Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 12 hours
Servings: 2 litres
I make bone broth every week, and we have it as a healing drink most days, or I use it for stock and warm, nurturing soups. I recommend that everyone make bone broth and incorporate it into the dietary routine. Make your own broth to get all the health benefits and use any vegetables you have on hand to make it your own. Making your own broth means you know exactly what goes in it rather than purchasing store-bought broth, which can have unnecessary, unhealthy ingredients. I love having a batch simmering away in the slow cooker all day or overnight. You can make broth anytime, but I like to make it just before bed; then it’s ready and hot for breakfast. If you don’t have a slow cooker, just use a large pot with a lid, but you won’t be able to make it overnight.
Brain Food Note
The gelatin in bone broth protects and heals the lining of the digestive tract, helps aid in the digestion of nutrients, and is rich in natural protein that supports the immune system and brain function.
1 organic chicken carcass (meat stripped)
2 litres of water
2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
2 leaves of silver beet, torn
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh turmeric
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
5 thyme sprigs
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley
Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on high for one hour. Reduce to low heat for 10–11 hours.
Remove from heat. Strain the stock through a sieve into a large bowl and leave to cool for 30 minutes before pouring into a jug or container. Cover and place in the refrigerator. When the broth cools, fat will rise to the top. Skim this off and reuse for cooking. The broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 2 months.
You can swap out the chicken bones, for beef or fish and also use other parts like chicken feet and neck. Your butcher can cut large tubular bones in half so that you can get to the nutritious bone marrow and if you are making a fish stock, you can use the entire fish. It’s the gelatinous soft tissues that surround the bones and the bone marrow that provide some of the best healing remedies for the gut lining and immune system.
