Bone broth and stock

If you cook meat on the bone, then you really should be making broth and stock.  Bone broth has become the superfood of recent times, but it’s nothing new and it’s so easy to make, especially if you have a slow cooker as you can cook it overnight.   It doesn’t really matter if you believe the hype surrounding broths, they taste so good, why wouldn’t you want to enjoy them. Basic broth/stock Depending on how well you strain your bones and vegetables, depends on whether you get a clear broth or a stock, I can’t be bothered with straining through muslin and so end up with a stock with a few bits in it I freeze my bones until I have enough to make a decent amount of stock, you can make it on the hob, or in a slow cooker – I particularly like to do the dark meat bones in the slow cooker as you can just leave them on for a day without worrying about them Make either stock with chicken OR dark meat bones, it’s better not to mix as the taste is quite different

• Take all the bones you have saved and put them a suitably sized pan
• add a couple of washed carrots chopped in half if needed
• break in half two sticks of celery and pop in the pan
• take the outermost brown leaves off an onion and quarter and add to the pan
• cover everything with water and bring to the boil, then cook really really low for about 8 to 12 hours for chicken and about 18 to 24 hours for the beef.
• Strain through a sieve, cool and remove the fat.

You can reheat and drink, or use in cooking as a stock. I freeze mine in suitably sized bags ready for use.