As we all know, it’s good to beef up your immune system year round, but there are certain times when it’s more important. During the cold winter months, sipping on a hot steaming cup of beef bone broth can help heal the body as well as soothe the soul.
(*For an added bonus read/scroll all the way down to the bottom and I’ll tell you how to make the BEST RESTAURANT STYLE DEMI-GLACE for your steaks! Suuuuuper YUM!!!) ?
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Starbones?
Chicken soup and chicken broth were always a staple for us when I was a kid. Lately, it seems beef broth boutiques are popping up here and there. Don’t laugh. I was in Maplewood, MO and the local butcher was selling cups of beef bone broth for $3.00. Dang!
In 1982 when coffee was 50 cents, did you think there’d be a Starbucks selling java worldwide for $4.00? Maybe I could put caffeine in bone broth and start a franchise of Starbones? Hmm… I’ll savor that food for thought later.
Brodo Broth
I’ll keep a little store bought broth around the kitchen just in case I run out of my own stuff. For deep homemade flavor and nutrition, I use Brodo Broth’s beef broth, chicken broth and hearth broth. I haven’t tried their vegetable broth yet, but I want to!
Clean the bones by covering with water, boil, and then pour all the water down the drain.
Until then, make your own. Even though it takes awhile, it’s ridiculously easy and one of the most nutritious things you can do for your body. Plus, it’s loaded with healing compounds like collagen, glutamine, glycine, and proline.
Fill the pot again, then slowly simmer for 12 hours. Now we’re getting the good stuff out.
Beef bone broth’s Powerhouse resume
Check out these bone broth’s benefits:
- Treats leaky gut syndrome
- Improves joint issues
- Helps with food intolerances
- Reduces cellulite (WHAT?!!!)
- Boosts the immune system
Can we go back to #4, please? Nothing reduces cellulite. I’ve tried I don’t how many potions and lotions to combat the hail damage on the back of my thighs. In a double blind, placebo-controlled study it was found that women who took 2.5-5 grams of collagen hydrolysate every day for 8 weeks had noticeable improvements in overall skin texture, moisture, and elasticity. I wonder how much collagen is in a gallon of bone broth?
Refrigerate the water from the 1st simmer, and cover the bones with water & veggies. Simmer again for 12 hours.
Initially, I really liked bone broth because it tastes great and I’d heard it helped you from getting sick. That’s a total bonus combination right there. Now, I’ve got a cosmetic reason to boot! I’ll keep you posted on any noticeable changes. Summer’s coming, baby! 🙂
Use a brush to bring all that yummy flavor back into the pot.
Shop local shop organic
This is a great reason to befriend your local butcher. If you don’t have a local butcher, ask the meat department people at your grocery store to cut up some beef bones. Make sure they saw them up for you. The last thing you want is a brontosaurus bone sticking out of your soup pot. They’ve got all the tools and they’ll be more than happy to do it for you.
Yummmmm… ?
Once you’ve made your beef bone broth, keep half on the stove to dip into and freeze the other half in ice cube trays. You can use those later to drink or to use in recipes calling for beef stock or beef broth. That way you know you’re cooking with wholesome goodness and not artificial weirdness.
Best Restaurant Style Demi-Glace
After you’ve made yourself a big ol’ pot of bone broth (recipe below), save it in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze it for up to 3 months. To make the best demi-glace you’ve ever had, simply take 2 cups of this bone broth (no salt added) and reduce it down over a high heat in a sauce pan. Reducing is basically restaurantese for “boil the freaking tar out of something until you have less.” Your going to get the broth boiling and then wet a basting brush (or BBQ brush) with the broth and incorporate the residue from the sides into the boiling broth. Do this until you have about 3/4 cup of broth. It should be pretty thick. Taste and add a little sea salt if needed. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of butter and pour over your steak. This demi-glace is simply divine.
*A special shout out and thank you to Gillian Szollos at Facebook’s Ketotally – Ottawa Keto Foodies for giving me the tip about adding apple cider vinegar to the broth. It helps draw out even more minerals in the bones and adds a deeper flavor to the finished broth. Thanks Gillian!
Beef Bone Broth
This recipe is not hard but it does require long slow simmer times, but sooooo worth it! | www.lakesidetable.com
Ingredients
- 6 pounds lean beef bones raw
- 2 medium onions quartered
- 2 large carrots rough chop
- 2 medium celery rough chop
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 thyme stalks
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
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Cover bones with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and boil for 15 minutes.
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Pour water off and discard it. Clean the pot. Give the bones a rinse with clean water.
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Cover bones again in the pot with water. Simmer for 12 hours. Pour this water off and reserve it.
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Cover bones once again with water. Add onions, carrots, bay leaf, thyme, apple cider vinegar, and celery. Cover and simmer for up to 24 hours. As water evaporates, use a pastry brush to wash the sides of the pot and incorporate the residue back into the broth. (This is flavor!) Add more water as needed.
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Remove bones. Add reserved beef water to this stock. Increase heat and reduce liquid, continuing to brush the sides with water. Taste and correct seasoning.
Recipe Notes
Best Restaurant Style Demi Glaze
After you've made yourself a big ol' pot of bone broth (recipe below), save it in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze it for up to 3 months. To make the best demi glaze you've ever had, simply take 2 cups of this bone broth (no salt added) and reduce it down over a high heat in a sauce pan. Reducing is basically "restaurantese" for "boil the freaking tar out of something until you have less." You're going to get the broth boiling and then wet a basting brush (or BBQ brush) with the broth and incorporate the residue from the sides into the boiling broth. Do this until you have about 3/4 cup of broth. It should be pretty thick. Taste and add a little sea salt if needed. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of butter and pour over your steak. This glaze over this steak is life altering.