Bone Broth

Tags

bone broth, moose, Slow cooker, soup bones, venison

In an effort to use all of the animals that we hunt,  I made my first attempt at bone broth this week.  I think these were the leg bones of the moose . . . ?  Not entirely sure.  They came back from the butcher in a clear pastic bag labeled  “soup bones.”

I followed a recipe that I found online, but I already had a pretty clear idea of what to do.  It’s very similar to making stock from a chicken carcass, which is second nature to me now.  The only difference I found was a) roasting the bones before simmering, and b) letting it simmer for a much longer time.  I also added a bit of vinegar to the water.  A lot of sites recommend adding vinegar to help leach the minerals from the bones.  I offer no opinion on the scientific validity of this recommendation.  I figured it couldn’t hurt.  

  
I roasted the bones at 400 F for about an hour.  Then I put them in the slow cooker, covered with cold water and a splash of red wine vinegar (most people recommend apple cider vinegar but I had none on hand).  I set the slow cooker to high for four hours to bring it to a simmer, and then left it on low for another eighteen hours.  Then for the last two hours (for a grand total of 24 hours!), I put it back to high and added an onion, a couple of carrots, a couple of stalks of celery, and black peppercorns.  I would’ve added some bay leaves and perhaps some thyme, but once again, I didn’t have any on hand.

 
After the final two hours, I removed all the large chunks of bone and vegetables, and then strained the broth through paper towel and a colander into a large bowl.  Then I added salt to taste.  

  
It turned out very well.  I’ve had a cup of broth with my lunch for the past two days in a row.  It’s not gamey tasting at all.  It’s a very comforting winter food all on its own and will make a great base for all the winter soups that are yet to be made.  

Apple Time Already

Tags

Apple, Apple butter, Apple sauce, Apples, canning, cider, harvest, Immersion blender, preserving, Slow cooker

The apples seem to be dropping a bit early this year. Last night, we harvested a bunch from my friend Jen’s tree. Most backyards here have a crabapple tree, but Jen’s are real apples – Battleford apples. Will steams them up and collects the juice to make cider, which leaves me with the mushy apples.

Melanie and I put on some beautiful aprons and pretended to be 1950s housewives as we mushed the apples through my awesome food mill (thank you Mom and Baba!). Then we put the purée in the slow cooker to make apple butter. I love apple butter. I ate jars and jars of this stuff last winter.

Apple Butter
10 cups of apple purée
1 tablespoon of sugar per cup of apple purée
1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon
Half a teaspoon of all spice
Half a teaspoon of cloves

Mix it all together in the slow cooker using an immersion blender. Slow cook on low for 10 to 12 hours with the lid cracked open until the puree is dark and thick. Blend again with the immersion blender until it’s buttery smooth. Ladle into pint jars and process in a water bath for ten minutes. Once the jars are sealed, they can be stored on the shelf. Refrigerate after opening. Enjoy.

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• Recipe: Slow Cooker Apple Butter (mmurphy65.wordpress.com)
• Apple preserves (spivatestsite.wordpress.com)
• Broccoli and Snow Pea Salad with Apple Butter Dressing (dizzybusyandhungry.com)