Confession: Today I just don’t feel very confession-y. I could say something like “Confession: Turkey Stew is My Secret Weapon”, but really… I’m just gonna go ahead and give myself permission not to be emotional and spiritual every single day of this month. I need to just be honest with who I am, and the eclectic nature of this blog is just that: an honest representation of myself. I sit and chat with friends about my failures and successes in motherhood, or my thoughts on church and God. In the next breath I am passionately giving advice on how to make homemade bone broth, or googling how to make pie crust with coconut oil. This is who I am, and today it’s all about the bone broth, baby. (I never was very good at following directions, even my own). So, from mom jeans and muffin tops to homemade broth… here we are.

There are endless variations on how to make soup, but the foundation of any good soup is always stock made from scratch. I want to share directions here for how to make a basic turkey or chicken stock, and my favourite recipe for turkey stew, right in time for Thanksgiving this weekend. The old advice to eat chicken soup when you are sick may be an old wive’s tale, but it’s one with much evidence to back it up. In Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon says that “meat stocks are extremely nutritious, containing the minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes, a form that is easy to assimilate. Acidic wine or vinegar added during cooking helps to draw minerals, particularly calcium, magnesium and potassium, into the broth.” Besides its amazing health benefits, soup made with homemade broth just plain tastes better, and the crisp autumn air practically begs for a steaming bowl of stew after a walk amidst the crunchy golden leaves. So, shall we?

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Step One: Take the leftover carcass from a whole chicken or turkey that has been roasted, and place in a large stock pot (mine is 9 qts). Fill with water, leaving an inch or two of room at the top. We often also buy chicken backs and necks packaged up from the ranch where we get our meat – it is extremely cheap, and perfect for making stock. They aren’t roasted, but we just boil them as they are, and it works just fine. You can also throw a whole raw chicken in a pot and boil it, and the resulting stock has incredible flavour. The meat is fine to eat as well, especially in casseroles, etc. (on GAPS you start out with boiled meat as it is the most easily digestible).

Step Two: Add some peppercorns if you have them (I use 4-5 or so), and a splash of vinegar. The peppercorns aren’t absolutely necessary, but I’ve heard of lots of people using them, so throw them in if you have them. You can also add vegetable scraps – like broccoli stems, onion peels, celery tops, carrot tops, potato peelings etc. This would add a ton of vitamins and minerals to the stock. One good idea that I’ve heard lots is to throw the (washed) scraps into a freezable bag or container and stick them in the freezer whenever you’re chopping vegetables, and then use them when you make stock. {Confession – I’ve never actually remembered to add veggie scraps to my own stock, I just think it’s a really good idea!}

Step Three: Bring stock to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low and gently simmer for several hours.

Step Four: Lower heat as low as it will go, and leave it overnight. It won’t even be bubbling, just staying hot, and continuing to draw out the good stuff from the bones. I generally leave mine on the stove for about 24 hours. You can replenish with water at any point in the process if the liquid level gets too low.

Step Five: Remove from heat. Place a strainer in a bowl, and pour stock into strainer. Set aside the strainer with the bones, etc. You can now use your stock, either in cooking, or for soup-making, or for straight drinking – especially for gastrointestinal upset like the flu. If you drink it straight be sure to add salt. Add enough to make it taste good – there’s no reason at all not to salt your food to taste if you are using real sea salt and generally eat a whole foods diet.

Step Six: Store extra stock. I use glass jars – some mason jars that I’ve picked up second-hand, and some repurposed spaghetti sauce jars that I wash and save. A wide-mouth funnel is handy for this. Pour stock into jars, leaving an inch or two of headroom if you plan to freeze them – it will expand quite a bit (don’t learn this the hard way, like I did!). Let the jars cool on the counter for a while, so that they are less likely to crack in the freezer (again, I learned this the hard way). It should be good for about a week in the fridge, or 4-6 months in the freezer. I always freeze it if I’m not going to use it that same day to prevent myself forgetting about it and having to throw it out and waste all that hard work! Just make sure it’s completely cooled before going in to the freezer (a brief stay in the fridge may be necessary).

Step Seven: Take the boiled carcass and pick the remaining bits of meat off the bones. This is easiest when it is cooled slightly, but still warm. Collect the meat in a bowl to add to your soup. This is a slightly tedious and messy job (it usually takes me about half an hour or so because I go slow and get every last little bit). The good news is the animal grease is a great moisturizer for your hands.

Tomorrow I will post my recipe for my Classic Turkey Stew. Have you made homemade stock from scratch? Do you do anything differently?

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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