Live the Live ™

Bone broth has become all the rage…and why not? Bone broths are nutrient-dense, easy to digest, taste great and heal the body. Many people with bad digestion, or “leaky gut,” swear by it.

I use grass-fed veal or beef bones or pastured chicken bones and get great results.

Much like making a stock, the ingredients are simple and healthy. It just takes time to make a really delicious and healthy bone broth, cooking the broth ingredients for at least 24 hours…48 is better! I usually start the boiling process on a Saturday morning, letting it boil all day, literally until I go to bed that night. I turn the heat off, then restart it the next morning and boil all day again before pouring the bone broth into containers. I replace the water as needed.

 

It goes without saying that you need a large pot. I just recently bought a huge 30-quart stainless steel pot with a strainer for lobster cooking. It’s also perfect for making bone broth. I fill the pot with clean, filtered water and put it on high heat.

Meanwhile, I heat the oven to 400 degrees.

 

4  or 5 lbs. grass-fed veal bones
large pot clean filtered water
4 onions, quartered (no peeling needed)
4 carrots, roughly chopped (washed, but not peeled)
4 stalks celery, roughly chopped (washed)

I cook until the vegetables are slightly caramelized and their flavors are concentrated. I remove them from the pan and toss them in the pot of water. I put the bones back in the oven until they start to release their fat and flavors.

 

Once the bones have a nice brown color to them, I put them and the veggies in the pot. Any fat that was released by the bones also goes in. (This fat is healthy and full of flavor.)

Then it’s time to boil…for a very long time. I replace the water in the pot as needed, starting the boiling process on high heat, then reducing to medium, cooking with the pot covered, letting it cook for as long as I can.

 

After 48 hours, I finally get delicious bone broth that was worth all the effort: hearty, satisfying, healthy.

Rather than try to skim the fat off a huge pot of bone broth, I choose to portion out the broth in pint-sized containers, and keep them in the freezer. Then, when it’s time to use the bone broth, it’s easy to scrape the fat off the top of the frozen broth before I re-heat it. But I have to tell you: I don’t usually do that! The fat is go-o-o-d!

 

I leave spices, salt, pepper and garlic out of the bone broth, choosing to add them to the broth later, depending on what I’m using it for. If I’m simply sipping the bone broth by itself, a little sea salt as I reheat it is all that it needs.

 

I use bone broth to make tasty soups and stews, sauces and gravies, to flavor rice, or just heat it and drink it as is.