I have a confession. I quit coffee. Not on purpose, but because I found something even better. You may not agree with me, and you may decide that this new hot drink is absolutely no replacement for the dark brown, roasted, wake-you-up-with-a-burst-of-caffeine beverage that you habitually drink, but let me share this amazing, old, time-tested, and treasured secret with you. You might decide, like I did, that it's worth including as part of your daily routine.
I had heard a short blurb on a talk radio station about a little place in NYC called Brodo. It's Italian for broth. A little walk-up window in an old brick building on 1st Avenue at 12th Street serving coffee-style to-go cups brimming with steaming hot bone broth that offers immense nutritional value... protein, minerals, and collagen... enriching your body, mind and spirit. MMMMMMMM mmmm, I was intrigued... and then a bunch of time went by. And I didn't think about it again until one of our very wise patients told me that she had started drinking... bone broth! And I was re-intrigued!
I knew that I needed to at least explore this a little bit more. Living in Fairborn, Ohio did not give me access to Brodo, and the wonders of their bone broth, but I love to cook, and bake, and experiment in the kitchen, so I was up for the challenge. I'm Italian, and my Nonna did things the right way when it came to preparing food for her family. No shortcuts, no wasted food, and so I began drawing from my heritage (and comparing googled recipes) and went to work.
For the first couple of months, I was discouraged because I couldn't find organic, whole chickens in stock anywhere. And I couldn't special order them from local grocery stores either. Since it is "bone" broth, I needed bones. Healthy, clean bones, with collagen-rich joints. And then just when I was about to give up my quest, Fresh Thyme opened their gleaming new doors! And inside were rows of gorgeous, organic whole chickens! Raising my hands high in the air, I exclaimed, "Hallelujah"! (I'm an introvert, so that part only happened in my head, but I was very happy!) I purchased the largest one available, which was around 5 1/2 pounds, and headed home.
I experimented with several ways of preparing this magical elixir, and after many attempts, and lots of taste-testing, the best resulting broth came from roasting the chicken, cooling enough to remove the meat. and then adding the carcass, skin, and gizzards to an 8 quart stock pot filled with room temperature reverse osmosis water. The simmering causes the bones and ligaments to release the healing compounds of collagen, proline, silicone, and glutamine that have the power to transform your health. I will attach the complete recipe below, but I want to tell you about all of the incredible benefits that I've noticed over the last several months and also share some of the research that I uncovered about the "side effects" of bone broth, so that you may be more inclined to add this to your to-do list. I prefer to get adjusted on a regular basis, receive nutrition from the foods that I eat and then supplement if necessary, so here you go:
A powerful potion, right?!? Is it enough to convince you to try it for a month???
Here is the recipe that I have been preparing faithfully every 7 days. You not only have the resulting delicious, nutritious broth, but you have fresh roasted, organic chicken that you can keep in the refrigerator, and use as protein snacks, or on salads, or in entrees. Plus I like always having it available for when my grand puppies come to visit. And my youngest grandson, Noble! He likes this chicken as much as the dogs do!
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Ingredients
1 whole organic chicken, approximately 5-5 1/2 pounds (for those of you in the Dayton area, these are available from Fresh Thyme)
Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning grinder, I love how this enhances the broth's flavor
4 carrots, cut into 3" pieces
1 large onion, or 2 medium, quartered
3 stalks of celery, cut into 3" pieces
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
Reverse Osmosis water, or other purified water, to fill stock pot
Preparation: Prepare chicken for roasting by removing gizzards and placing them in a small bowl. Set aside in refrigerator until chicken is roasted. Place the chicken in a parchment paper lined (this will keep the natural cooking juices from splattering in the oven) roasting pan, secure wings with twine and tie up legs. Sprinkle liberally using Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning grinder or with salt and ground pepper. Roast at 375 degrees for approximately 2-2 1/2 hours, until temperature reaches 170 degrees. Remove from oven. Let cool. Remove meat from carcass and save and refrigerate the meat for another use. Slowly add the carcass, pan juices and any additional bones, or skin from the chicken to an 8 quart stock pot. Add the gizzards and neck from the refrigerator. Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic and peppercorn to the stockpot. Add 2 tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar which you will not taste, but will help to break down the bones and allow the nutrients to be drawn out. Fill stock pot with room temperature water. Simmer on the lowest temperature for approximately 24 hours. Broth will become golden in color the longer it cooks. Remove bones, and vegetables from broth. Pour and press through a strainer to get smaller pieces. Discard the remaining bones, and cooked vegetables. Let the broth cool. Then store in 2- 2 quart glass containers in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freeze until later use. To use, bring 12-16 ounces of the broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Do not microwave. For additional therapeutic support, you can add 1 tablespoon of organic bovine gelatin to 1/4 cup of water in a mug. Let proof while heating chicken broth to a simmer. Immediately pour broth over gelatin, stir to incorporate, and drink while hot.
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Some additional information:
Wishing you a year of Living Well in 2016!
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