Bone Broths and all types of stock have been around for a very long time. The reason why is because they are so good for you and they can save you money. These days we have to buy our bones from the butcher, but I remember my nana telling me stories of when they would “kill a beast” to fill up the freezer. Everything would be used and then the bones would be used to make stock (the dogs might get one each if they were lucky) It was just the way things were done in those days!
How to save money making stock. Well the best way is to throw all those left over veggies in the bottom of the fridge into a pot, cover with filtered water (we will talk about that later) add bit of salt and pepper and some lovely herbs and bring to the boil then turn down and let simmer for at least an hour, two is even better.
In my soup eBook (available for $3.99 in the shop) I go into depth about about all things stock, because when making a good soup, it is the first and most important step and have included all the recipes, not just a sample few as I have done here.
Conventional Soup Contents Page
Thermomix Soup Contents Page
Bone Broths and Stocks
The difference between a bone broth and a stock is the amount of time it takes to cook and the quality of the ingredients that you use. Bone Broths help to heal the lining of the gut to encourage good bacteria so that your body is able to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients it needs. Therefore it is important to always use organic bones and biodynamic or organic vegetables. Stocks are a quicker version of broths to add flavour to soups, stews, gravy’s etc. They are a staple in the kitchen and always great to have frozen in 500ml containers and concentrate versions in stock cubes, just to give your food that extra flavour. I still do often use the bone broths as a stock base, but it does tend to give the soup a much richer, stronger flavour.
I also make up stock bags to put in the freezer of all the off cuts of my vegetables. These include the leaves of celery, the stems of broccoli and cauliflower, the tops of zucchini and carrots, as well as the carrot peel. It is so easy and then you can make the basis of a meal with the stuff that you would normally throw away, without any real effort.
All my stock recipes call for filtered water because most water that comes out of the tap has a lot of chlorine in it. It doesn’t taste very good when you are slowing boiling ingredients to try and get all the flavour and nutrients out of them, particularly Bone broths which can simmer for up to 48 hours. Some water also has fluoride in it, which you really don’t want to be drinking in concentrated amounts in a stock.
The salt that you use to flavour your stock is also very important. Click here or on the picture if you are interested to learn more about salt and what is the best.
This is the way I make my meat bone broth. Some people only cook for 24 hours, but I think that 48 is best. You can also start off you stock on the stove then transfer it to a slow cooker (if you have one big enough) on low so you can cook it longer. I often start my beef broth one day, transfer it to the slow cooker the next and then start the chicken, then they both finish at the same time. You can also roast your bones in the oven before using as this gives another different depth of flavour to the stock.
Beef /Lamb Bone Broths
Ingredients
1 – 2 kgs organic beef bones chopped (your butcher should do this for you)
1 hand organic garlic cut in half
1 organic carrot
1 organic onion
Bunches of fresh organic herbs or 2 teaspoons dried mixed organic herbs
4 organic celery sticks
60g organic apple cider vinegar
Method
1. Place all ingredients into a 6-8 litre large pot and cover with 6 litres of filtered water.
2. Bring to a rapid boil then turn down and gently spoon off any scum that may have risen to the top.
3. Simmer over a very low heat (just a few bubbles every now and then) for 24 – 48 hours.
4. When ready strain off liquid from bones and vegetables and store in glass containers for about 2 weeks.
5. If you wait until it is completely cold you may place into portion sized BPA free plastic containers and freeze until needed.
6. Always reheat bone broths on the stove or Thermomix because you are trying to get all the nutrients into your body and reheating in the microwave will kill these nutrients.
How to concentrate a stock
1. Take the amount of strained stock liquid you want to concentrate, put it in a pot and bring it to the boil. Turn down the heat, but make sure that the liquid is still boiling.
2. When the liquid has reduced by ½, taste and see if you would like it to be stronger, if so let it reduce again until it is ¼ of the original amount.
3. Cool then pour into ice-cube trays to freeze ready for use.
Stock Pastes in the Thermomix.
I love my thermomix and its ability to make something from scraps. Here is my vegetable stock paste, it is a bit different from the Basic Cook Book, and so is my Chicken Paste as well as my Meat Paste, but you will have to get the Soup eBook for those recipes (I know I’m mean, but a girl has to eat… LOL)
Vegetable Stock Paste
Ingredients – makes 1.5 litres of stock paste and 1.5 litres of liquid stock
200g onion
6 cloves garlic
5 fresh sage leaves
1 whole bunch fresh parsley
3 stems fresh rosemary (leaves only)
3 stems fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
5 black peppercorns
40g olive oil
20g butter
100g celery
120g carrot
100g zucchini
100g broccoli stalks
100g spinach
2 tomatoes
125g white wine
130g salt
Method
1. Place roughly chopped onion, garlic cloves, sage leaves, parsley, rosemary, thyme, mixed herbs, bay leaves and peppercorns into the mixing bowl, chop 3 seconds/speed 7.
2. Scrape down the mixing bowl and add in butter, oil and sauté 3 minutes/Varoma/speed 1.
3. Add in roughly chopped celery, carrots, zucchini, broccoli stalks, spinach and roughly chopped tomatoes, chop 10 seconds/speed 7.
4. Scrape down the bowl, add in white wine, salt and cook 30 minutes/Varoma/speed 1, with the basket on top instead of the MC to allow more steam to escape.
5. When finished (making sure the MC is on) blend ingredients1 minute/speed 5, gradually increasing to speed 9.
6. Pour ingredients into glass container and set aside to cool, making sure to leave about 2-3 tablespoons of stock in the bowl.
7. Fill bowl with approximately 1.5 litres of water and turbo/3 times. Pour liquid stock into another container and use for another day.
Well there you have it, my hints and tips about stock, I hope it has been helpful. If you have any questions please ask and I will try and get to answer them as soon as possible. In the mean time, Happy Cooking.
Enjoy Irresponsibly,
Liz xx
Liz xx
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