Recipe: Superb Vegetable Soup for Freezing

Superbly Sulfurous Soup
Yields: Amount depends on how it is packaged. I make this soup in a 12 quart stockpot, and it makes between 7 to 10 quarts of soup. This soup is packed with vitamins A, C, and K; immune-boosting sulfurous vegetables, and great flavor. Best of all, you pick the seasoning from a list of possibilities or something you already know and love in your kitchen.  Note to AIP followers: if you cannot have nightshades, the soup still works; just use carrot ketchup or Nomato to add a tangy sweetness. You will not need as much carrot ketchup or Nomato to replace the tomato in the soup. Start with a cup toward the end of cooking to give the body of the broth a boost. Or you can just omit the tomatoes and have fun with the seasoning. Note to Wahls Protocol followers: As described in the directions, one container of this soup will satisfy the daily requirement of three cups of sulfurous vegetables for the Wahls Protocol. If you eat less than three cups of sulfurous vegetables per day, or wish to have less than three cups of cooked sulfurous veggies in one sitting, you will have more containers of soup. Assuming you eat three cups of sulfurous vegetables per day, you will have between seven to ten containers to freeze depending on the type of sulfurous leafy greens chosen and how long you cook the soup. Soup may be stored and frozen in glass jars, BPA-free plastic containers, or BPA-free Ziploc freezer bags. Directions for storing are listed below.
Prep Time	Cook Time		Special Equipment
1 hour	3 to 4 hours		10-12 quart stockpot
Ingredients
12 loose, mixed cups of sulfurous leafy greens such as collards, kale, chard, or mustard greens		4 tightly packed cups broccoli florets, cut into spoon-sized pieces
4 tightly packed cups of cauliflower florets, cut into spoon sized pieces		4 tightly packed cups red or green cabbage, shredded
4 tightly packed cups of onions, diced		½ cup minced shallots
3 cans diced tomatoes		3 cans tomato sauce
2 cans tomato paste		12 cups beef or chicken broth
2 pounds meat such as browned hamburger, cooked and chopped chicken, or cooked, chopped, or pulled beef roast		1 medium head garlic, minced
3 TBSP seasoning*		Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1.    Add leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, and shallots to stockpot.
2.   Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and shallots.
3.   Add meat, broth, half the garlic, and half the seasoning.
4.   Stir contents of stockpot until well mixed. Add water until the ingredients are covered by two to three inches of liquid.
5.  Bring contents of stockpot to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer with stockpot covered for two hours. Stir periodically as needed.
6.   Keep an eye on the liquid level.  Some of the liquid will be absorbed by the ingredients. Add more water or broth if needed.
7.   At one hour of cooking time, add remaining half of garlic and 2 ½ TBSP of the seasoning.

8.  After two hours of cooking, taste vegetables to check for doneness. The cauliflower and the broccoli take the longest time to cook. If the vegetables are not yet done to your preference, continue simmering until vegetables are at the desired level of tenderness.

9.  Add remaining ½ TBSP of seasoning, salt, and pepper, stirring well.

Note: if you plan to serve all of the soup now, you may skip the following steps.

10.  Allow soup to cool in refrigerator.

11. I use four cup-sized plastic BPA-free containers to store this soup. Ladle three cups of the sulfurous veggies into a measuring cup, returning any excess liquid or meat to the pot. Add one cup of the broth mixture.  Fill containers and seal.

12.  Freeze containers.

*About seasonings: you may use your favorite seasonings for this soup: Italian seasoning, herbs de Provence, mixed herbs, Greek seasoning, harissa, lemon pepper, taco seasoning, or Indian-inspired spices. You can also add the salt and pepper now but leave out the seasoning entirely until you are ready to reheat the soup. This helps keep the soup interesting and satisfies different palates in the same family. When you are ready to reheat the soup, add a ½ to 1 tsp of seasoning per four cup container of the seasoning that you prefer that day. Mixing up the seasonings, I rarely get bored with the soup even after eating it for multiple days. Salsa is also an excellent addition to the soup.

Look for colorful cauliflower, cabbage, and kale to make your soup beautiful and full of antioxidants.

Recipe Source: www.PrescriptionPlate.com   Recipe and content copyright Amy Ward ©2014

How to Troubleshoot Naughty Bone Broth

My chicken bone broth
at 26+ hours of cooking.

I love the whole food and Paleo nutrition movements for many reasons, but especially for luring cooks back into the kitchen for the best possible reasons: to cook sometimes unfamiliar or forgotten foods, to explore new flavors on the way to better health, and to make me feel less weird for my longtime love of making my own bone broth. Do you have any idea what it is like to have your secret foodie geek obsession go mainstream? I must say, it's pretty trippy.

