Tiny Food: Homemade Bone Broth (For the Win!)
I’m pretty sure you remember your grandma telling you for many, many years we always needed a good chicken soup when we were under the weather. Don’t you find surprising that in the past years, the bone broth era became so trendy that we see them now at many grocery shops across Canada and North America and everywhere we go.
I’ve been a soup lover since I was a tiny little girl no matter the season, so having bone broth for healthy reasons makes me so so happy! In today’s post, I’ll walk you through my homemade recipe and all the benefits of having a daily dose of this superfood at home, because I know Fall and all its colds are just around the corner, right?
Let’s do it!
Let’s start with all the health benefits
Did you know bone broth is for real an incredibly superfood filled with many nutritious benefits for our health? It is rich in minerals as magnesium, calcium, and helps the healthy growth of our hair, nervous system and nails. It has anti-inflammatory properties (thanks, chicken), acts as a natural remedy for common colds, helps our bodies digest food better, it is wonderful for our joints, bones, skin thanks to its collagen and gelatin helping us improve our mood, magic isn’t it?
Best bone broth options
I always tend to buy high-quality protein (only at my local farmers market – Marche Atwater) making sure I’ll create a rich and gelatinous broth filled with many minerals. To make this recipe, you’ll need to save the carcass (it is the base) even if you cooked the chicken before, it still works perfectly.
What do I need to make my broth at home?
The simmering process is the most important part of the soup. You’ll only need a crockpot (it is the easiest way) where you’ll put all the veggies and protein, letting it cook in a very low heat up to 17 hours. The longer you cook it, the better the nutrients will come out from within the bones.
After the cooking process, what should I do?
After you reach the desired cooking time, I strain it and pour it into mason jars, leaving them outside in my counter until they’re chill to move to the fridge. When cold, your bone broth will have a thick consistency that will liquefy once heated back.
How should I start? How do I develop a great broth?
Fill your crockpot with water and add all the bones you have at home (I usually use an entire chicken) followed by spices as black pepper, dried bay, onions, turmeric, garlic and apple cider vinegar (that helps pull the nutrients from the bones). After a few hours, add the veggies as carrots, celery, shiitake mushrooms. Lastly 20 minutes before finishing add leafy herbs as parsley, thyme to add a punch of flavour.
If I can’t have it by itself, what else can I do with the broth?
If you’re not into sipping bone broth on its own with a sprinkle of salt, you can use it as the base to make soups, stews, sauces, rice, risotto and much more.
What are the exact quantities to make this bone broth?
Use the bones of one whole chicken, 2 bay leaves, 1 tbsp of black pepper, 10 to 12 shiitake mushrooms (remove the stems), 4 large peeled carrots, 4 celery stalks, leeks (as much as you want), 4 green onions, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp ground turmeric and a bunch of thyme, parsley, dill, or any other green herb you’d like to add. Fill your crockpot with water, set it to low and let it cook up to 17 hours.
