Recipe: Savory Bone Broth
Maybe the world does not need another mention of bone broth, with all the hipster tire tracks that are evident on the surface of that subject. But then again, a longtime vegetarian friend asked me how to make it last week. I don’t know what strain or type of flu virus had come for her, but her feverish body made it pretty clear that chicken soup was the path out of the hole that illness had dropped her into. I’m a big believer in the call of appetite in a healing endeavor, so I obliged, and also realized she may not be the only person craving both this substance and a simple roadmap to its creation.
Though I’m kind of gadget-averse, I’ve recently fallen hard in love with a pressure cooker, and unless you need to make gallons at a time, bone broth is a great application for that device. Whether you are in active avoidance, active recovery, or active service of someone struck low, no hipster cred is required to recognize that bone broth is a mighty force to harness.
Keep washing your hands, keep resisting the urge to panic, and keep this broth around for yourself, your family and your neighbors.
Savory Bone Broth
Makes about 8 cups
2 pounds chicken wings, tips included
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons white wine or sherry
2-3 garlic cloves
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the chicken wings with the olive oil, paprika and salt, and arrange in a single layer in a metal roasting pan. Roast until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes.
Remove the wings to the pot you will use to cook the broth.
Add the wine and about half a cup of water to the roasting pan and set it atop a stove burner. Heat to boiling, stirring and scraping to capture every bit of what has caramelized to the pan. Pour this into the pot, along with water to cover the wings generously (10-12 cups in a pot, or to the “MAX” line of your pressure cooker insert). Add the garlic cloves.
Cook at high pressure for two hours or, if you are using the stovetop, simmer 6-8 hours, partially covered, over a low flame.
Strain the broth into sturdy containers and refrigerate overnight. The fat will rise to the surface and harden. In the morning, use a spoon to scrape this off the surface of the broth. This fat — it will be a deep orange, thanks to the paprika — makes an excellent medium for roasting potatoes or cooking up a very savory fried rice.
Drink the broth very warm, adjusting the salt level to your taste. Use it as the base for a proper soup full of noodles or rice and veggies, or serve it up on its own with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of something spicy to brighten the flavor and clear the passages.
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