Truly, once you start making your own broth, it's hard to accept the stuff in cans and boxes anymore. Getting into a routine of making broth can be irksome at first, because there are so many competing recipes in cookbooks and recommendations on the interwebs. If you are a first-time broth cook figuring out the ropes, or if after years of cooking you end up with a funky batch of broth, it's extremely discouraging. At least canned broth rarely stinks up your kitchen! 

Many cooks get frustrated when their first batch of broth does not quite match the elusive elixir imagined in dreams. Give yourself some space to make a few whoopsies along the way. You will soon learn that bone broth is extremely forgiving and there are precious few absolute rules. You must have a cooking vessel, bones, water, and heat. Everything else is preference. Determining if your broth is great comes down to three simple questions: do you like it? Do you want to take another sip? Does it make you feel good to drink or eat it? Do you see health benefits from consuming it?

If you make a batch of bone broth to which the answer for the above questions is a firm 'no,' then keep reading. Help is on the way.

My bone broth didn't turn out at all. It didn't gel! It's a total failure, right?

Do you remember the TV show Home Improvement with Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor? Tim Taylor, played by Tim Allen, was a suburban dad with an awful TV show. He loved power tools and even had a special grunting noise to show his appreciation for especially impressive gadgets. Why am I yammering about this? In a way, the Paleo movement has a similar fascination with making bone broth that gels. It has to gel, right? How we love watching our cooled broth wiggle! (However, if people are actually grunting over their gelled broth, I don't want to know.) So there is a perception that unless your broth gels, it's worthless. Is that true?

I think that judgment is too harsh. If you are this serious about making bone broth, chances are that you seek the health benefits that bone broth offers. However, we are working with whole food ingredients, not something made in a factory. Whole foods by their very nature will vary somewhat in nutrient and flavor content, particularly as you move away from processed GMO foods. This is especially true in meat products. 

Why did gelled broth become the pinnacle of broth-making success? Unfortunately, we don't have any other reasonable way of measuring whether or not there is gelatin in our finished broth. It would be great if there was a pregnancy test-like dipstick we could use to test each batch of broth, but there's no such thing. Yet. Could someone please start a Kickstarter campaign for this?

Using gelled broth as the sole indicator of broth-making success can be inaccurate and misleading. During cooking, heat breaks down the collagen in the bone, skin, connective tissue, and muscle we include in our broth. The collagen breaks down into gelatin, a substance much prized for its healthy benefits. When cooled, the gelatin creates a web within the broth that turns the liquid into a wobbly semi-solid. If there is too little gel, or too much water, that gelatin web won't be strong enough - and thus your broth won't gel. A broth that doesn't gel may, in fact, have lots of gelatin - but too much water. 

Sometimes you can give a broth a second chance to gel. Reduce the stock by about 25% over heat below boiling. This will allow more water to escape through evaporation and concentrate the flavor and nutrients in your broth. Return the broth to the refrigerator to cool for several hours. You may find that the broth now will have a better ratio of gelatin to water, and may delight you with its bouncy Kardashian awesomeness. Concentration of flavors is another perk of reducing your broth.

But if my broth doesn't gel, all of my Paleo friends will make fun of me! 

Ok, fine! Here's how to stack the deck to get the best chance at gelled broth. 

First, pick bones with a lot of connective tissue or bone mass. If your broth bones have plenty of joints, you are more likely to add significant gelatin to your broth. It may take a while to find the right bones to suit your taste, style of cooking, and cooking method. What are the best sources of collagen?

• Stewing chickens are collagen champs. These chickens are usually a year or two older than the average roasting chicken. Stewing chickens offer much to your broth: longer bones with more marrow, more connective tissue, and a nice layer of tasty yellow fat under their thicker skin. These hens tend to be much cheaper than using a roasting chicken. They can be hard to find, though. To find them, you may need to contact farmers directly or order online. Farmer's markets are great resources.
• After stewing hens, adding a few pairs of chicken feet is often a great way to get broth that gels wonderfully. If the sight of chicken feet bugs you, tuck them under other bones and vegetables in your pot.
• Many other chicken parts are great sources of collagen: feet, drumsticks, backs, wings, and necks. Wings, backs, and necks in particular have more connective tissues holding joints together, which equals more gelatin in your broth... unless you purchased a chicken that grew up near Chernobyl. And really, shouldn't that third wing been a total giveaway that your chicken wasn't quite normal?
• If you are making beef broth, look for bones that are joints rather than the cross-cut kind. Cross-cut bones still contain collagen, but joints tend to contain a lot more. I like to use one joint bone and one cross-cut bone. That combination in my 12 quart stock pot yields 6 quarts of broth.
• The cooking duration is an important factor when making beef bone broth. The beef bones are bigger, harder, and tougher than the chicken bone counterparts. After eight hours of cooking, only 20% of the gelatin has been extracted from the bones(1). I recommend a minimum of 24 hours when making beef bone broth.
• Pour a few tablespoons of good quality vinegar over your bones and wait for an hour. Select a vinegar you love for this purpose. The acid will help break down more collagen before cooking begins. If you are using a 'live,' probiotic vinegar, be mindful that any probiotic activity will be destroyed during the cooking process. 

