I had set as my goal, to post a Foodie Friday every 3rd Friday of the month. Well, here it is, the second month of 2015...and I'm running three days behind! lol
Oh well...I spent the entirety of last weekend snowed in at my parent's in Kentucky. And for that, I am okay with being behind a couple of days. :)
But, believe me...this post is worth the wait!! Today, I bring to you, the amazingness that is.....
Bone Broth
I know...some of you are saying, "What?!" But I am serious. If you have not at least looked into this amazing dish, with so many varieties, you are missing out. Not only does it have amazing health benefits, you can utilize it in many ways. If you'd like to read about the benefits of bone broth, you can do so here and here. And these are just two articles that I found helpful out of the thousands out there singing the praises of this miracle soup. They also include recipes or links to recipes. But today I am going to share with you one I learned from a friend who is Vietnamese and makes variations of these broths every week.
Let's start with the basic bone broth. For this broth, we used organic grass fed marrow bones (I know...right? But I'm not asking you to eat the marrow, just harness it's goodness!). Add marrow bones to large stock pot and cover with water (leave room for it to boil). Add to that a couple of quartered onions, a couple of quartered shallots, two large carrots (chunked), and fresh ginger. Now, what Christine does is takes the whole ginger root (2-3 inches long) and cuts it in half, adding both halves. Most recipes call for less ginger, but it adds great flavor to the broth and has wonderful digestive benefits. As far as spices go, I only added salt and pepper. But you can add anything natural that you like. The key to bone broth is to boil it low and slow. You can also prepare this in a crock pot, as long as you have one that is large enough. According to one of the articles I linked to above, you can cook the broth for up to 48 hours. I know, right? But I promise it will be worth it. A layer of fat will congeal at the top of the broth, always skim that off the top.
Once you've finished cooking the broth, you can strain it and drink it as is, 8-12 ounces per day, first thing in the morning. However, you can also use it to create great dishes with Asian flair. What I did in the above photo is an example of just that. I took rice noodles, which can be put into a bowl and with hot broth placed on top, that is all the cooking they need! You can also dip them into boiling water for about 30 seconds to rehydrate them. To the broth and the rice noodles, I added quartered organic meatballs (pre-cooked). Then comes the fun part, the toppings. This broth really benefits from some crispness. For this bowl, I chopped large leaf cilantro (my FAVORITE!!!) and green onion. I also added a little fried red onion that can be picked up at any Asian market. You could also add bean sprouts. Those really add a great crunch. I recommend eating with chopsticks and a large spoon.
My friend eats some variation of this for breakfast and lunch almost every day. She is very healthy and very adventurous with her stocks! She uses chicken feet, marrow bones, Cornish game hens, and a lot of things I have not been brave enough to try. But I am slowly gaining ground in my foodie adventures and hope you are up for the challenge!
xoxo,
Rhi
