Sustainable Eating: Bone Broth Soup
Recently, I made an offhand comment that I almost exclusively use home made bone broth in all of my meat broth based soups. A friend of mine asked if the process was difficult and how to do it. That is what led me to writing out the recipe and instructions. Like many dishes or components of dishes, bone broth soup is easier to create than you might think. It’s a matter of taste or maybe a matter of what you have on hand but you can make this bone broth using either chicken or beef bones. Make more than you need for one recipe and store it in deli containers for later use.
I am hoping to find the time to create a video to accompany this bone broth recipe soon. In the meantime, many of you are concerned with enhancing your intake of natural immunity boosters—like those found in bone broth—and in sustainable eating practices by effectively preparing for consumption as much of your food inventory—whether it’s short ribs meat or celery stalks—as possible. I decided that during this time of increased lockdown in NYC (it was just announced schools, bars, and restaurants are being ordered to temporarily close) and across the country, I should post and share this recipe to help guide you now.
Let me know in the comments section below how you’re holding up and what kind of cooking and preparation you’ve found useful in the kitchen. Wash your hands frequently, stay in as much as possible, and please stay safe! More soon.
Bone Broth Recipe
4 pounds of chicken or beef bones (ribs, shin, neck, tail)
16 cups cold water
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 onion peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 carrot peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 stalks of celery cut into 1 inch pieces
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
pinch of salt
Bone Broth Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large roasting pan cook beef or chicken bones in the oven until very deeply browned. Reduce the heat if they threaten to burn. Remove the bones to a plate or tray and pour off the oil in the pan. Turn off the oven.
Place the roasting pan on top of the stove and turn flame to medium being careful not to burn the "fond"(caramelized bits) on the bottom of the roasting pan. Add the vegetables, garlic and the tomato paste and cook the vegetables until they lightly caramelize. The moisture from the
vegetables should help pull the "fond" from the bottom of the pan. You will need to adjust the heat depending on how thin the pan is and how strong the flame is. Add 1 cup of water(from the 16 cups) and scrape the bottom to get everything loose and turn off heat.Transfer the vegetables, roasted bones, pinch of salt, thyme, bay leaf and remaining 15 cups of water into a a larhge pot. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer, skim off any impurities that rise to the surface with a ladle or large spoon. Cook uncovered, at the barest possible simmer, with just a few bubbles breaking the surface, stirring occasionally, for 2 1/2 hours.
Remove from the heat and let the stock rest for 15 minutes. At this point your stock should reduced to about half (about 8 cups). Strain stock through a large fine-mesh strainer or a colander double-lined with damp cheesecloth into a large bowl.
Fill a larger bowl or the sink with ice and water and nest the bowl of stock in it. Stir regularly until the stock has cooled.
Transfer the cooled stock to airtight containers, and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