If all else fails, you can add powdered gelatin to your broth. (I won't tell your Paleo friends if you won't.) You can use Knox unflavored gelatin, which is made from cows and pigs, or a higher quality product such as Great Lakes Kosher Unflavored Beef Gelatin. Follow the manufacturer's directions when determining how much gelatin to add. You will want to add the gelatin powder while the broth is still quite warm. Stir the broth until the powder is fully dissolved, then chill the broth until it gels.

My broth smells... bad.

How bad is bad? Are we talking a scent that is not too appetizing, or a scent that makes you want to fling your broth into a nuclear waste dump site and run?

Mostly it just doesn't smell very appetizing - not what I was expecting at all.

When we taste homemade stock for the first time, it may not smell or taste at all like the canned and boxed broths we have used before. If it smells truly awful, more investigation is warranted.

First, check the wrappers on your bones and meat. Make sure that none of the following apply to the meat and bones used in your stock:

• Bones or meat are not past their due dates - check FDA rules for chicken and beef.
• Bones and meat have been stored at appropriate temperatures to prevent spoilage.
• Bones and meat came from a quality supplier or store. You may find there are significant differences in quality and odor between pastured/grass-fed and grain-fed beef bones.

Ok, that was the easy part; let's get back to sleuthing. Deducing the other reasons for funky-smelling stock get a little more complicated from here. So much of the way we feel about the scent of bone broth is highly personal and extremely subjective. Broth that tastes great to one person may cause Exorcist-like nausea in another. I personally am not fond of the smell of ox tail bones cooking, but regular beef bones don't bother me. 

The scent of chicken broth is pleasant to most people. It smells a bit sweeter, and is a better starting point for vegetarians and vegans transitioning to eating meat. Beef broth can smell a little unappetizing but then still taste just fine. If you are confident that the bones and meat in the broth have not expired, take a taste of the broth. Does it just taste sort of like boiled bones? Does it seem to be missing big flavor? Were you hoping for broth that tasted a little more like homemade gravy or nicely browned roast?  Fill up a mug with the broth; sprinkle in a little salt and pepper, and evaluate.

If the broth merely tastes unpleasant or boring, here are several things to try:

• Add new chopped onion, carrot, and celery to the stockpot, even if you already cooked with these vegetables while you were cooking your broth. Sometimes the fresh vegetable flavors can fade during a long cook. Letting the broth simmer below boiling with new vegetables for an hour or two can boost the flavor. Taste after an hour and determine if you have made progress.
• Adding herbs, salt, and pepper can also help. I would recommend waiting to salt your broth until the broth is completely cooked and almost ready to store.
• The leaves from a pound of celery or a teaspoon of celery seed can have a truly transformative and almost cleansing effect on the flavor of a less-than-appetizing broth. Let the broth simmer below boiling for one hour.

If you did not roast your beef bones, you may be missing the fifth flavor: umami. Does the broth smell like raw meat or just sort of bony? Some people have a profound dislike for broth made from raw bones. You might prefer to roast your ingredients before making your next batch of bone broth. 

• To add umami to a broth you want to fix, mushrooms really help. Adding a pound of sliced white or portabella mushrooms can add some of the umami flavor that you are missing. 
• When you next make broth, first place bones in a baking dish and roast for 1 to 3 hours at 400 F. Place roasted bones and any juices from the baking dish into your broth. 
• Some like to roast or saute the vegetables used to flavor the broth. This, too, adds roasted flavors to the broth. Saute the vegetables until they begin to develop little brown flecks. Those flecks mean flavor! I don't recommend sauteeing the herbs or spices. Some cooks cover beef bones in tomato paste before roasting. The idea is that the tomato paste will brown, adding umami flavor and color to the broth. I recommend this step only if roasting the bones as directed above doesn't give you enough flavor.
• If you enjoy the flavor of roasted tomato sauce but forgot to roast your bones with it, it's not too late. Place 2 TBSP of tomato paste into a very small saucepan. Stir frequently over medium heat until the paste changes to a darkened color closer to brown, much the way you would prepare a roux. Be sure to taste the browned tomato paste before stirring it into your broth. This will ensure that you aren't adding any scorched flavors to your broth.
• If you enjoy the flavor of Worcestershire or soy sauce, try adding a 1/2 teaspoon of either sauce in the broth. You want to start low and go slow when adding these flavors to your broth.

My broth is beyond awful. I think something crawled into my crock pot and died!
If your broth is reminding you of roadkill, you can still try the steps above to revive the flavor. If the broth cannot be saved and the smell is making you sick, consider getting rid of the broth. I know it's hard to let go of something you may have been working on for hours and days. Despite much research, I have not found any specific scientific reason in references from leading food scientists to explain why this happens. 

