Emboldened by the chicken broth, I opened the freezer (on March 11)and took out a gift of beef bones from the family of one of my students. They had been sitting there since mid-January when I first started thinking about this food challenge. I wanted to leave them until last because, as a gift, I wanted to have a trial run with our more everyday chicken bones.

I used the amazing source of Google to locate a beef broth recipe. I ended up using this one from Rhoda Boone on Epicurious (2014). While I forgot to buy a leek (a nice thing to add next time!), I followed the recipe. It was kind of like making a potion as a kid when you found everything you could and added it to the pot. I love combinations of tastes and smells, so, while the ‘bare bones’ approach I used for the chicken broth was quick and easy, this one was more satisfying.

However, it makes a lot of broth and with the larger bones, I couldn’t fit it in the crock pot. So, I ventured out into older and more foreign territory for this day and age, and did it on the stove. This meant cooking it for a longer time as it’s not advised to keep your stove on while you’re asleep. The cooking time was further extended as our fridge ended up needing some repairs, so it got a nice long simmer! Just what was needed. Next time, though, I might just do a smaller batch so it will fit in the crock pot which can be tucked nicely out of the way on the counter.

I strained the soup days later (March 13) as our fridge broke so it got a nice long simmer! Looking forward to making soup in this tonight or tomorrow. I’ll head back to Rebar (Alsterberg & Urbanowicz, 2001) as they have two nice recipes for Mushroom and French Onion Soup.

Reference List

Alsterberg, Audrey & Urbanowicz, Wanda. (2001). Rebar: modern food cookbook. Big Ideas Publishing Inc.

Boone, Rhoda. (2014). Beef Bone Broth. Epicurious. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/beef-bone-broth-51260700.