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| My "stockpile" |
My little Jack is sick. He has a fever, aches and chills. Poor kid. I know if he's ill now, the rest of us are likely to follow him. I know that quality bone broth is like a miracle food, so as soon as we got home and got the kids to bed, I cleaned the crockpot (it was making tallow while we were away) and pulled out my stash of chicken bones.
All It takes is as many chicken bones as you can cram into you crockpot, some vinegar (the cheap kind is fine since it's going to be cooked anyway), water (filtered if you're on city water) and some chicken feet if you're feeling adventurous. Veggies like carrots, onions and celery are nice but I never add them. I like a very bland stock that I can sneak into anything and everything, from sloppy joes to tacos to gravy, and of course, soup.
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| Just hangin' out, waiting for the water filter |
For this quantity of bones (I could only fit about half of what you see pictured) I used 1/4 cup vinegar and 6 chicken feet, since they are cheap and I want as much healing gelatin as I can. I put the heat on high since they are frozen, and I'll let this cook all night. After 12 hours I'll strain out this first batch, add more vinegar and cook the bones two or three more times, until they are mush.
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| If I'm lucky this is what my stock will look like when it is cooled |
If you would like to read about why homemade bone stock with a high gelatin content is so good for you, check out this great post from Kitchen Stewardship.
I've never made broth this way, now I want to try the crockpot. The link you posted is very informative, I've always known it was good for you but didn't know why!
ReplyDeleteQuestion for you, how do you add it to other foods? Do you use your broth instead of other liquids? In place of water in a recipe? Would love to hear some examples. Thanks!
YES! I substitute it for water in many recipes. Even in something small like my taco meat, I used to add a splash of water, and now I try to add 1/2-1 cup broth and let it cook down (if I have time). Jack doesn't like soup, but I can get him to eat chicken and rice, and that is as simple as cooking some rice in stock and stirring in a few chunks of chicken (if I have it) and some cheese.
ReplyDeleteMy taco meat recipe is here: http://nerdymomspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/02/hidden-veggie-tacos.html and for this (huge) batch with hidden veg I can sneak in 2 cups of stock if I have the time to let it cook down.
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