The other day I was buying marrow bones at the counter and the staff wondered what had happened. Suddenly everyone wanted marrow bones and made their own bone broth. Or bone broth, the English expression. I really understand the craving for bone broth, but I'm a little curious about where the trend comes from. Tell me, if you know!
My own health journey led me down the path of broth. I quickly realized that it was a fantastic tool for strengthening an imbalanced stomach. I read a lot about the Gaps diet and understood how beneficial it is to drink broth . I used the Gaps diet with somewhat mixed results. But bone broth has been with me ever since.
Nowadays I make broth from bone marrow from game, from cow or I use chicken bones or fish leftovers. I am unsure what a vegetarian version would look like or if a vegetarian broth would have the same effect on the well-being of the stomach. Why should you drink broth? Many people use bone broth to get collagen, as bone broth is very rich in collagen. Collagen strengthens the skin and has become a hype for the appearance of the skin. My purpose with bone broth is to strengthen my stomach and to add more nutrition to everyday life.
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Bone broth is good for the stomach , at least for my stomach. I have had a long journey with an unbalanced stomach, which started with a gut flora destroyed by parasites and too many antibiotic courses. I had serious problems with my stomach, lost weight and developed nutritional deficiencies. I had to completely change my diet. Today my stomach is pretty good, but I have to be careful about how I take care of it. When there is an imbalance again, I immediately review my diet, add homemade probiotics, add bactericidal herbs, add lots of bitter herbs - and cook my own bone broth.
The broth should cook for several hours . I don't have a crockpot myself, but use a regular pot. The important thing is to add some kind of acid to make it easier to extract the substances we want to eat. Then I top it with lots of spices, roots and medicinal mushrooms. So my broth becomes a bit of a 2.0 variant. It turns out so good! See recipe below.
What is the best broth? I have noticed that there is a big difference in the broth depending on the types of carcasses used. Grass-fed cows provide so much more fat and flavor in the broth.
Recipe
3-4 marrow bones from, for example, a grass-grazing cow
1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon
3-4 white peppercorns
3-4 bay leaves
1-2 tbsp salt
2.5-3 liters of water
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Mix everything in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer covered for 2 hours.
Then top up your broth so that it becomes your own broth 2.0.
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Recipe 2.0
2 tbsp Ashwagandha
2 tbsp Russian root
2 tbsp Burdock root
2 tbsp Dandelion root
2-3 pieces Reishi mushroom
1 piece of Chaga
2 carrots, cut into pieces
1 parsnip, chopped
1 black pepper, cut into pieces
1 red onion, cut into wedges
1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
Here in the picture you see pieces of dried Reishi. Add these hard plant parts and roots to the broth and let simmer under a lid for another 1-2 hours.
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When the broth is ready (you can tell by the fat collecting on the surface and a strong, lovely color) add a handful of marigolds and mint leaves . Let it steep for about 30 minutes. Now you can strain your broth.
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I usually store half in carafes in the fridge. We drink about 2-3 cups of this daily. I don't know how long the broth will last in the fridge, but I prefer to drink it within 4-5 days. I freeze the rest by dividing it into plastic bags. For example, 2 cups of broth in each plastic bag. Then it is easy to use daily. The plastic bags don't take up much space in the freezer.
How often and how much bone broth should you drink? I usually use broth for a defined period. For example, for ten days during the tough winter months when we need a nutritional boost or when our stomach is out of balance. Then our family drinks 2-3 cups of bone marrow broth per day.
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Hope you enjoyed this recipe and were inspired to make your own broth. At Örtfabriken, we have many great recipes on our blog. Search for recipes or subscribe to our newsletter. You can do that at the very bottom of this page.
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Are you interested in bitter herbs? Read more here about Örtfabriken's Happy Bitters , drops for a little more bitterness in your everyday life.
