Bone-broth cooking class: Thursday 21 February

I aim to run 1 cooking class per month this year. First cab off the rank is my favourite nutrient-dense food on the planet that I think we all should consume daily: bone broth (otherwise known as stock). Why? Here are a few reasons why broth is my and my family's foundation food: 1. broth should be consumed whenever muscle meat is consumed. This is because methionine from muscle meat can only fulfil its essential functions in the body in the presence of glycine that can be found in the skin, bones, connective tissue and organ meats of animals. Modern diets provide abundant quantities of methionine-rich muscle meats while bone broths have fallen by the way side.  The result of this imbalance is that excess methionine in diets rich in muscle meat generates toxic byproducts which is likely to contribute to reduce longevity, cardiovascular and other chronic disease. I am NOT saying that we shouldn't eat muscle meat, but that we need to team it with broth or some other glycine rich food.  An excellent article detailing the science behind this is written by Chris Masterjohn PhD and can be found in the Weston A Price Wise Traditions journal 2012, Vol 13, No 3, P 15. This shows us that nutrients often cooperate with one another to produce vibrant health.

2. the gelatin in the broth aids in digestion (a must for anyone with digestive issues)

3. the collagen in broth builds and repairs joints, cartilage, ligaments and tendons (a must for athletes, anyone with osteo-skeletal issues and sporting injuries)

4. the collagen in broth is a kind of rejuvenating youth serum, making your skin glow and look years younger (this is why I like to say that bone broth is my botox)

5. broth makes everything more flavoursome (from smoothies to casseroles to soups, jellies and sauces)

6. broth is immune-building and fortifying (a must for young kids, anyone who frequently succumbs to flues and infections, or aspires to have a bullet-proof immune system)

7. broth is a great source of protein, healthy saturated fats from pastured animals and a multitude of micronutrients that we need to function and perform our best. People who regularly consume broth report feeling stronger with more energy (myself included).

So a diet rich in pastured meats, veggies, fruit, eggs and whole dairy is really only half the picture. I believe that for really robust health and longevity we need to place bone broths, organ meats (eg pate) and lacto-fermented foods (like sauerkraut and kefir) center stage and make them a staple rather than a once in a blue moon delicacy. Broths were a staple in all traditional cultures. Remember the wholefoods principle- the whole of the animal (including the bones and organ meat) should be consumed. In fact our hunter-gatherer ancestors and people in traditional societies prized the bones and the organ meats of an animal over and above the lean muscle meat. Most people in modern society simply don't consume home-made broth on a regular basis. Here's your opportunity to kick-start the new year by learning how. 

Cost of the cooking class is $60 per person and includes:

* information on the nutritional benefits of bone broth * a detailed handout with step by step guide on how to make a good broth

* recipes that incorporate bone broths

* ways to incorporate bone broth into daily meals and drinks

* practical demonstration

* hands-on experience

* food tasting including French onion soup, chicken broth with lemon juice, pumpkin soup, and bone marrow vanilla berry custard. 

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When: 7:30-9:30pm (ish) Thursday 21 February 2013

Where: 77a Hewlett Street, Bronte.

RSVP:  To secure a spot contact soulla.chamberlain@me.com or 0407 871 884 and deposit $60 into bank account:

Account name: star anise organic wholefoods

BSB: 062 267 Account no: 10166103

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Please feel free to forward to any friends or family members.

For more information on the benefits and uses of bone broth refer to one my earlier blogs here.

Other cooking classes/workshops proposed for the remainder of the year include:

*  March - raw meats (wild salmon Ceviche, steak tartare, beef carpaccio) * April - snacks and desserts * May - Growing Healthy Babies...Naturally workshop (to be held at yoganic yoga studio) *June - casseroles *July - chicken liver pate * August - catering for a junk-free kids birthday party * September - home-made condiments (mayonnaise, tomato sauce, Tzatziki and other dips) and vegetables * October - lacto-fementation workshop * November - fat loss /general Q&A /community discussion

Liquid Gold: How to incorporate bone broths into meals

Recently someone asked me how they can incorporate bone broths into more of their meals. Great question!! Here are 8 suggestions:

1. add some broth to bottom of saucepan in place of water when re-heating food to prevent food from sticking

2. add 1-2 tablespoons of gelatinous beef broth in your smoothies (you wont taste it!)

