BONE BROTTTTHHHH!!!

[lb_lee]

Mori: since I wasn’t going to be much good for anything else today, I decided to make bone broth, since it takes a gazillion hours and requires nothing but you sitting to make sure it don’t catch fire. You just take your bones and various veggie odds’n’ends (I had about a chicken and a half worth of bones, plus carrot stubs, a onion, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns), pour water over ‘em, and simmer for a million years. I been simmering that shit for going on seven hours now; the recipe I got said up to twelve but no way can I stay up to 2AM for that.

It’s still pretty weak, but it’s all my body wants and I swear this is the most delicious shit I done ever put in my mouth. My body is ENTHUSIASTIC about it, and it been enthusiastic about jack fucking shit today.

I AM NEVER NOT MAKING BONE BROTH EVER AGAIN.

Comments

[lb_lee]

Man fnly i mk u cook shit b

[lb_lee]

Mori: THIS IS THE MOST DELICIOUS SHIT ON FUCKING EARTH AND IT IS A CRIME I NEVER HAD IT TIL NOW

TRADITIONAL CHICKEN BROTH CAN GO FUCK ITSELF

[lb_lee]

Mori: I WAS WRONG ABOUT TRADITIONAL CHICKEN BROTH IT TOO IS AWESOME

[alatefeline]

Soup!

[lb_lee]

Soup! And hey, it’s great to see you again, alatefeline!

[armiphlage]

If you have a rice cooker, or a slow cooker, you can leave it and it won't burn.

[lb_lee]

Mori: I think vegetarian roomy has a rice cooker but it seems really mean to make bone broth in that! Dunno about the slow cooker.

[minoanmiss]

Yay bone broth!

TBH I put this kind of thing in the oven overnight at 250 and Ive never had an issue.

[lb_lee]

Mori: I got a deep fear of causing a house fire and Darwin Awarding my ass doing that. Especially when I am sick and don’t trust my ability to remember its existence if its not right in front of my eyeballs.

[pantha]

Chicken stock is the best! Though (now having freezer space), I tend to freeze chicken carcasses until I have three or four and then make a big batch (and then freeze it).

One day I should learn how to make other stocks, e.g. with beef bones. The closest I've gotten to that is cooking oxtail soup (which is a) incredibly delicious and b) has all of that unctuousness of a bone broth as the marrow comes out of the tail bones).

[lb_lee]

Mori: There’s a meat market around here that I think sells oxtail and stuff like that. Something to try another time!

Definitely keeping any and all bones for future use though!

[pantha]

Dooooo iiiiiiiit!!!!

The oxtail is cut into one-vertebra chunks by the butcher, so ranges from a fist-sized lump (from near the body) to a sausage-diameter lump (from near the end). If cooking for one, select the mid-sized ones - bigger ones have more meat, but also more bone so medium ones are the most efficient. If cooking for more just get a whole tail-worth and it'll balance out.

For the smallest stew you'll need:
- 2-3 chunks from the middle of the tail
- one small or medium onion
- optionally, a stick of celery (this is for celery's flavour-enhancing properties, you're not aiming for enough to taste the celery)
- enough root vegetables to fill your pot (I like the small round purple-and-white turnips, some carrot and bulk it out with potato)
- optionally, plain flour to thicken the broth if needed / wanted
- a fat to cook off the onion and celery in (butter, spread, veg oil, whatever)
- salt and pepper to taste

Multiply that up (and use a whole tail or multiple tails) for bigger stews.

Dice and fry off the onion until it's translucent. If using celery, then add finely sliced celery and fry until that's also translucent. If you have a small pan without much space, remove the onion and celery temporarily to a bowl or plate. Sear the sides of the meat in the remaining fat. Return the onion and celery, if removed. Add the remaining veg, peeled (optional for carrot and potato) and chopped into approx 1-1.5 inch cubes. Add water and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to boil. Turn down heat and simmer at least until the veg are tender. Check seasoning and add salt/pepper as needed. Optionally, thicken by stirring about a tablespoon of plain flour (slaked) into the liquid and stirring and simmering for a few mins until it thickens.

As with all stew, it tastes better the day after.

Enjoy! <3

[lb_lee]

I'm hanging onto this for later! Oxtail feels like a kind of meat I might actually be able to afford! Thanks, pantha!

[mackerelgray]

bone broth is SO GOOD, hell yeah to learning more about the magic of broths!

[lb_lee]

Mori: it’s like, you take the parts you can’t eat, and then you make edible broth out of it!!! What a concept!!!

[mackerelgray]

YEAH it's beautiful!! Food from nothing!!

[dismallyoriented]

Oh hell yeah. My mom made soups from scratch all the time, so once I was living on my own with adequate kitchen arrangements (and enough people to cook for), soup is a Regular feature of my menu rotation. I want to also throw my hat in the ring for spare ribs soup - typically Chinese recipes have the ribs cut much shorter, but spare ribs are split into a cartilaginous chunk and the Rib itself and separating the two from each other shortens them into more manageable sizes. (Though, if unlike me you have an Asian market w/ butchers within reasonable distance, you can just buy them at the appropriate size - 2" long chunks approx)

I'm a sicko who insists on the extra 20 min to brown the meat before cooking it, but it's a great flavor even without that. 1 hr boil with the meats (and diced onion), 30 min with whatever root veg you want to add. Typical seasoning is ginger and 2 stalks of scallion plus generous salt.

[lb_lee]

Spare ribs are probably way outside our budget, but maybe one day, for a special occasion.