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Chicken bone broth

Your cut-out-and-keep guide to the fundamentals of cooking

Ihave chicken bone broth every day, and I love it. Instead of eating rice or grains, it’s something that is lighter and leaner, and doesn’t leave you feeling so full and bloated. It gives you a better feeling. We tried putting chicken bone broth on the menu in Borlottie two years ago, and it just didn’t take off. But then it started to become more popular and well known worldwide, so when we tried it again last year, people were more willing to give it a go. Some people still come in and say, “What’s that?” I tell them it’s basically a chicken consomme, and when they taste it, they often come back for it again. It’s a very soothing thing to have — sort of calming, even. And I tell people that it’s the easiest thing in the world to make at home. We first came across bone broth through our nutritionist, Dee Daly. She was into it, and I’d also heard about it from my boss, who lives in the States, and from my partner, who is from London. Bone broth is huge in New York and in London. In fact, in London, there are places that just make bone broth. They have meat bone broth made with beef; fish bone broth, and chicken bone broth. They even have vegan bone broth, though I’m not sure how that works without meat bones. The best chicken bone broth will come from a raw carcass of a chicken. You might have to pre-order one from the butcher, so that they can strip the meat from the bones for you, and there’s a chance you might have to buy the meat and use that in other recipes. Alternatively, you could make your broth from the cooked bones of a roast chicken, but nutritionally that won’t be the same as making it with raw bones. Your choice of pot is important. We cook 10 carcasses at a time, in a 20-litre pot, but at home you’ll have a single carcass and a smaller pot. Be careful not to use a pot that’s too big. You’re only covering the bones with water, and it should be a snug arrangement. You don’t want to end up with a huge pot of tasteless water. And if you want to dilute it later, then you can. When people ask why it’s good for you, we tell them that bone broth is great if you have a cold or flu, and that there are claims it helps to fight infection. They say, too, that it helps with joint pain and inflammation, but we don’t claim that. It’s a lovely, refreshing light soup — like a nice tea — and that’s what we promote.

You will need:

5 cloves of garlic The bones of one chicken Salt and freshly ground black pepper Water

Method:

Crush or mash the cloves of garlic. Put the crushed or mashed garlic cloves, whichever you’re using, into a pot with the chicken bones, the salt and freshly ground black pepper, and just cover everything with cold water. Bring the pot to a boil and then leave it at a very low simmer for 24 hours, with the lid on. At the end, skim off any fat and, if you want, quickly blend the soup to get rid of any bits of meat or garlic. Serves 6. Simon Stokes is Head of Operations at Borlottie, Unit 4A Excise Walk, IFSC, D1, tel: (01) 605-4000; and Unit 2, St Martin’s House, Upper Baggot St, D2, tel: (01) 281-5884, or see borlottie.ie In conversation with Sarah Caden