Someone offered to give me the bones that she got when she bought some bulk beef. It was beautiful grass fed organic beef, but my friend didn't know what to do with the bones because she doesn't have a dog. I told her about bone broth and that's when I realised that a lot of people don't know about this nutritious goodness that is so easy to make.
Bone broth is not to be confused with stock, but it can be used as stock. Bone broth contains the glucosamine containing gelatine from the bone cartilage, vitamins and minerals that is so very good for us. If you're buying Glucosamine supplements think about making your own.
Read about Bone Broth here .
I make up a batch every week and try to incorporate some of the broth into our meals every day. In gravy, soups etc, and now that the bones from our home butchered steer are almost gone, I'm saving the bones from all of our cooked home grown meats at the end of the meal. The bones from lamb and pork chops and roasts, and chicken carcasses all go in a container and into the freezer. When I have enough I make another batch of bone broth.
Our wood stove is always burning, apart from the hottest of days in summer, so I have my big pot slowly simmering on the side. Some people make their broth in the slow cooker. I lightly roast the raw bones in the oven before placing into a large pot, cover with water, a sprinkle of Himalayan Pink salt and 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar. Bring to the boil then simmer for at least 24 hours to extract the maximum goodness.
After allowing to cool slightly, lift out the bones and meat, which has no flavour left in it by this stage and is best discarded, and strain the liquid through a sieve. Once it has cooled completely, scoop off the fat (to use later). The broth will be a lovely thick gel so it's necessary to warm it again before pouring it into jars then store the jars in the freezer. I always have one jar in the fridge ready to use.
I used some to make pastry for a quiche that we will eat for dinner tonight.
Fat (lard or dripping) makes the most delicious pastry for savoury dishes. The basic method is half ratio of fat to plain flour.
ie; 2 cups of plain flour (white or wholemeal or a bit of both) to one cup of fat.
If using 100% wholemeal the pastry will be more difficult to work with so I use 1/3 wholemeal to 2/3 plain unbleached white.
Rub the fat into the flour, add enough cold liquid (water, whey, buttermilk, milk) to form a stiff pastry.
Roll out with a rolling pin, not too thin, and work quickly. The quicker it's worked the lighter (shorter) the pastry will be.
Quiches are a great way to use up anything in the fridge or left overs and this one has an onion, some old bits of cheese, parsley, bacon ends, a tomato that I picked green and almost ripened on the window sill, salt and pepper.
Put all of these ingredients into the lightly pre-baked pastry case then, in a separate bowl, mix up 5 eggs (this quiche is a deep one so use 4 eggs if baking in a shallow pan), some cream that was past its best and a bit of butter milk and pour into the pastry case to cover all the ingredients. Bake in a moderate oven for roughly 30 - 40 minutes. It will puff up slightly and look mighty impressive, but after removing from the oven the filling will sink. Don't worry, that's normal and still tastes delicious.
It's wet here today (joy!) so I made a batch of Honey Anzac biscuits using some of the butter I made earlier this morning.
A couple of packs have gone into the Farm Gate Stall out at the front gate.
Thanks for dropping by and for leaving a comment. I'm always interested to hear about how you are living your frugal, nature loving way of life.
Reading your comments and sharing your ideas is like sitting at my kitchen table talking to an old friend.
I was reading your article on the bone broth and wondered if it could be made with game meat....ie moose,deer etc? My brother in law is an excellent hunter and has quite a lot of meat in the freezer. Could he save bones and do the above bone broth? Thanks from Vancouver Island Canadad
ReplyDeleteHello there to you in Canada and thanks for visiting. I see no reason why we can't make bone broth from the bones of any animal. Wild meat is the ultimate in sustainability and we can be sure that the animal hasn't been fed any horrible chemicals or artificial foods. In fact, I've heard of folks who will eat only wild meats in their quest to be more environmentally aware.
DeleteI love whipping up a quiche out of all the odds and ends in the fridge, what better way to use some of our own free range eggs and turn them into a meal fit for a king. I'd be lost without our hens now.
ReplyDeleteThe "empty the fridge" quiche is always tasty and always unique. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a mouth watering quiche. I'm going find some grass fed bones to make bone broth however I don't have a slow cooker and too scared to put the pot over night in the oven or stove top. We have a wood stove going now so is that fine to use or do you have a wood stove that is also a cooker?
ReplyDeleteHi Zena, I should think that a big pot of bone broth would cook just fine on top of your wood heater. After bringing to the boil it needs to simmer very slowly for the remainder of the 24 hours. If your heater is too hot, you could lift the pot by sitting it on a cake rack or something similar to move it further away from the heat to create a simmer instead of a hard boil. I prefer to store it in glass containers in the freezer and fridge.
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