Yet I know the smelly broth scenario pops up occasionally, and I wish I had a brilliant method to share with you that would forever prevent it. The use of apple cider vinegar to help draw nutrients out of bones is popular now, but even a nice vinegar soak will not fix smelly bones. 

I quizzed the Amish farmer who provides my grass-fed beef bones. Were some bones smellier than others, I asked? Are there some parts of the cow best avoided? His opinion was that any beef bone should make great broth - even the skull. That's good to know, but I think I'll stick with leg bones, thank you very much.

There are a few other smelly broth considerations:

• Bones from old or sick cows are sometimes a bit more odorous, but it is often quite impossible to know if your bones came from an old or sick cow. This is when having a relationship with the farmer or butcher providing your beef bones is a huge benefit. You can ask to stay away from bones donated by older cows.
• Grass-fed or pasteured beef bones tend to smell better to me than those from conventionally raised cows, but that is a personal opinion.
• Some find that cooking fresh or thawed bones creates more odors than starting your broth with cold water and frozen bones. Frozen bones may have less active and odor-causing bacteria.

My broth seems very weak and too watery. Can this broth be saved?

This happens most to cooks who are using a crock pot and cooking for short periods of time without vegetables and herbs. Usually you can salvage this type of broth.

• How long did you cook your broth? You can cook broth from just a few hours to several days. Adding cooking time helps develop flavors and extracts more nutrients from the ingredients. Toss the bones back in until you get more flavor.
• Were you reusing old bones? Make sure you add some new bones along with the previously used bones. This keeps the flavor bright and also helps keep up the nutrient levels. 
• Sometimes even broth made with plain chicken and beef bones doesn't smell very appetizing. It might not smell awful, but the flavor might seem too weak. Adding bones with meat (either cooked or uncooked, roasted or unroasted - choose your preference) and simmering a few hours longer may add more of the flavors you enjoy. 
• You can also add more parsley, celery leaves, and newly chopped vegetables to revive the flavor. Yellow onion skins can help darken the color, though a long cooking time does the best job.
• Reducing the broth by 25% at heat just below a hard boil can help concentrate the flavors you do have. 
• You can always jazz up your broth routine by making a bone broth nightcap, which is made with hot broth and easy-to-assemble ingredients. These are helpful if you find it hard to get into drinking bone broth regularly because of the flavor or viscosity of broth.

My broth tastes and smells fine, but it's really cloudy.

Bone broth is considerably cloudier than a traditional consomme or canned broth. What is that cloudy stuff? Nutrition. While clear broths are tasty, they look very different from what a home cook would make. I normally strain my broth through a fine mesh strainer. My major concern is removing all bone fragments, leftover meat, and tired vegetables. 

However, to get a clearer broth, you can line your wire mesh strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth. You can clean the strainer, replace the cheesecloth, and repeat the straining until you are satisfied with the result. 

High heat can also contribute to cloudy broth. Cooking your broth at a rolling boil agitates the ingredients more, causing small pieces to break off into the broth. As these pieces cook down, they cloud the broth. 

The ideal temperature for broth-making is 208-210 F/99 C(2). At this temperature, the surface of the broth will be mostly still. You may see a few small bubbles here and there. Slow and steady wins the race.

(1)McGee, Harold (2004). On Food and Cooking.
(2)Krasnow, M., Bunch, T., Shoemaker, C. and Loss, C. R. (2012), Effects of Cooking Temperatures on the Physicochemical Properties and Consumer Acceptance of Chicken Stock. Journal of Food Science, 77: S19–S23.

Need recipes for chicken and beef bone broths? Have you had a broth drama that wasn't covered in this post? Leave suggestions for the next version in Comments.

Recipe: Beautifully Beefy Bone Broth

You may find it useful to read my The Bone Broth Manifesto for additional details about improving the flavor, nutritional content, and color of any bone broth. 

