BONE Appétit! — Chicken Bone Broth Recipe
Eating
broth or stock made from chicken bones has many health benefits including
improved digestion, bone and teeth health, immune health, brain health, and
much more. No wonder Grandma made homemade chicken soup when someone got
sick! Here’s a great bone broth/stock recipe
for you to try…BONE Appétit!
Chicken Bone Broth
Adapted from a recipe by Kimi Harris
1 chicken carcass (or a bag of drumstick bones from the freezer*)
1-2 pound of raw drumsticks or chicken legs
3-5 chicken feet**, optional
Gizzards (if in cavity, take out of the cavity of the chicken before cooking)
4 carrots, scrubbed and cut into 3 inch pieces
4 celery stalks, washed and cut into 3 inch pieces
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
1 bay leaf
15 peppercorns optional
A few sprigs of thyme, optional
¼ cup of apple cider vinegar
Dump all of the ingredients into
a large stock pot and cover with water about an inch or two above the
top of the ingredients. Optional Step: To draw out more of the calcium from the bones, let the pot sit in this state, as is, for an hour at room temperature. Bring to a low simmer
and cover. You should never boil stock. Keep it at a very low simmer for 3-24
hours, skimming any foam that may rise to the top. The longer you simmer, the
more flavor and minerals leach out into the water. 12 hours seems to work
well; don’t go past 24 hours or it will become bitter and too dark. Once
done, cool slightly and then pour through a colander. You can further strain
the broth by pouring through cheesecloth.
You can also make this using a
slow cooker, using the same directions as above and cooking on low.
*Whenever I make drumsticks or any other type
of chicken on bone, I stick the bones in a freezer bag and place them in the freezer
until we have enough to make a pot of stock. Although it seems a little strange
at first to save bones that people have eaten off, a 12 hour simmer is going to
kill any “cooties”. But if you would rather, just have your family cut their
meat off the bones.
**Regarding the chicken feet, some
find this practice barbaric, however, remember that using all parts of the
chicken show proper respect to the chicken. The feet are an excellent source of
gelatin. You can find chicken feet at Asian stores or from local farmers.
