Motherly Advice....the health giving benefits of Bone Broth...

 

Bone broth is one of those things our Nannas used to make. Or at least mine did.

 

If we'd been unwell, it was always Bone Broth for a week or even two, to rebuild your immunity, and 'put the roses back in your cheeks'.

 

If you've been under the weather, and find you're struggling to get back on top of things, maybe a good Bone Broth is in order. Drink this as a morning cuppa, a nightcap, and add vegetables, noodles and meat to it for meals.

I firmly believe this sees us restored to good health in a relatively short space of time.

This method is one that that takes advantage of the easily digested broth, and the nutrients in the vegetables, added both whilst cooking, and afterwards for serving, to extract the maximum vitamins for optimum health. As a nightcap, it beats milk or a hot toddy hands down.

 

Many benefits are recorded by devotees of Bone Broth. From clear skin and eyes, to strong nails and glossy hair, to general wellbeing, deeper and more restful sleep and relief of joint pain, so it's not to be sneezed at!

Here's the recipe Nanna Style, in four sentences....

 

Soup bones, usually consisting of bits of thigh bone, or the middle of a leg of lamb, or just offcuts not useful for any other purpose, are roasted at Medium heat (240F/100-120C) for 30 minutes, to enhance their flavour (if not already roasted and being used as a leftover). They are then added to the stockpot or Slow Cooker, with any herbs and aromatics on hand, and simmered on very low for 24 hours. Onions, Garlic, Bay Leaves, Ginger and Thyme are a good combination. This is the basic broth, which you then expand upon for meals.

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After 24 hours on low simmer, you take the bones out, and remove all of the meat from them. This is an easy process as the meat just falls off at this stage. I usually discard any bits of fat or gristle too.

 

So your broth ends up looking like this....

 

 

...the soup bones are picked clean of lean meat...

 

...and you end up with a satisfying pile of braised meat like this...

 

 

Now at this stage, you can chill the soup in the refrigerator, and allow the fats to solidify on the surface for removal. I do this if I have time, but often I want to use my Bone Broth immediately, so if the bones I've used were fairly lean to begin with, I don't always bother. The tiny amount of fat in the broth, can actually enhance the flavour, if anything.

 

To the broth and lean meat, I now add herbs and spices, sometimes Asian aromatics like soy sauce, fish sauce, coriander and ginger, and sometimes more traditional ones like Bay Leaves, Peppercorns, Thyme and Rosemary. Either way, cooked rice noodles or rice are stirred through, and once it's spooned into bowls, fresh herbs like Coriander (Cilantro) or Basil are used as a garnish.

 

This is the sort of food that just makes you feel good.

 

There are many, many dietitians and nutritionists advocating the use of Bone Broth for everything from weight control, to management of arthritic pain and healing of the gut. It's worth a try, and a more economical thing, cannot be imagined.

 

I constantly have one batch chilling, ready for consumption, and another simmering, ready for tomorrows yummy meals and snacks at the moment. I don't feel hungry, and my fatigued body, is already responding to the dense nutritional value in the broth and meals prepared from it.

 

If you're feeling a little under the weather, try a Bone Broth and see if it makes a difference to you. I think you'll be surprised.

 

 

...Mimi...