Bone Broth

Back in the olden days, when the butcher sold meat on the bone 

rather than as individual fillets and whole chickens rather than 

boneless breasts, our thrifty great grandparents made use 

of every part of the animal by making stocks, broths and bouillon. 

I can honestly say the Nourishing Traditions Cookbook sat on my book shelf for a couple of years, unused.  I did thumb through it when I first got it but once I came to ingredients I didn't know how to pronounce I was lost, I put the book away to never return. I did, however, notice the amount of information, Sally Fallon was spewing forth, and the logic she was unfolding was so profound that I had to easy my way into the dissection of the recipes, facts, and science. Over the years I have come to appreciate, understand, and use her numerous uses for simple ingredients made, by using the whole animal, fermented and lacto fermented foods, and basic old time cooking. How they used to do it. 

The first time I tried to make a broth, I was a new mother trying to make things work, playing the role of housewife, I bought a rotisserie chicken (because I didn't know how to bake my own) and boiled the leftover carcass on high for about 4 hours. I was stunned I didn't understand where the water went, I was suppose to be making broth. Instead I had a burned up carcass. I didn't turn down the heat. I think it was about 5 years later I attempted to make my first baked chicken.  

Facts

• Meat and fish stocks are used as a staple in traditional cuisines all over the world. 

• When prepared properly meat stocks can be extremely nutritious, containing the minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetable electrolytes. 

• Using an acidic wine or vinegar during the cooking process, helps draw out the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium.  

• Cartilage recently was used in the treatment of cancer with remarkable results. 

• Fish stock made from head and carcasses is especially rich in minerals including iodine. 

• Bone broth contains valuable minerals in a form your body can easily absorb.

• Calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, Silicon, Sulfur chondroitin, glucosamine,  and a variety of trace minerals.

Old Wives Tales:

The magic is in the stock, made from scratch with as much care and attention to detail as the final dish.
4000 years ago Chinese doctors would prescribe thyroid soup for aging patients.
During Queen Victoria's reign, prominent London physicians prescribed raw thyroid glands sandwiches to failing patients. Yummy.
It was said to be the Jewish penicillin remedy for the flu.
Stocks were used in the 12th century as the treatment for colds and asthma. It was said that fish head broth contributes to virility. 

Basic Recipe:

Beef/Chicken or Lamb Stock

1 whole raw chicken or beef marrow/knuckle bones or leftover baked chicken carcass and bits or chicken feet, gizzards, wings and bony parts. About 4 pounds. 

2 Stalks of celery broken in half

2 whole carrots with tops cut off

1 whole peeled onion

1/2 cup vinegar*

several sprigs of fresh thyme, tied together*

1 bunch of parsley*

Place all in a huge stock pot add filtered water to cover and fill. Turn up heat to boil. Then bring down to a simmer and cover. Simmer 12 to 72 hours. Let cool. Strain liquid in a large bowl. Separate bones, knuckles, joints from the meat. Put all bones and stuff in a freezer bag and place in the freezer for making bone broth. Use the cooked meat in whatever dish, soup, or salad. Using a finer strainer, transfer the broth into smaller containers. Place in the freezer for long term storage. Remove the congealed fat that rises to the top.  

* Can be omitted. The parsley and herbs can be placed in the pot while it is cooling. 

Bone Broth

Fill large stock pot with bones (defrosted) or 4-5 lbs

Feet and heads from 2 chickens (optional)

2 whole carrots with tops cut off and broken in half

2 stalks of celery broken in half

1 large peeled onion

1/4 cup vinegar

1 bunch of parsley

Fill stock pot to the top with cool filtered water. Bring to a boil. Skim scum that rises to the top. Then turn down heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 2 to 24 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. Add parsley 10 minutes before finishing the stock. Makes about 4 quarts depending on how much water you use.

Now what to do with the this liquid gold... you are suppose to add it in sauces, soups, and simmerings.
I always make a chicken soup out of the freshly made broth, left over chicken meat, carrots and celery, rice or noodles and seasoning. Everyone loves it. I put the remaining broth in containers and put in the freezer. I usually use one to two containers of broth every week. I mostly make soups with it, but sometimes a recipe calls for broth, so its nice to have on hand. I use it in place of water. For instance, making rice, I use broth to cook the rice in. Adds more flavor and nutrition. I try to sneak it in whenever I can. When following recipes, I've noticed how much stock is used in flavoring the dishes, I love saving my family money and providing the benefit of homemade nutritious food. I have also learned to let nothing go to waste in process of making stock.
This has been an interesting process, from buying the bird at the store, to preparing it, cooking it, eating it, boiling it, separating the tid bits into bones and flesh, then storing it and consuming it later. I used to not really care about where I bought my chicken. But not until I decided to only feed my family only organic foods, whenever possible,  did I start to make a big effort in finding organic or at least caged free chickens. Yes they cost A LOT more! But what I loose in grocery money I gain in yummy, flavorful, nutritious food that I KNOW was made in my kitchen and not a factory across the world. I put my love, gratitude and energy into the meals I make for my family. Food made in a factory has no love, no real life giving energy and no flavor! Some times recipes call for beef broth. I don't make beef broth so I have to buy it and I make sure it is organic.
When I am ready to cook the chicken, I wash and pat it dry. I rub about 2 tablespoons of salt all over and inside the bird. Hopefully I have some time to let the salt settle in but usually I don't. I peel about 4 cloves of garlic and pop them into the cavity of the bird. Bake at 350 for an hour and a half. Let it cool for about 5-10 minutes. If you have the time, put the drippings in a big sauce pan add flour and mix into a thick paste or rue, bring to a simmer. Add broth until the consistency you desire, add salt and pepper. And poof! you have gravy! And the best part you can freeze the gravy for later use. So nothing goes to waste!
My family usually destroys half the bird in less time than it took to prepare it. If I am not too wasted to clean up, I either cover the half eaten carcass with a tea towel and stick in the fridge, or trow it in a stock pot and make stock. I let it simmer all night. About 12 hours later I let it cool. And sometime that day I separate the tid bits.
I pour the pot of broth over a colander with a bowl or Pyrex measuring cup underneath. When that is full, I pour that broth threw a finer colander into the storage containers. The next part is time consuming and slightly disgusting. But I try not to think of that way. I loved my anatomy and physiology class, dissecting cats, and animal parts. So separating the meat from the bones can be very humbling. I put the bones, cartilage, tendons, skin, goop in one bowl and the meat I want use in another. I discard everything else.  I then start to make soup.

American cooking, tumbling as fast as it is toward takeout cuisines, retains two potent images that can still revivify our appetite for good, homemade food: baked goods, which stand for the gifts of pleasure, and meat-based broths, from which all the kitchen's healing goodness flows. Not too long ago, this image reflected a truth: a continuous river of broth spilled from the stockpot to inspirit soups, enhance pasta and rice, baste the roast, sauce the vegetables and provide a sop for bread. And, most important of all, its aroma filled the house, cosseting all who inhaled it with deep well-being, as if the very air were filled with nurture. The chef may have transmuted them into a far more essential nutrient love. John Thorn Outlaw Cook. 

All this wonderful information was provided by NOURISHING TRADITIONS The cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. By Sally Fallon. 2001. NewTrends Publishing, Inc. 

Fawn Brubaker, LMP, CHNC, MH has been a practicing Massage Therapist for 9 years and counting. She has obtained a Certificate in Holistic Nutrition Consultant and a Diploma in Master Herbalist from the American College of Healthcare Sciences. She lives in Washington state with her husband to 2 children.