Friday, September 30, 2011

Bone Broth Twice Over...and over, and over...

About a year ago, I finally began making soup stock from scratch.  I was motivated by the fact that most store bought soups and broths are really high in sodium, and as my youngest daughter has chronic kidney disease, I'm always looking for ways to cut down on salt.  I was also inspired by old fashioned cooking - cooking that is frugal, simple, and resourceful.  Homemade soup is all of the above.

I normally make my soup in the crock pot overnight, strain it and then toss the bones.  Till I stumbled across this awesome article from The Nourishing Gourmet  on reusing your bones again and again for stock.  I decided to make some chicken broth using this method.  Normally, I buy chicken whole and roast two at a time in my big roasting pan.  We usually have roast chicken for supper that night (YUM!), and then I take the leftover meat and shred it or dice it and freeze it on cookie sheets before putting into freezer bags.  The frozen chicken is great to grab for casseroles, soups, salads or whatever other chicken-y dish your heart desires. 

Anyway, back to the stock.  I tossed the carcass in the crock pot, add some onion, celery, and carrots, herbs and put it on low in the crock pot overnight.  The next morning, I strained out the broth, took out the veggies, and then did the whole process over again.  While I didn't keep making repeated stocks till the bones dissolved into nothingness, I did make two batches of flavourful broth.  Who knew?  Most likely my grandmother and great grandmother....and it's the sort of things that I need to relearn.  Thanks, Kimi, for the great tips!