04/02/2021
Bone or/Vegetable Broth
When I was a child, my mother always made a beef-bone clear broth, once a week. We had it as soup with bread for dinner, with big bones filled with delicious marrow. My mother only used big beef bones (the type that ferocious dogs chew on!) and small amounts of carrots, celery, onions, ginger and lots of pepper.
While it was tasty, I was not particularly inclined to it at the time. However, I now see her wisdom in preparing this broth and serving it once a week, when we were children.
Bone broth is soup simmered for hours, with a little bit of apple cider vinegar plus some vegetables, where all the vitamins and goodness that you can find in the marrow, skin, meat, cartilege and bone is slowly extracted. It is rich with vitamins, and if drunk in small amounts everyday, is excellent for skin, nails, hair and health in general.
In trying to nostalgically celebrate her recipe, I went a step further and put apple cider vinegar, 2 pork bones, chicken bones and lots of vegetables like cauliflower leaves, onions, and celery in water. The spices and herbs were lots of ginger, turmeric, pepper corns, rosemary, and basil. The soup was pressure cooked to 3 whistles after which the heat was lowered to the minimum, and allowed to simmer for 3 hours.
The veggies were strained and then discarded with the bones. After cooling, I put it in the refrigerator, ready for use as soup, a shot, or bullion soup added to food. The taste is sweet along with a tang because of the cider vinegar, but fiery with the pepper and ginger. That's how I like my broth.
Tip: Instead of throwing out cooked bones, potato and carrot peels, extras like cauliflower leaves, or the odd onion or tomato, save them in a freezer-bag and freeze until to be used.
In reality, bone broths should simmer longer than 3 hours - overnight if you have a slow cooker. The soup will have a layer of clear jelly congealed on top once it cools down. Do not discard this. It has a lot of nutrients and should be drunk along with the soup.
