Home-made stock recipe

I bang on about it enough so it's about time I shared some of my stock making tips with you. The beauty about this recipe is that it changes every time I make it. Different bones, different veg, different strengths, different tastes.

Bones

I get my bones from various sources. I always try to ensure they are from grass fed/pastured animals but sometimes this is not possible (check with your butcher where his meat comes from if you want to find out) so I have a freezer full of bones on standby.

Currently I have chicken carcasses, pigs trotters, lamb bones and some beef marrow bones. All uncooked and waiting to be flung in the pot. I also have a large plastic container (in the freezer) where I chuck any bones from meals, I have taken to buying a lot more meat on the bone so usually this fills up reasonably quickly too. Cooked or uncooked bones can be used for stock.

By far the most generous bone I have worked with is a beef knuckle. They are pretty big but I took 3 lots of stock off one. You will need a big pot.

And lets not forget fish! Fish head stock is known to be especially therapeutic to those of us with low thyroid function as fish thyroid glands are in their heads so you get all that T3 goodness in your stock. The last batch I made was used for a chowder and I felt amazing after eating it.

Vegetables

I generally use carrots, celery and onion but have been known to throw in whatever is getting old in my fridge: cauliflower and brocolli ends, green beans and even peppers! Sometimes all I have is a couple of carrots so thats all that goes in. Just use what you have. And dont forget to chuck in a bayleaf if you have one!!

So here is a basic recipe here to get you started but please don’t forget you can mix and match your vegetables, based on what you have available and you can mix and match your bones. I would go a step further there and say you SHOULD mix your bones as you can make the most amazing stock with a mixture. My last soup was made with lamb and chicken bones and was A-MAZ-ING.

Basic chicken stock

1 chicken carcass/chicken bones (Cooked or uncooked. After a roast chicken we pick the meat of and cook up those bones for our next soup but the carcasses I buy in the shop are uncooked)

1 onion quartered

2 celery sticks trimmed and broken in half

3 carrots trimmed and snapped in half

8 peppercorns

1 bayleaf

A dash of cider vinegar (to draw out the minerals from the bones – I promise you won’t taste it in the finished product)

Put all ingredients into a slow cooker or pan large enough to allow it to be covered with water by an inch or two. In a slow cooker a centimetre over should be fine.

Slow cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 12-24 hours. If cooking on a hob bring to the boil then leave on a high simmer for 3 or 4 hours. Please ensure the bones are covered for the most part.

Once cooked you can allow to cool or drain straight away. 

Store carefully! 

If I am putting it in the fridge I will let it cool fully then place in glass jars but I have learned from losing too many batches to store it in plastic in the freezer, the glass tends to break on freezing or defrosting. 

Then use as you like! Make a tasty soup, add to stew. Cook your rice in it if you like! And if you are feeling adventurous you could boil down some of your chicken stock so its nice and strong (maybe half the volume, or less of your original stock) then pour into ice cube holders for some amazing homemade stock cubes! These can be chucked into any recipe that requires a stock cube!

Et voilà.

Impress your family and friends with amazing meals - the incredible taste you get from home made stock is second to none.

www.facebook.com/mythyroidtherapy