Beautifully Beefy Bone Broth
Yields: About 6 quarts
Prep Time	Cook Time		Special Equipment
15 minutes	24 to 48 hours* *Time can be reduced but quality will not be the same		10-12 quart stockpot Wire strainer Optional: cheesecloth
Ingredients
3-4 pound beef bones, preferably a mix of joint and cross-cut bones		2 cups diced yellow onion, including onion ends and onion skins to add color and nutrients
1 cup diced carrots, heirloom if available		1 cup sliced celery
Leaves from 1 pound celery		1 cup loosely chopped parsley stems and leaves
1 whole medium head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally with skin intact		2 bay leaves
1 TBSP black or mixed peppercorns		4 TBSP powdered kelp (optional)
4 TBSP apple cider vinegar		Salt and pepper to taste (when cooking is completed)
1/8 cup red cabbage OR several red onion skins to add color and nutrients (optional)		1 tsp ground turmeric (optional)
1 TBSP dried herbs such as thyme, rosemary, herbes de Provence, or Italian seasoning
Directions
OPTIONAL: I highly recommend roasting your bones, but it is an optional step that you may skip depending on personal preference. Place bones in an oven safe skillet at 400 degrees F for 1 to 3 hours. The more you roast, the better the savory/umami flavors will be in your finished broth. When roasting is complete, tip roasted bones and any juices into the stockpot. Add several cups of water to the skillet and increase the heat to medium high. Use a whisk or wooden spoon to help any remaining pan drippings dissolve completely. Add the water from the skillet to your stockpot.
1. Place all ingredients in covered stockpot with 7-8 quarts of cold water on high heat.
2. Once the pot is at a full boil, reduce heat to simmer. The ideal temperature is 208-210 degrees F. If you have a thermometer, adjust the heat to bring contents to the target temperature. If not, adjust heat so that you see a bubble or two every minute or so. It is not ideal for the stock to boil, but if it does, this is not a big deal. Reduce the heat if this occurs.
3. Check the broth  after 20 minutes. Adjust heat as needed.
4. Maintain a low simmer for a total of 24 to 48 hours. Stir if desired. Broth does not need frequent stirring. If desired, you may even continue cooking for a total of 72 hours.
5. When time is up, remove stockpot from heat and cool until the broth is at a comfortable temperature for handling.
6. Pour broth through a wire mesh strainer. Line the strainer with cheesecloth if desired. Discard bones unless you plan to use them again. If you wish to remove fat, cool broth overnight in the refrigerator and use a spoon to scrape fat from the surface. Save the fat for frying and flavoring. Salt and pepper the broth to taste.
7. Store broth in different amounts according to how you will use it. A mixture of 1, 2, 4, and 8 cup containers is useful for everyday use and recipes.
Recipe Source: www.PrescriptionPlate.com   Recipe and content copyright Amy Ward ©2014, 2015

The Twelve Days of Bone Broth: Bring Back the Nightcap and Broth-tails

Bone broth need not be boring.
How about a Savory Pumpkin Snapper?

The bone broth honeymoon phase

I have always loved making meat stock/broth, enough to write a crazy manifesto about it. I transitioned easily to finding more uses for bone broth in cooking once going Paleo. (I think I prefer it most reduced into a thick, silky sauce with sauteed greens.) I make a lot of both chicken and beef bone broth and freeze it in a range of amounts. Over time, I slowly began to really enjoy drinking it. Bone broth is not only great to make and use for cooking. It's also a very scrumptious beverage. Really, I swear.

As I write this, we're now into December. Once cold weather officially arrived, my body decided that sipping broth before bed was a biological necessity. I was hooked. If I don't have my nightly bone broth by 8 pm, my body gets grumpy. I can feel my stomach tug insistently on my esophagus, sending up the none-too-polite request to get the bone broth party started. In fact, I'm thinking of getting a smoking jacket to wear whilst I enjoy this healthy nightcap. Sitting down with a toasty warm 16 oz. mug of homemade bone broth... Mmm.

But after a while of drinking it plain, in turmeric tea, and with grated ginger, I got bored. The honeymoon was over. And I began to envision a new kind of bar that included nutritious stir-ins and pick-me-ups to make the broth experience more fun, and maybe sneak in a little more nutrition in the process. Let it be known throughout the world: I am officially bringing back the nightcap. Save the tea to fling in Boston Harbor. It's about to get tasty in here.

The inspiration
Have you ever had Lipton Cup-a-Soup? You know, the soup-like foodstuff packaged so that you can rip it open, dump it in a mug, add hot water, and suddenly you have drinkable soup? It comes in a few different flavors: French-ish Onion Soup, Chicken-esque Noodle, and Creamy Chicken Tetrachloride. I used to love having that in my desk at work for when I had a cold - or was just feeling cold. I started thinking how, with the help of a dehydrator and gelatin, I could make a much, much tastier version of a drinkable soup in a mug.

Getting started

These nightcaps purposefully use ingredients common to the Paleo kitchen, including several where you can save small leftovers from meals you have already prepared to repurpose later. I assemble these nightcaps when I am warming up the bone broth. It just takes 1-2 minutes. I freeze my bone broth in jars with handles, and then warm up the jars either in a saucepan water bath or the microwave. I do this out of sheer laziness.

While your broth reheats, you have a few moments to assemble your nightcap ingredients. If the nightcap involves coconut milk, you get a creamier texture if you stir in the milk over a little heat. To keep these nightcaps drinkable, keep food pieces small enough to be safe for you to swallow unchewed. I either mince the ingredients or use a food processor/blender to cut things up. If you have a swallowing dysfunction, respect your limits.

Salt and pepper each to your personal taste, and based on how much you have already salted your bone broth/stock. These recipes work equally well with chicken, beef, pork, and turkey bone broths. You can even use store-bought broth if desired.

