Bone Broth

It seems like the new big thing in food is "bone broth".  Back in the day, it was just called broth or stock.  Bone broth seems to be the trendy health food now, and some people are paying a lot of money to have their daily drink of bone broth made by someone else.  This is akin to when juicing was all the rage. And before that, protein shakes. There always seems to be the "cure-all" drink du jour. 

The reality is that our grandmas, great grandmas, and great great grandmas probably made broth or stock when they had left over bones from the meat they had at dinner (this practice seems to be universal for most cultures).  Those roasted bones with bits of meat, cartilage and marrow, when simmered with water and aromatic veggies, make a lovely base for soups and stews.  Making the broth really uses all the bone and ingredients to their utmost potential, and does not waste one bit of the animal from which the bones came from.   I am happy that bone broth is the new trend because it one way to really use the livestock animals and not let parts go to waste, and not just throwing out the bones and not re-using the bones. 

This is how I am making bone broth:
1.  Eat the roasted lamb off the lamb bones (These bones are from a City House lamb dish, which I ate the lamb and took home the bones.  The original lamb was a well cared for local lamb from Williamson County 4H).
2.  In a crock pot add the lamb bones, water, onions, carrots, salt, pepper, 1 cayenne, garlic, and a tablespoon of soy sauce.  I got the garlic from the Barefoot Farmer, the cayenne is organic from my garden (and from originally organic heirloom seed) and the water is filtered from my tap.
3.  Turn on the crock pot, low over night.  In the morning, you have luscious bone broth.


 Broth can be made from any roasted bones.  Beef, chicken, duck, goose, pork, lamb, venison, buffalo, ostrich, even roasted shrimp shells and fish bones, can be made into a nice broth.   At one of my favorite Vietnamese cafes, the spicy seafood broth seems to have been simmered with more cayenne than I used, and lemongrass to give the broth a bright lemony aromatic character without the bitterness from the lemon pith.  To have a more Chinese brothy feel, I would use roasted chicken or duck bones, a little ginger, soy sauce, and garlic as my broth base.  A Western European broth would have the classic mirepoix and thyme in the broth.

After my lamb bone broth is done, I am going to use it as an Asian noodle soup broth.  King Market and InterAsian Market both have fresh made udon noodles.  King Market folks actually makes the noodles and are usually available near the cash register.  Fresh udon is so delicious.  InterAsian also has fresh ramen too, in the refrigerated section in the back of the store.   For the soup I make, I usually like adding peas to the soup, maybe some Chinese dumplings (from the frozen food section at King Market or InterAsian Market), and a sunny side up fried egg on top.

My last batch of lamb bone broth I made, I used some for noodle soups during the week, and I froze a pint of broth for later.  I am probably going to use the pint for a stew.  I am not sure yet.  Any suggestions?