Another Chicken and Vegetable Bone Broth

These could be the most colorful ingredients I've ever used when making bone broths. I can't say it's more flavorful, but I don't usually season mine much at the broth making stage, but I know it's packed with good things. I'd rather keep it neutral, in case I give some to my pup, Oliver, and season it when using it in a recipe. Garlic is shown, but since dogs are sensitive to that, I omitted it.

For this bone broth, I used the carcass of an Amish chicken I previously roasted, then froze. I also bought 6 chicken leg-thigh quarters in the rotisserie section of Costco. After freezing the meat in 8oz. packages, I put all the skin, bones, and tendons in my 6 quart pot with the previously frozen chicken, bay leaves and lots of assorted vegetables.

Season it, light or heavy, depending on your preferences and also determined by who will be consuming it. This time I used a little dry parsley, lemon pepper and 4 bay leaves. Add 1/4c white or apple cider vinegar then fill the pot to within an inch of the top. Heat over medium heat initially. When it comes to a low simmer, reduce heat, cover and simmer, at a low bubble for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Cool slightly, then scoop out all the solids. I kept the green beans and carrots and celery hearts for a picnic-on-the-floor for Oliver and I 🐶 🧓🏻. Strain the remaining broth through progressively smaller mesh strainers. After several strainings, pour it through a cloth lined strainer to create the purest, clearest bone broth. Chill it for 12 hours.

This broth gelled nicely! Scrape the ssolidified fat off the top. I used it this time, with butter, to make a golden roux to help thicken a soup.

This time I used 6c in a big pot of soup and only had 1 quart remaining. I heated it to just below boiling, then poured it into a clean quart jar and sealed it with a lid and screw on ring. It self-sealed with a loud ..>PING<.. just after taking this picture.

I'll store this in the 'fridge and use it in the next couple months. Making bone broth is a lot of work, but it's worth it for the health benefits. . .Lin

Beer and Mushroom Lamb Stew

1# lamb leg steak meat

¼ of a lg. onion - minced

2T butter or bacon grease

1t Rosemary Seasoning * 

1 can ± beer

8oz. mushrooms - quartered or sliced

Trim all the fat off the lamb, cut it into pieces or cubes then combine it with the other 3 ingredients in a 5qt. pot.  Bring to a simmer, increasing the heat as the meat releases the water within it.  Once it begins to brown, use a little of the beer to deglaze the pan.  Let it brown again, then hit it with a little more beer.  Continue this process until the meat is nicely browned, 4-6 times.  Toward the end of this process, stir in the mushrooms and let them go through a couple brownings and deglazing, with a longer simmer after the last addition of beer.

2 big carrots - scrubbed-sliced

4 stalks celery - sliced

¾ of a lg. onion - chopped

1 lg. turnip - sliced-chopped

Add this group of vegetables and 2 cups of water.  If you'd like, you could add a can or two of petite diced tomatoes.  Simmer 45 minutes to an hour.  Check the flavors at this point.  If it's tasting a little bland, you could add some powdered beef soup base or some curry paste, depending on what sounds good to you.  If the gravy's too thin, add a flour and water roux to thicken it.  Continue to simmer longer until the vegetables are the way you like them.

I wanted to keep this a little lower in carbs so I didn't add potatoes or barley, but either of those would be great.  (The beer was Coors Light 😉)  I suppose this seems like a strange thing to be cooking over 4th of July weekend, one of the hottest of the summer, but I saw the lamb in the freezer and it sounded so good.  And. . .as far as I'm concerned, it's ALWAYS Soup and Stew Season. . .Lin

Steak Stir-Fry

1 lg. carrot - chopped

6-8 Brussels sprouts - sliced

4 green onions - sliced

1/2 lg. yellow beet - slice-chop

1 mini red pepper - sliced

fresh ground pepper

1/2 lemon - juiced

3T dark fig balsamic vinegar 

stir-fry sauce or soy sauce

12oz. lean steak - slice or cube

1/2c slivered almonds

Combine everything, but the steak and almonds, in a medium size bowl.  Toss and mix well so everything is coated by the marinade, then let stand 15 minutes or so.  Drain some of the marinade onto the steak in a medium non-stick skillet.  Put the vegetables into a larger skillet and sauté until they're still crisp, but slightly tender.  Meanwhile, stir and sizzle the steak for only a few minutes until it's almost as done as you'd like.

Put the steak and almonds into the larger vegetable pan, stir and sauté all of this together for a few minutes.  Serve as is or over rice or noodles. . .Lin

Cabbage Chopped Tossed Salad

Chinese cabbage

purple cabbage

½ sweet onion

½ lg. tomato

½ avocado

2 med. pickling cucumbers

crumbled bleu cheese

This is a cabbage version of my 5-Ingredient Salad. Rough slice and chop all the vegetables into salad bowls. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with finely ground red pepper, black pepper, and Himalayan pink salt. Splash with some really good balsamic vinegar. . .Lin