NEW YOU BONE BROTH

A rich, velvety broth that can be drunk on its own, or used for soups, braises, stews etc. As a winter drink, you could do no better!

Course Condiment, Main Course

Keyword apple cider vinegar, bones, carrots, onions

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 1 day

Ingredients

4-5 lbs mixed beef and/or poultry bones , short ribs, marrow bones, knuckles, even turkey neck bones or chicken feet. Make sure you have some bones with meat still attached- the flavour will be so worth it.
2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium carrots , rough chopped
2 large, or 3 medium onions , quartered, peels included (just make sure the skins are clean)
4 celery stalks , rough chopped
2 leeks , dark green removed, chopped coarsely
2-3 bay leaves
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
bunch of parsley
3 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (use a organic one that contains the 'mother' in the bottle)

Instructions

ROAST THE BONES

This step if for bones that have not been previously cooked or roasted. See Note below.
Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the bones with the olive oil and arrange on a single layer on 1 or 2 baking sheets (as needed)
Roast them for about an hour, turning once to get even browning on all sides.

MAKING THE BROTH

Place the bones in a large, heavy stock pot. Tie the fresh herbs together with kitchen twine. Add the vegetables, herbs, seasonings. Use a stock pot that can hold at least 6 quarts if not more. If you have a pot with an pasta cooking insert, this is a perfect time to use it.
Cover with enough water to fill the pot. I use a pot that will hold 14 cups after all the ingredients are in it.
Once the water starts simmering, add the apple cider vinegar/
Bring the pot to a rolling boil on medium high heat. Cover. Then turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Be sure to maintain a gentle simmer though.
Keep the pot at a low simmer for a minimum of 12 hours. Keep going to get a richer, deeper flavour and colour, and health benefits. Check the pot every once in a while, adding water if it begins to drop below the contents of the pot. Stop cooking once you are happy with the flavour. I advise on going to the 24 hour mark, to do all the work, you want the optimum nutrients.
Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer. I find it handy to have a second stock pot for this purpose. But even straining into a large bowl will be fine. You'll want to remove all bones, veggies and bits and pieces of the herbs. If you want a clearer broth, run it through cheesecloth.
Cool the broth to room temperature before storing in containers in the refrigerator. If going into the freezer, store in appropriate containers. If in the fridge, you may discover the next day that the broth has congealed. That's fine- its all the gelatin that was extracted from the bones doing its job. Once you reheat the broth it will melt again and become a lovely silky liquid. You can easily remove the fat that has solidified in the freezer or fridge.
Reheat as much as you want to drink. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Recipe Notes

Roasting the bones is for fresh bones that have not previously been cooked, roasted etc. If you are using bones leftover from turkey dinner, you can bypass roasting them off again. And you can add previously roasted bones to freshly roasted ones no problem. I keep a bag of bone scraps from dinners in the freezer for stock.

You can follow the same procedure for a Poultry Broth: use turkey or chicken carcasses, raw wings and necks, for a flavourful broth. Make sure you have a similar weight of bones as stated above to work with the rest of the ingredients above

If you choose to drink it, you may wish to reheat with the addition of flavour enhancers such as finely sliced fresh ginger, fresh or dried mushrooms, fresh herbs, slivered garlic. The dried mushrooms, garlic and ginger can be removed before drinking.

Be sparing if choosing to add salt. Of course you can add salt and pepper, but keep it on the healthy side. You'll find that you won't miss the salt at all.