Your gut will love you for cooking with homemade bone broth or even drinking it like tea! This is something that I have been doing since back in 2012 when I realised that my gut was playing such a huge role in my autoimmune disease and I have not looked back. Currently I am following the GAPS protocol and all of my meals are cooked in broth - so delicious!
This is something that has become so fashionable of late and many companies are making a fortune by selling pre-made broth. However - it is so simple to make and you will save yourself a fortune.
You can either use a whole chicken or chicken bones. With a whole chicken you obviously end up with all of the meat which is perfect for lunch for the week ahead. Organic is definitely preferred.
Add turmeric for extra anti-inflammatory powers!
Ingredients
- 1 whole organic fresh chicken or a couple of organic chicken carcasses (and some chicken feet or necks if you fancy)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 large brown onion in quarters
- 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 celery sticks with leaves, roughly chopped
- 4 peppercorns
- 1 bouquet garnet
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp turmeric (optional)
Method
If using a whole chicken...
- Place the whole chicken and rest of the ingredients in a heavy based pot or slow cooker. Fill the dish with room temperature filtered (preferred) water to 1cm from the top of the pot.
- Bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and leave to cool.
- Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and discard, and remove the meat.
- Place the bones back in the pot or slow cooker and add the apple cider vinegar. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 3 - 6 hours. The longer you leave it the more minerals are released from the bones. Add more water if necessary so that the bones are always covered,
- Leave the broth to cool and then pour into jars. Discard the bones and vegetables (except the carrots which I try and rescue).
- Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze. The stock should develop a gelatinous texture and a layer of fat should form on the top on cooling. This layer can be removed and can be used as an alternative to oil / butter or alternatively this can be kept on the broth (this helps preserve the stock).
- Drink like tea for breakfast or use in recipes.
If using a chicken bones...
- Soak the chicken bones in water with the apple cider vinegar for 1 hour before adding the rest of the ingredients
- Follow steps (4) onwards from above.