Bone Appetite

Make no bones about it, with chilly weather coming it’s a great idea to ‘stock’ up your freezer. During holidays like Thanksgiving and Halloween, you’re sure to have an extra turkey carcasses or skeleton hanging about. Them bones make the perfect framework for homemade stock, which will come in handy for bubbling-up hearty homemade soups so you won’t get chilled to the bone.

browned bone broth

1 chicken carcass or 2 lbs of poultry bones

2 carrots, peeled and left whole

2 stalks of celery, whole

1 onion, peeled and halved

Bouquet Garni

4 cloves

2 cloves of garlic

parsley stems

2 sprigs of thyme

1 bayleaf

Cold water to cover

Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Place the bones in a baking sheet. With the peeled carrots, celery and halved onion. Roast until the bones are dark brown. Approx 45-60 minutes. Meanwhile make your bouquet garni by placing all the elements in small piece of cheesecloth or fabric and tying it up tight with butcher twine. You can also just let everything float around the pot, but it makes straining more challenging. Place everything into a large heavy bottomed stock pot. Add cold water until everything is covered. Hot water causes protein impurities to form and float around making your stock cloudy. Cold water will keep it clear. Place the pot on the stove over high heat, but watch it carefully. When top starts to steam ever so slightly reduce the heat to low. Never put a lid on the stock and don’t let the water boil, it should just be slightly simmering without any movement of the liquid. Let the stock simmer very gently for 2-4 hours. If any sum forms on the surface use a ladle to scoop it out and discard it. Your house smells so good right now and it’s time to strain. Get another pot next to you and use a ladle or a small handle pot to scoop out the broth and pour it through a strainer into the other pot. Dumping it all out will cause all the sedimentary impurities to jump up and into your perfectly clear stock. So take your time and you’ll be in the clear. Place cheese cloth in your strainer to make it super clear. You can’t just put a hot pot in the fridge or the residual heat will grow some nasty bugs. Divide the stock into smaller containers and let them cool down on the counter for 20 minutes before you lid them and put them in the fridge or freezer. Or use some frozen stock from last time like an ice cube to cool down the big batch before you divide and chill. The next day you can open the containers and scrape off the solid fat that has formed on the top of the stock then you stock is ready to use whenever you get the need for wholesome homemade flavour. gets along with Use homemade stock to make the best soups, sauces or to cook vegetables in. fresh pick You must make stock at least once in your life. If you don’t have any leftover chicken or turkey carcasses from a roast you can buy super reasonably priced chicken backs. They have a nice balance of meat, bones and fat for chicken stock. 2 organic chicken backs cost approximately $4.20 from Sunworks and makes about 2L of stock. Sunworks at Calgary Farmer’s Market at Currie Barracks or Blush Lane Organic Markets, www.sunworksfarm.com quick fire Chicken noodle soup will make you happy and healthy. Bring 2 cups of stock to a boil. Add a grated carrot and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dump in your favourite spoon sized pasta (Alphabets, macaroni, mini shells, orzo, etc). Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Add finely chopped fresh herbs if you have any. Serve it in a big mug with a spoon and some saltine crackers. Feeling under the weather? Add enough hot sauce to blow out your sinuses and you’ll be on the road to wellness. nerdbyte The word broth comes from the Germanic root bru which means “to prepare by boiling.”