3. add broth instead of water to cover or partly cover food when making a casserole

4. use broth as the base of soups instead of water (eg use chicken stock as the base for making pumpkin soup, throw in some steamed veggies to any type of broth for a vegetable soup)

5. use ready made bovine gelatin to make jelly for kids’ parties. This can be purchased for $39.50 on line at GPA Wholefoods. This product contains one ingredient- ground up beef bones. This is one of the very few packaged products that I buy/recommend. I used this to make a fabulous watermelon jelly for my daughter’s birthday party earlier this year using only 3 ingredients – bovine gelatin, boiling water to dissolve the gelatin and watermelon. There was NO ADDED SWEETENER!! I added 1 tablespoon of beef gelatin (dissolved in a little boiling water) for every 1 cup of watermelon. I reckon you might be able to do the same thing with home made gelatinous beef broth - I haven’t tried it but would be very interested to see how this turned out. I would try mixingbeef broth with mango flesh and refrigerating to make a mango jelly in summer…… I’ll try next summer and report back! It sounds bizarre, I know, but beef broth is rather tasteless when cold so adding it to fruit to make a jelly might work a treat.

6. adding a few tablespoons of beef or chicken broth to the food processor when making pate, especially if you want to thin down your mixture.

7. for the brave-hearted - eating cold gelatinous beef broth straight off the spoon –my daughter loves eating it like this. A good bone broth should have a jelly consistency when cold so scoop it out of your jar from the fridge and watch it giggle on a spoon stright into little ones mouths…..just 1 mouthful is like medicine!

8. serve ½ - 1 cup of broth as an entrée to at least one meal a day (eg dinner). My family knows the drill well- if you don’t drink your broth you don’t get your main meal. Broth is served as an entrée in many traditional cultures. And for good reason- the gelatin in the broth aids in digesting your meal especially meats. The broth can be served plain or you can jazz it up a bit by:

• adding a squeeze of lemon and salt to chicken broth (very Cypriot),

• blending an egg and parmeson cheese into beef broth when heating it (if adding the whole egg make sure that the broth heats up the egg white enough to cook it otherwise just add the yolk – egg whites should never be consumed raw. As to why- refer to one of my previous posts)

• adding caramelised onion and garlic and some sage and thyme to beef broth to make a quick French onion soup

• adding some lemon, butter and paprika to fish stock.

Bone-Broth image

If you have any further suggestions I'd love to hear them.

What’s so special about bone broths? When making broth the water molecules tug apart the connective tissue in skin, ligaments, cartilage and even bone releasing a special family of joint-building molecules called glycosaminoglycans (part of the collagen family of biomolecules). The 3 most famous members of this family are glucosamine, chondriotin sulfate and hyaluronic acid. These are often found in nutritional supplements but these processed supplements are not a patch on gelatinous stocks which house the entire extended family of glycosaminoglycans.

Glucosamine is somehow able to resist normal digestive processes and pass through the intestinal wall intact. Once it gets into your bloodstream it targets cartilage.  It stimulates the growth of new healthy collagen and helps repair damaged joints. Collagen is not just in our joints but in bone, skin, arteries, hair and just about everything in between! This means bone broth is a kind of youth serum capable of rejuvenating your body no matter what your age. It is especially important for athletes and anyone with osteo-skeletal issues. Recently a beautician friend asked me if I had botox. Ha! She looked a bit puzzled when I told her that a long time ago I replaced expensive face creams and body lotions with $5 bags of bones from my butcher and watched my skin glow!