Superfood: Bone Broth Soup

Ok I need to admit something to you. I’m hooked. Absolutely hooked on Bone Broth Soup. Maybe it has something to do with it being winter and damp and cold or maybe it just appeals because I remember my mother and my grandmother making this same soup – or maybe it just makes my house smell so wonderful when it’s brewing that it is irresistible. Whatever the reason I’ve been making a whole lot of bone broth these days.

And, it turns out, so has the rest of the health conscious community. It has become the next biggest health fad. You can even buy bone broth at bone broth bars in New York City like you could buy juice at juice bars about 5 years ago.

Bone Broth Soup has been used in cuisine around the world for centuries. We always knew that there was something alchemical about boiling bones in water over a fire for an extended period of time. It’s really the taste of the broth for the cook in me – that amino acid glutamine that is eventually formed from bones cooked a long time. The perfect flavour. There really is nothing like it. But now we know that there are health benefits too!

Bone Broth Soup is good for your immune system. It’s good for your skin. It’s a source of protein. It’s full of easily digestible minerals. To put it simply: it’s a super food. Here is a link to the article that first inspired me: http://www.townsendletter.com/FebMarch2005/broth0205.htm

Need more recipes? Our entire list of Barefoot In The Kitchen Recipes

Simple Bone Broth Soup

Keep your bones from other meats that you may eat – poultry, beef, pork, fish, shellfish. I freeze all mine together in a big bag in the freezer until I’ve collected enough to basically fill my crock pot.
Alternatively you can go to your butcher (I’m assuming that your butcher uses only meat from happy, grass-fed animals) and ask for poultry and beef bones – get your butcher to cut up your beef bones so they fit in your crock pot. It often takes about 7lbs of fresh raw bones to fill my crock pot.
Add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
Fill the pot with water, covering the bones as much as possible. Put the lid on and turn the crock pot on low.
Cook for 72 hours, adding water when necessary. Smaller bones should literally crumble, indicating that all of the minerals have come into your soup solution.
Freeze your broth in 2 cup portions to use to cook rice or make home made soup.

Here are two great recipes for homemade soup:

Tim’s Famous Italian Wedding Soup

Tracey’s Favourite Tomato Spice Soup

Other resources:

CBC Food columnist article

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/bone-broth-the-latest-food-trend-and-an-age-old-tradition-1.2912566

New York Times Recipe

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017117-beef-bone-broth