Vegetable Bone Broth Recipe
From time immemorial, cultures around the world have made rich and nutritious broths by boiling the bones and other inedible animal products. Folk medicine holds that broth is good for curing a variety of ills - thus the reason your mother fed you chicken noodle soup anytime you had a cold.
Bone broth is thought to be especially nutritive. When bones are simmered for an extended period of time, collagen, calcium, and other minerals leach from the bones. These are at times lacking in the modern diet, and some researchers assert that consuming bone broth is beneficial to the joints, skin, hair, and digestion.
As part of our series on cooking a turkey, this recipe calls for turkey bones. But you may use any bones that you have on hand - reserve the bones from chicken wings, pot roast, steak, pork chops, ribs, or leg of lamb. You'll want to use at least 1 lb of bones. Rinse bones and place them in freezer bags; you can accumulate them in this way until you have enough to make a batch of bone broth. You may also ask your local butcher if bones are available - these "leftovers" may be at a very low cost or even free.
What can you do with bone broth? This broth is flavorful enough to sip like tea; it is especially welcome on snow days or sick days. Use it in recipes that call for vegetable, chicken, or beef stock or broth, or as the base of a soup.
Turkey Vegetable Bone Broth
Ingredients:
Bones of 1 turkey
1 stalk celery
1/2 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 carrot
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp whole cloves
Salt to taste
Water
Preparation:
1. Remove meat from turkey and store. Place the bones in a large crock pot. You may also include any other inedible portions, such as gristle, skin, and giblets.
2. Add vegetables and seasonings. You may chop them as desired, but they will be easier to remove from the broth if left whole or in large chunks.
3. Fill the crock pot with water.
4. Cook on low for 48 hours. Add water as necessary to keep all bones and vegetables submerged.
5. Allow to cool. Strain into a large pot to remove bones and vegetables. You'll notice that the bones have become rubbery or brittle - this is due to the minerals leached into the broth.
6. Broth will keep up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months if frozen.
