One of the superstar foods in Paleo is beef bone broth.  When perusing the list of grass-fed meats available from my CSA (community supported agriculture – read more about it here:  Tahini Dip) I was delighted to find they sell dog bones for just $3 per bag.  I ordered my first bag for Bella but when they arrived they were really not suitable for the dog (because they were too small) but I was amazed at what a massive amount of bones it was.  Clearly I’m not above making broth for myself out of dog bones so my adventure in beef bone broth began.  Since my first order I’ve gotten them twice more and although the bags have not been as big, the bones have been bigger and are just what I need – knuckles and marrow (I did give one of the marrow bones to Bella

only to find she did what she frequently does with something she really loves.  She hides it.  Unfortunately her latest hiding place is in the kitty litter box as opposed to hiding them in my bed or behind the pillows of my couch – which she used to to before Rafi moved in).

 

This is a great and versatile recipe.  You can use the broth in any recipe calling for broth or just eat some by itself, perhaps garnished with chopped herbs.

Don’t be discouraged by this seemingly unimportant recipe – there will be 2 recipes following this that will use beef bone broth as the base.

Enjoy!
Beef Bone Broth

This recipe is quite unusual for me as I am not giving you specific amounts of anything.  The fact is, you just can’t go wrong no matter what you do.  Just cook it down until it tastes good and beefy. I started this batch with about 5 pound of bones and 5 quarts of water.

4 or so pounds of beef bones

Carrot chunks

Celery chunks and leaves

Onion chunks and leaves

Water

Salt to taste

1. Place the beef bones in aluminum foil lined pans.  Bake at 350*F for about 1 hour or until the bones are nicely browned.

 

Place the bones in a large soup pot; fill with water to cover the bones by about 1-inch.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Skim off the sludge on top, if desired.

 

 

2.  Fill a blender container with a combination of carrots, celery (and leaves), and onions.  Add enough water to cover the vegetables.

 

Cover and blend until finely chopped.

Pour into the soup pot.

2.  Cook about 1 1/2 hours or until enough water has evaporated to expose the bones.  Taste to see if mixture is flavorful, if not, cook longer.

Remove the bones from the pot.

 

3.  Pour the broth through a fine strainer and press the solids in the strainer until all the liquid has been extracted.  Repeat until all the broth is strained.  If desired, strain the broth again using an even finer strainer. Season with salt if desired.

 

 

 

4.  Chill broth until fat on top hardens.  Remove the fat and discard.

 

 

5.  I make the broth in large batches and then freeze it in 1 cup portions in freezer sandwich Ziplock bags.

and then I pull out as many bags as I need cups for a recipe.

 

Yield:  varies with how much you started with