Each recipe is scaled for 1 cup (8 oz.) of the bone broth of your choice. My next post will detail how to assemble a shelf- or freezer-stable nightcap bar. These nightcaps are even easier to pull together when the ingredients are prepped and at hand.

The toppings tend to soak in the broth and remain at the bottom of cup, leaving you with a final treat to enjoy. The swizzle sticks are either enjoyable in their own right, or add to the flavor of the nightcap. You can also pick out tasty bits in your nightcap with the swizzle stick. Want easier swizzle sticks? I love popsicle sticks or coffee stirrers for lazy days. Don't like coconut oil or milk? Leave it out, or substitute a dairy product.

If you are following a Paleo diet, ensure that any condiments you are using are gluten- and dairy-free. Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce is gluten-free now, but you can also evaluate vegan alternatives.

A few nightcaps suggest a touch of alcohol for the adventurous, but follow the guidelines of your personal nutrition protocol. I don't drink personally, but I am mindful that developing a bone broth nightcap habit is not easy for everyone. Sometimes you need to grease the wheels. You could always be super hip and serve these to your friends. What about making a nightcap for a loved one of yours who really should be drinking bone broth but won't... yet?

Don't forget: it's always broth-o'-clock somewhere in the world!

Day 1: The French Connection

1 tsp Dijon mustard, preferably coarse grain

2 tsp minced shallots

1 tsp herbes de Provence or equivalent amount of rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and lavender 

Dash of champagne vinegar - or a few drops of cognac

Topping: 1 tsp rosemary leaves
Swizzle stick: rosemary twig

Day 2: Sweet Potato Curry

2 TBSP pureed sweet potato

1 tsp curry powder 

1 tsp ground turmeric
1 TBSP coconut milk (full-fat preferred) or other alternative milk

Topping: freshly ground black pepper to taste
Swizzle stick: cinnamon stick

Day 3: The Not-Tonight-Honey

3 minced garlic cloves 

3 tsp minced shallots

1/4 tsp raw honey

1 TBSP coconut oil

Topping: 1 tsp raw sunflower seeds
Swizzle stick: a fresh or dried hot pepper

Day 4: The Reborn Hippie

3-4 tsp fresh sprouted seeds of your choice (chop if the sprouts are long)

3-4 tsp minced wheatgrass

1 tsp dried kelp powder or 1 tsp cooked quinoa

1/2 tsp minced fresh or dried garlic

1 TBSP coconut oil

Topping: 1 tsp flax seeds
Swizzle stick: cucumber stick

Day 5: Out of Africa

3 TBSP minced or pureed carrot

1 tsp harissa paste or powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 TBSP ghee or coconut oil

Topping: 1 tsp chopped parsley
Swizzle stick: carrot stick

Day 6: Bloody Mary Redux

2 TBSP tomato paste or sauce
1/8 tsp horseradish

1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce 

1/4 tsp celery seed

1/4 tsp mustard powder

1 TBSP coconut oil

Topping: minced celery 

Swizzle stick: slice of crispy, cooled bacon 

Optional: You don't need me to tell you what kind of alcohol is in a Bloody Mary, do you?

Day 7: Savory Pumpkin Snapper

2 TBSP pureed pumpkin

2 TBSP full-fat coconut cream or milk

1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp black pepper

Topping: raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Swizzle stick: two parsley stems twisted together

Day 8: Thanksgiving Do-Over

1 TBSP minced carrot

1 TBSP minced celery

1 TBSP minced onion

1 TBSP sweet potato puree
1 TBSP coconut milk
1 tsp dried sage, rosemary, or thyme

Topping: 1 tsp dried cranberries on top

Swizzle stick: celery stick with celery leaves

Day 9: Chinese New Year

1/4 cup minced broccoli

1/4 cup minced carrot

2 TBSP minced onion

1 TBSP coconut oil
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder 

1 tsp tamari soy sauce or coconut aminos

Topping: 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Swizzle stick: Long sliver of broccoli floret

Day 10: Summer in Italy
1/4 cup dehydrated or sun-dried tomatoes, minced
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp balsamic vinaigrette

Topping: 1 tsp shredded basil
Swizzle stick: core of a fresh tomato

Day 11: French Onion Affair 

1/4 cup minced dried onions

2 tsp minced parsley

1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp coconut oil

Topping: minced green onion
Swizzle stick: root end of a green onion
Optional: a few drops of sherry, cognac, or white wine

Day 12: Steak and Kale

1/4 cup minced steak or jerky bits

1/4 cup minced kale or crushed-up kale chips

1 tsp minced red onion

1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp Worchestershire sauce

Topping: 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Swizzle stick: Trimmed kale stem - these are delicious roasted

Go forth and nightcap!

