Hello friends! I sincerely hope you have been enjoying soup/stew season as much as we have!  Bone broth everyday keeps the nasties away!

Bone broth you ask?

Why yes, don't you have at least a cup daily?

No.

We need to talk!

Bone broth~yes, you need to make it at home or find a friend who will because a box of Swanson's and the like are NOT clean bone broth.  Heck, most shelf item processed goodies have interesting ingredients and for many of us who cannot ingest gluten, don't even think about most store bought "broths".

Simple rules if you wish to get on the bone broth road is this~never toss out bones (or chicken feet if butchering).  After every steak, pork chop, roast, lamb chop, baked chicken, venison, duck, etc...keep all bones.  Easy enough.  If you don't have much, keep gallon size freezer bags you can add to until stock making day.  Naturally, you would want to keep all of your stock choices in separate bags.

Items needed for a great stock:

Garlic, onion, celery, carrots, bones and water.

Great additions if you want to add a bit more flavor are fresh herbs & leek tops (save these when you use the whites for other recipes)

If you want to go a step further, chicken feet and pig trotters.  These when properly prepared to use for stock add a gelatinous thickening that helps concentrate the stock.

I have bags of chickens feet and can get trotters from my butcher.  My freezer does have an interesting look, no doubt.

Stock can be made in a simple, large stock pot or in a pressure cooker.  I often use the pressure cooker because I think the additional "pressure" helps to release more of the nutrient marrow into the stock at a much faster rate and more concentrated.  Either method will give good results.

If you are doing a slow simmer in a traditional stock pot, a decent stock simmers 6 to 8 hours.  Pressure cooker (please refer to your cookers manual for pressure and time), but mine takes approximately 1 1/2 hours.  I have an old fashioned rattle top pressure canner and I love that beast!

Once your stock is done, stain well and either freeze or pressure can (again, please refer to your canner manual).

I use my stock when we cook rice, braise meats, soups, stews, beans etc....basically, this way we have it often more than once a day.  My children and I have been blessed with good health this fall/winter with minimal colds.  We have had the startings of them and luckily beaten them back with good nutrition!

Enjoy a steeping cup of chicken broth for sipping.  It is delicious and soothing.

To you and yours, Good Health and happy bone broth making!  Please feel free to add your bone broth ideas, successes and questions.  I would love to hear from you.

Your local agrarian,

Michele

Next Wednesday, November 16th I am hosting a beef processing workshop at Nadolski's Butcher Shop.  Jonathon Nadolski will be giving live demonstration of how he obtains the "Ice Cream Cuts" of beef.  These are the best of the best!  As hostess of this tutorial, I will be providing hors d'oeurves featuring local grass fed beef and other seasonal foods.  There will also be wine tasting and Belgian ale sipping.  A little something for everyone.  The event is at 7pm when the butcher shop closes to make this a private event with plenty of time to ask questions and perhaps even take home a freshly prepared specialty cut, vino, cheeses, salami's, sausages, etc...So many wonderful items can be found at our local butcher shop.

The steer in question will be picked up that morning.  Truly a fresh and local event if ever there was one!

Please just click on the link to register!

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2475434090

Here is photo of our last workshop~always a bountiful good time!