I wanted some beef broth stock to use in a couple double batches of soup I planned to make (Winter Barley Soup with Beef and Vegetable Soup with Beef) so I cooked four beef soup bones until the meat was tender, cut it off the bones (actually most of it fell off), and then simmered the bones for another day. The broth was unbelievably gelatinous (holy nutrition!) and so flavorful.
We get these economical beef soup bones from friends who are (not certified organic but as close as could be) beef farmers several miles west of the Big City. The cuts are about 5" in diameter and I value the bones nearly as much as the meat as they make such good bone broth. I call these soup bones miniature beef roasts. And I gotta admit the meat from them tastes as good as any roast I've ever made.
I'm rectifying the paltry back-up of chicken broth by stewing three of our old hens I pulled from the freezer last night. Into two big stewing pots they've gone this morning. I add chunks of celery, carrot and onion along with salt, pepper and some herbs. Today I sprinkled in sage, rosemary, parsley and thyme. Both pots are currently simmering away sending the lovely aroma wafting through the house. (Waft, waft, waft.)
As with the beef soup bones, I'll strip the chicken meat from the bones, then put everything but the meat back into the broth in the pots and simmer that for another day or two to get the nutritional value from the bones.
Do you make your own bone broth? It's really quite easy and the nutrition and flavor your broths will have is like nothing you can purchase. Plus, there will be a night-and-day difference you can taste.
21 comments:
We raise our own beef and the soup bones are some of my favorites. The meat and broth are wonderful!
I make broth now and then. This weekend we made Korv (Swedish sausage) and during the week I roasted a beef eye round roast so today I have that sliced in the crock pot for Beef on Weck sandwiches and I ground fresh horseradish. So I'm feeling pretty domestic. :)
Hi Mama Pea :) YES!!! I'm happy to say I make my own bone broth! We are more chicken broth people though. And after Thanksgiving, I made a big batch of turkey broth. Those are still in the freezer. My biggest challenge is remembering to defrost them before I use them! :)
PS: LOVE the yellow toaster!!! :)
I printed out the pictures of your chickens and geese for my Goddaughter and framed two
for her. She said this summer she will become a chicken farmer. She's 4 years old.
Coni
Jan - Too many people think the soup bones are just throw-aways. How unfortunate. When I was growing up, my mom would buy "ox tails" in the grocery store meat counter and make the most delicious ox tail soup. Bet not many people have that these days!
SmartAlex - Mmmm, homemade sausage. Our good neighbors just gave us some potato (and pork) sausage they make and that's so good! I envy you your fresh horseradish. Last year I was going to buy some horseradish root for our garden, but the smallest quantity I could find was four roots. There's no way we could use that much. And it wasn't cheap either. I think I'll look again this year and see what I can find.
Rain - Mmm, I love turkey broth! So full-flavored! There have been many times I've had to "melt" a frozen cube of broth in a pan so I could use it. I know if we pressure canned the broth it would be "ready to use" but I try to stay away from canning because the high heat destroys some of the good vitamins and enzymes. :o(
Our daughter gave us the toaster around 15 years ago as a Christmas present. Best toaster I've ever had! I love it.
Coni - Awww, that is the sweetest thing! Wouldn't it be wonderful to build her a small chicken house with fenced in run and order her some baby chicks this spring?
A family we know has a nine year old daughter who wanted to start chicks last spring. Her dad built her the coolest chicken house in their back yard and fenced in a big pen around some of their big, old trees. We gave them six of the chicks we ordered and the birds are now laying eggs for them. I don't know who is more excited, the nine year old or her mom and dad!
My mom always had soup bones in the freezer (her brother was a dairy farmer and we often had beef in the fridge from him). There is no comparison between homemade beef stew, or beef barley soup and that from a can! -Jenn
I love beef vegetable soup made from soup bones.
Years ago, when my kids were young, I used to make braised oxtails. They were much cheaper then than they are now. When the kids asked what we were having I told a little white lie and said they were beef rounds. (They were roundish, and beef). I knew there was no way on earth they would eat ox tails, if I called them ox tails. They loved beef rounds, though.
I'll roast my bones in the oven before I make my stock/bone broth. I keep a richer tasting broth. Whenever we but a cow for the freezer, the processor was amazed that I wanted the bone ans off cuts too just for this process. BTW, I never let my pantry stock fall below 6 pints/quarts before I'm making more.
A friend who raises beef cattle gave me some bones for the dogs - huge, meaty bones. Needless to say, the dogs never saw them. There is nothing quite as delicious and nutritious as homemade bone broth.
We should...!
We should...!
We should...!
Thank you...!
Mama Pea,
Homemade bone broth is the only way to go. We make it here all the time, and can it for future use. Back in the olden days, a cup of bone broth with lunch and dinner will help keep sickness away :-)
Hugs and love to you and your family.
Sandy
Jenn - The really sad thing is that when I was a child (100 years ago), you could buy commercially canned soup (Campbell's, for instance) that did taste good! I think they even used real ingredients then. But not so anymore. Yep, to get good soup, you have to make it yourself. And when you get down to it, making soup is pretty easy. And you usually have several servings when you're done that keeps very well in the refridge until needed next! Yay, SOUP!
susie - Beef rounds! What a clever mommy you were. I love it! I didn't even know you could buy ox tails anymore. Have never seen them way up here in the sticks.
J.L. Murphey - Oh, you are such a wise woman . . . never letting your pantry stock fall below 6 pints/quarts before making more. So, so wise! (You can imagine my sense of panic when I realized I had only one quart of chicken stock left. Yikes!)
Susan - And to think there are people who think soup bones are worthless! Oh, where have we gone wrong in teaching nutrition?!
wisps of words -
Do it...!
Do it...!
Do it...!
You're welcome...! (Big grin!)
Sandy - What could be better for a person feeling poorly than a cup of homemade bone broth? Nuthin', I say, nuthin'! Heck, even little ones could drink it from a sippy cup.
I have a whole freezer full of Turkey, ham, and chicken broth that I keep meaning to pull out and use in my soups but somehow it only comes out when one of us is injured or sick. But since it's so good for us at that time I don't complain too much!!
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