How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Bone Broth/Stock

Making a mug of broth is a breeze when frozen in handy
16 oz. glass jars with handles and reusable steel lids. 

Are you just getting started with adding bone broth to your health arsenal? Let the The Bone Broth Manifesto lead the way...

I make chicken bone broth/stock so often that I rarely store it in the refrigerator, though it is safe in the fridge for up to three days. I get really cranky when I lose broth because I am disorganized or forget about it, so I tend to head straight for the freezer with new batches. Broth is safe in the freezer for two to three months(1). I store broth in three ways: glass jars, BPA-free bags, and BPA-free plastic/glass containers.

As of late, ancestral storage techniques for broth have come back into vogue. These methods allow you to store broth in containers with a nice layer of fat across the top for extended periods of time without the fuss of pressure canning. The broth can then be stored in a refrigerator or a cold pantry.

I personally do not like the flavor of broth stored this way, but perhaps you might like it. It tasted, hmm, sort of fermented. I would recommend having a spotless refrigerator before trying this sort of storage technique. In my experiments, somehow the fat managed to pick up other flavors from other food nearby. That made me grumpy, because I think chickens grow their fat just so we can fry onions in it. Thus the idea of storing things the old-fashioned way lost its appeal to me when it made my chicken fat taste funky. As always, your mileage may vary.

How to Store Broth in Glass Mason Jars

This is my favorite way to store broth in the freezer for drinking. For broth that will be used for cooking, I tend to prefer BPA-free plastic bags or containers. That's strictly my personal preference, however. The glass jars rarely last more than a week without needing to be refilled, so I personally do not mark them. There are some great options available should you decide to label your jars.

1. You can use larger jars than the 16 oz. ones shown in the photo above, or jars without handles. Use care when filling the jars. Ensure that the jars are either the same temperature or just slightly warmer than the broth. 
2. Add your broth to a large pouring pitcher for convenience and to avoid drips as you pour.
3. Begin filling the jars. For pint jars, plan to leave at least 1.5" of space between the broth and the top of the jar. If you are using quart-sized jars, allow 2". This gives the broth room to expand when it freezes. This is one of those rare circumstances where I recommend using a ruler the first time to make absolutely certain that you leave enough room. 
4. Once all of the jars are filled, inspect each one and wipe it down with a clean paper towel. If you had broth drip on a jar while pouring, put a little white vinegar on a paper towel to remove the moisture and any remaining grease. Pay particular attention to the threads around the mouth of the jar. Hidden moisture here can cause breakage later on when the liquid freezes and expands. 
5. Apply lids. The lids I prefer to use are reusable steel. When applying the lids, do not screw them on as tightly as possible. A firm twist closed is plenty since these jars will be stored at freezing temperatures. Leaving at least a small layer of fat in the broth helps create a seal between the lid and the broth. I do not recommend using two piece lids, particularly if you have had jars break in the freezer before. These lids do not allow for any wiggle room when the liquid expands. 
6. Give your jars one last inspection to remove any unwanted moisture.
7. Place the jars in the freezer. It is best to place the jars on a rack so that there is no chance of condensation forming underneath the jar and potentially freezing the jar to the surface. This is another common cause of breakage. 
8. After 24 hours, you can rearrange the jars in the freezer if needed.

How to Reheat Broth Stored in Glass Mason Jars

It is wonderful to grab a pre-portioned mug of broth from the freezer, and be on the couch with a toasty warm mug of broth in minutes. After removing the lid (this is extremely important if you want to keep your kitchen tidy), you can warm the mugs several ways:

1. You can create a water bath in a saucepan and set the frozen mug inside. Set heat to medium high. This will warm the broth in about ten minutes, depending on the size of the saucepan and the amount of water used.  Make sure you start the mug in the saucepan with cold water and increase the heat gradually to avoid sudden temperature changes that could break the jar. Fill the saucepan with water to at least the middle of the jar. Ensure the jar will be stable when the water boils. You can always add more water to the saucepan later if desired. Let the broth boil for a minute to ensure it is piping hot and fully thawed. Use great care when removing the jar from the water bath. You might be tempted to say very bad words if you burn your fingers, and I can't have that on my conscience.
2. If you choose to use a microwave, this is a convenient way to warm the broth mugs. (I will not get involved in a holy war between the lovers and haters of the microwave movement. It is a personal choice that you should make after discussing the matter with your healthcare practitioner.) Bring the broth to a boil before removing the jar from the microwave. Take great care when removing the jars from the heat source. Some jar handles will become very hot when heated in the microwave; others do not. Grabbing the jar with an oven mitt or at least a paper towel the first time is a good idea. If you burn yourself, I might have a giggle at your expense. Could you really blame me?
3. To speed up either heating process, let the jar thaw overnight in the refrigerator with the lid on. You can also pack these jars to go in an insulated bag when you are headed to the office or on the road. 
4. A thermos with a glass or steel interior is ideal for taking heated broth on the go or even keeping broth warm throughout the day at home. Prime the thermos with boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Pour out the water and then immediately pour in your heated broth. A quality thermos should keep the broth toasty warm for at least 12 hours. I have an awesome hot pink Stanley thermos. It's sturdy, has a lifetime guarantee, and is heavy enough to double as a weapon if needed. I know you're jealous.

