and recently bought an extra large one, so I can make bigger batches. You can make it without one, on the hob, but that involves leaving a pan simmering. This recipe uses a slow cooker.

We use organic, free-range chicken from our friends Becky and Brian at Woodhill Farm Organics in Castlewellan.

Ingredients

1 organic, free-range chicken carcass (meat removed, skin left on)

1 large or 2 medium carrots (scrubbed and chopped in half)

2 ribs of celery (chopped in half)

1 large onion (chopped in half)

4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

1/2 tablespoon salt (Himalayan or sea salt)

Enough filtered water to fill your pot once all ingredients have been added (we use a Berkey water filter)

Instructions

Put the vegetables in the bottom of the pot. Place the chicken carcass (or other bones, shellfish shells etc.) on top. Add the apple cider vinegar, followed by the salt and pepper. Fill with filtered water. Put on the lid and leave for one hour before turning on the slow cooker. It is said that this will help the apple cider vinegar leach out more minerals from the bones before being heated (the acidity of the vinegar does this).

After one hour, turn your slow cooker on to low. Leave for 24 hours. The longer you leave it, the richer your broth will be - in flavour and nutrients. I have left it longer than this, but in my slow cooker the water tends to reduce down too much and things start to overcook.

Turn the slow cooker off and leave it to cool until you can handle the bowl.

Place a fine mesh, metal strainer over a glass bowl. Slide the lid of the slow cooker pot slightly to one side, then pour the liquid carefully into the bowl. Cover the bowl (you can get glass bowls with fitted lids) and leave it to stand until the broth is completely cool. Refrigerate. It will keep refrigerated for up to one week. You can freeze it for up to 6 months.

A layer of fat will form and solidify on top of the broth. Some people like to remove it. I don’t tend to, but if you want an extra clear broth you can.

As well as an ingredient in other meals, the broth can be drunk alone. It is especially useful if you can get kids used to drinking warm, plain broth as it can be really comforting knowing they will drink it when under the weather.