I have covered bone broth topic in the past, but feel it's such a great addition to a health-promoting diet, I wanted to cover it again and share some different ways you can make it at home and how to use bone broth in your daily cooking.
Bone broth is one of the top health foods for human body. It heals and supports gut health, it's easy to digest, nutrient-dense and rich in flavour. Bones, skin, feet, tendons, marrow, ligaments, that we can't eat are boiled and simmered over a period of time to help to release healing compounds like collagen, glycine, proline, glutamine.
Bone broth contains minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, silicon, sulphur. It also contains chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine which are know to help reduce joint pain, arthritis and inflammation.
Bone broth helps with:
metabolism
immune function by helping healing leaky gut
maintaining healthy skin (contains also hyaluronic acid)
the growth of good bacteria in the gut
fighting food sensitivities
expelling waste, supporting liver's function with detoxification
supporting bone and cartilage health due to being a natural source of gelatine and collagen
The best way to get the best bone broth is to make it yourself at home. You can make it from chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, fish and more. I tend to either buy a whole chicken, first make couple of dishes from roast chicken and the use the bones from the chicken to make the bone broth. Or I go to the market and buy some different bones, bone marrow, etc.
I use a 5 litre slow-cooker pot for making the broth and glass jars to store them. But you can use a 3l or 5l stainless steel pot and simmer it on the stove as well. I typically put one third of of the broth in the fridge to use during the week and the rest in the freezer to use during the following week or two (remember to leave 1.5cm free space at the top of the glass jar and also put the lid on loosely- I also put the jars in a leak proof plastic bag to avoid any accidents in the freezer but so far haven't had them).
With all of the below recipes peel and chop the vegetables coarsely. I cook bone broth anything from 8h to 10h, but you can also go longer. A good time to use to cook the broth is during the weekend when you are at home.
Asian broth (filtered water, chicken bones, 2 onions with skin, 1 head of garlic, 2.5cm of fresh ginger root, 3 celery stalks, 3 carrots, 3 cups of shiitake mushrooms, 1 lemongrass stalk, 1 tsp chilli flakes, 1.5 tsp sea salt)
Beef broth (filtered water, beef bones (ideally grass-fed), 6 celery stalks, 2 carrots, 1 tbsp of black peppercorns, 1tbsp of sea salt, 2tbsp of raw apple cider vinegar, 3 bay leaves, 3 parsley stems). You can boost your broth with 1/2tsp of ground turmeric, dry basil. You can also roast the bones a bit in the oven to get deeper flavour to the broth.
Chicken broth (filtered water, chicken bones, 1 red onion with skin, 1 yellow onion with skin, 3 carrots, one bunch of celery with leaves, 1 head of garlic, 1 branch of fresh rosemary, 2tbsp of raw apple cider vinegar, 3 bay leaves)
Fish broth (filtered water, fish bones, shrimp shells, 1 onion skin on, 1 head of garlic, 2 carrots, 3 celery stalks, 2.5cm fresh ginger root, 2tbsp raw apple cider vinegar, 1tsp of turmeric or 2.5cm fresh turmeric root, 1tbsp of fresh parsley stems, 1tsp of sea salt
Galangal broth- for people who are vegetarian, vegan, histamine sensitive, this is a good recipe to try. Use filtered water, 2 carrots, 6 celery stalks including greens, 3 bay leaves, 3 green onions, 1 garlic head, 2.5cm of galangal (if fresh root) or a 5 slices of dried galangal, 2 stalks of lemongrass, 4 kaffir leaves, 1tsp of black pepper, 1tsp of sea salt. Use fresh cilantro springs for serving. You can also omit galangal and add for example dried thyme, dried basil, ground turmeric.
Ways to use bone broth in cooking:
as a liquid base for soups (you can also use meat stock as a base)
sip hot bone broth on its own to sooth a sore throat or aching stomach
use in stews and casseroles for more flavour
make your savoury porridge with bone broth (oat, rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millet
in gravies and sauces
make cauliflower rice with bone broth
in mashed celery root or sweet potato
when steaming and sautéing vegetables
with scrambled eggs (add also some turmeric, cilantro
add it to a homemade beef liver or chicken liver pate
If you are struggling to make your own broth, there are companies who produce them as well for convenience (always check the ingredients). In Estonia Food Studio makes good broths. I have also heard of the following companies being recommended outside of Estonia: Kettle and Fire, Fond. If you know of any other good ones, please do add them to the comments below.
I have also used bone broth protein in my morning smoothies- I love the airy consistency it gives to the smoothie besides it's health benefits. Ancient Nutrition and Paleo Valley are two I know who produce bone broth protein.
If you want to improve your cooking skills at home for better health, better gut and liver support, better skin health, contact me for health and nutrition coaching at info@katrinpeo.com.