How to Store Broth in BPA-free Plastic Bags 

I store my broth in sizes ranging from 1, 2, 4, and 8 cups. (Speaking of the holy war regarding the use of plastic bags: I'm not going there, either.) I chose these amounts because they correlate with the amounts of broth I need most frequently and therefore help me minimize wasted broth. Use the best quality bags that you can obtain. Many bags that are labeled 'storage' are insufficient and will crack or leak. I always choose bags that are designated for the freezer. Freezer bags usually have a matte white writing space on the side of the bag that is handy for labeling. 

I write the type and amount of broth in each bag, any particular flavors I included or excluded when making the broth, and especially when the broth expires. (The FDA recommends keeping broth in the freezer for no more than three months.) Label your bags in advance with a Sharpie so that you know how much each bag should contain. Writing on bags already filled with broth is like trying to walk across a water bed. Take special care when preparing plastic bags for the freezer. There is much you can do to prevent bag leaks, which are frustrating and disheartening. 

1. Take a heavy plastic tray, metal cookie sheet, or roasting pan, and line it with a double layer of paper towels. This will help catch any escaped moisture or condensation and wick it away from the bags. 
2. Next, line the tray with a double layer of parchment or wax paper. This will help ensure that if any moisture escapes from the bag, the bag will not freeze stuck to the paper, the paper towels, and especially the tray or cookie sheet. This is where many bag leaks are born. 
3. Add your broth to a large glass or plastic measuring cup with a pouring spout. This will help you fill the bags with precise amounts and minimal spillage. 
4. Ensure you have left several generous inches of space at the top of each bag to allow for expansion. I try to leave 2-3" of space between the broth and the top of the bag. 
5. Once you have filled all of your bags, carefully wipe down each bag with a clean paper towel. Do the bags feel greasy? Wipe down the greasy areas with a little white vinegar; it should help dissolve the grease. 
6. Lay down each bag carefully on the prepared tray. Do not overlap bags; leave a centimeter or two in between each bag. 
7. When you have covered the tray, add another layer of paper towels and parchment or wax paper. You can now add another layer of bags. 
8. Once you have completed filling your bags, place the tray in the freezer for 24 hours. Make sure none of the bags are touching the sides of the tray or cookie sheet. 
9. After 24 hours, your broth should be fully frozen. You can now safely remove the bags from the tray, discard the paper towels and parchment or wax paper, and stack the bags how you wish.  

How to Reheat Broth Stored in BPA-Free Plastic Bags

It is extremely simple to warm broth stored in plastic bags. You have several options:

1. Cut open the freezer bag and remove the frozen broth. Place broth in a saucepan (or Dutch oven if it is a large-sized bag) with a tablespoon of water. Set heat to medium high. The broth should be thawed and warm in minutes.
2. You could also choose to microwave the broth in a microwave-safe dish. 
3. To expedite thawing, allow the broth to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. You may wish to set the bag inside a plastic bowl in the unlikely event that a leak has developed in the bag.

How to Store Broth in BPA-free Plastic or Glass Containers with Lids

Containers with flexible lids and/or plastic sides are least likely to break or develop leaks. Follow the instructions for How to Store Broth in BPA-free Plastic Bags, except:

1. I write the type and amount of broth on each lid, any particular flavors I included or excluded when making the broth, and especially when the broth expires. (The FDA recommends keeping broth in the freezer for no more than three months.) Label your containers in advance with a Sharpie so that you know how much each container will hold. 
2. You will not need to stack the containers on a tray lined with paper towels and parchment or wax paper. 
3. You should be able to stack the filled containers as you wish in the freezer as soon as they are filled and wiped clean of any spills. See? Easy peasy, as long as you can keep up with both the lids and the containers... which I cannot. I have an excellent collection of mid 1990s Rubbermaid containers without the matching lids.

How to Reheat Broth Stored in BPA-Free Plastic or Glass Containers with Lids

This also is an easier process. 

1. Run hot water over the top, bottom, and sides of the container for one minute. This should loosen the frozen block of broth inside. 
2. Open the lid, and shake container until the block of broth releases. Place block in a saucepan or Dutch oven, depending on the size of the container. Follow directions for How to Reheat Broth Stored in BPA-Free Plastic Bags.
3. You could also remove the container lid and use the microwave to reheat your broth.

See? It only seems complicated. You've got this.

(1) USDA Food Safety Fact Sheets. Chicken from Farm to Table. July 25, 2014