Eat: A Simple Chicken Bone Broth -

With the change of seasons often comes the unwanted onslaught of seasonal colds and allergies. A while there are a whole range of natural remedies to help reduce symptoms one of our favourites is a good old fashioned stock or broth. While stocks and broths are largely interchangeable in how they are used they do have differences in the cooking time and ingredients. Ours is a mix of both, taking the best elements to create a delicious bone broth.

We like to make up a batch of this versatile broth whenever we have a roast chicken carcass to use. The broth will last in the fridge for five days or alternatively you can freeze it so that you have a homemade broth to hand any time you need it. If you are freezing the broth a great tip is to freeze it in to different sized containers for different uses – we use ice cube containers and zip lock bags.

There are so many uses for this broth, as a base for homemade stews, soups and risottos or as a warming hot drink if you are starting to feel under the weather. It is so homely and delicious it never fails to make us feel better, like a little dose of immunity sunshine in a glass!

Ingredients

1 cooked roast chicken, with most of the meat removed

2 carrots, chopped in to large pieces

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 sticks of celery (including leaves) roughly chopped

1 spring of fresh rosemary

2 fresh bay leaves

5 fresh thyme sprigs

Cold filtered water (enough to cover the ingredients)

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper

Method

Add all ingredient to a large stock pot and cover with cold, filtered water. Simmer gently on low to medium heat for 4-5 hours. Check broth every hour or so and add a little water if the water level is dropping below the ingredients. Once the cooking time is complete remove from heat and allow to cool before straining liquid through a sieve into a large bowl. Discard the chicken carcass and vegetables and decant the liquid to either use immediately, refrigerate or freeze. Enjoy!