[Y]ou know what we’re into these days? You know what the latest food trend is? Not cupcakes. Not red velvet this and that. Not macarons. We’re not even talking about single origin coffee beans or biodynamic wine. We’re talking about broth. Bone, mineral, and vegetable broth. Yes. Broth. It’s delicious.
Homemade broth is never just about broth. It’s a whole kitchen experience. I make my broths over time. The scrappy bones of a roasted chicken are frozen for a week. Carrot stems and onion skins and ends are stored in a container in the refrigerator for a good while. Limp celery is put to good use and potatoes just beginning to sprout are given a home. Have you read The Everlasting Meal? This broth is very much in that spirit.
It’s where the fresh ingredients in our kitchen meet the more tired ingredients… in a pot, for our extreme health.
Bone broths are a tale as told as time, but they’re totally having a moment. It’s rejuvenating with the powers of magnesium, potassium, calcium, and collagen. It’s fantastic start to a hearty and healthful soup and naturally (or oddly), New Yorkers are sipping the magic broth from coffee cups.
I’ve taken to simmering a pot every month and sipping the broth as tea or making soups. The smell alone makes me feel like a soup genius and it’s a tremendous way to bring together the entire kitchen, scraps and all.
This particular recipe is from The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen. This book is a super approachable recourse for healing foods and recipes. I love it!
First things first, find the largest pot in your kitchen. Next, start piling the kitchen in the pot… the entire kitchen.
(Alternately, this recipe also comes together in a slow cooker. Cut the recipe in half and go for it!)
Red potatoes and carrots. Both unpeeled. There is lots of earth and goodness in the skins.
Celery hearts and leaves… the whole deal. Onions and garlic, skins and all. Sweet potatoes, bay leaves, loads of fresh parsley, and a strip of kombu.
Kombu is dried seaweed packed with folate, magnesium, and iodine. It’s a great addition to the broth, but if you can’t get a hold of it… no worries. You might also toss in a few dried shiikate mushroom caps for a deep earthy quality.
I also added a chicken carcass to this simmering broth which adds even more healing calcium and phosphorus to the broth. Thanks chicken bones!
I hope you simmer up some broth! Here’s to our new year and new health!
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Magic Mineral Broth
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 480
- Total Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 6 unpeeled carrots, cut into thirds
- 2 unpeeled yellow onions, cut into large chunks
- 1 bunch celery, including the hearts, cut into thirds
- 4 unpeeled red potatoes, quartered
- 2 unpeeled sweet potatoes, quartered
- 8 unpeeled garlic cloves, halved
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 1 6-inch strip of kombu
- 12 whole black peppercorns
- 4 whole allspice of juniper berries
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 organic chicken carcass or 2 pounds of chicken bones
- 8 cups cold filtered water, plus more as the broth cooks
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Rinse all of the vegetables well, including the kombu.
- In a large stock pot, probably the largest stock pot you have (12 to 16 quarts), combine the carrots onions, celery, potato, sweet potato, garlic, parsley, kombu, peppercorns, allspice or juniper, bay leaves, vinegar, and chicken carcass.
- Fill the pot with water to cover the vegetables and chicken, leaving about 2 inches of space between the water and the top of the pot.
- Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Remove the lid, decrease the heat to low and summer, uncovered for 2 hours. Stir just occasionally and skim the scum off the top of the of the simmering broth.
- As the broth simmers, some of the liquid will evaporate. Add more water as the vegetables begin to peek out. Simmer until the bones begin to soften and fall apart, at least 4 hours, 8 hours if you can.
- Strain the broth through a large, coarse-mesh sieve, then stir in the salt to taste. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
- Skim off as much fat as you can from the top of the broth then portion into airtight containers to refrigerate or freeze. This broth will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and will freeze for up to three months.
Notes
- You can also cut this recipe in half and cook it in the slow cooker!
Margaret Skoog RN BSN
Going to have to try this… I have been making “soup” with non-MSG canned broth, 1:1 with filtered water, then adding lots of carrots, celery, onions, garlic, asparagus, kale and spinach, basil, parsley, sometimes green beans, sometimes Brussels sprouts and top it off with a generous quantity of frozen peas at the very end… Cook until carrots are tender, add plenty of black pepper and pink salt to taste, maybe a red pepper flake or two or three… Remove from heat. When cooled, put thru blender and store in pint or quart jars in the fridge… everybody who I share it with asks for more. Have to begin making bone broth… sounds so delicious! Thanks for the post!
Yvonne Saito
I am making this broth for my grandson who is doing chemotherapy now. I went to buy kombu but there was a warning on the package that says may cause cancer from the state of calif. I didn’t buy it.
steven
thats great who would have thought to put seaweed in it…. this is a wonderful site.
Sharon | Cheesy Pennies
I’ve made this twice now. Consider me officially converted to the broth movement. Just posted about it, with full credit to you. Thank you so much!
Tricia
I am so excited you posted about magic mineral broth. I first found Rebecca Katz when my mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. We made everything in One Bite At A Time. This is such a great broth recipe. Taxi Cab Tomato Soup is another delicious and simple recipe.
joythebaker
Taxi Cab Tomato Soup sounds… interesting! I’ll look into it!
Megan
If I wanted to make this into a vegetarian broth would you recommend any other modifications aside from not putting in the chicken bones?
Claire B.
I am a vegetarian, are there healthful ways of making this broth veggie and equally nutrient packed?
Anne
I remember you posted a broth recipe from the same book a couple years (?) ago. It almost feels like reading the same post… Is it?
Mirakol S.
I totally read ‘cut into turds.’ I’m sorry. :D
Lan | morestomach
what i like to do is simmer it down as much as my patience will allow and depending on amount, add a tablespoon of good quality gelatin. either section into ice cube trays to freeze. depending on how small the cubes are, add water 1:2 ratio to dilute. make for great sipping in lieu of tea. if i’m really good, i’ll other kinds of bones in there: beef, chicken feet and so the collagen content is high. the aspic is fantastic.
The Queen of Dreaming
It’s kinda similar to the one I do every saturday. I think it’s important to always have broth at home!
https://justsem.wordpress.com/
Aida Mollenkamp
There’s nothing like a homemade broth filled to the brim with nutrients, especially right now when pretty much everyone has a ridiculous cold. You may have inspired me to make some of this for a few under the weather friends. :)
Amy Basso
What a great way to use leftover kitchen scraps! I hate waste; and this is a great way to use everything up and it’s healthy too! Thank you!