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A Beef with Beef-Broth + a Recipe

January 18, 2015 By Lauren

barebonesI’ve got a bone to pick with you, bone broth.  With a feature in the NY Times, a top position on many a “What’s Hot” list (yes, those still exist), and the success of a broth-centric shop in the East Village (to-go cups! of broth! for 10 US dollars!), it’s safe to say that you are having a moment.  And while I couldn’t be happier that more & more folks are coming to know your nutrient-rich ways, it’s just that, I feel like, you’ve changed.  The same way kale or Tibetan butter tea have changed (yep, I said it. #nutritionistproblems): not in actual, physical make-up, but in public perception, market opinion.  You’ve gone from most humble foodstuff that just so happens to be nourishing, to Super Food, with a capital S and all the ensuing connotations.

Our vision of health tends to be indistinguishable from our vision of attractiveness, of success.  And so, just as the kale smoothies of 2012 promised to make us healthier (skinnier) and as bulletproof coffee (a translation of butter tea) is currently promising to make us healthier (not only skinnier but smarter, too), bone broth is being marketed as panacea for all that ails, and especially those more prioritized ailments like spotty skin, thinning hair, and love handles.

Bones are being valued now, an undoubtedly positive development considering that they were once categorized as “waste” and disposed of accordingly.  However, this positive development is not without its complications.  Bones are, after all, a Super Food now, and, as with kale, the price of bones seems to rise according to the level of “health-consciousness” of the community.  In Geneva, most bones (even ones from grass-fed, consciously-raised cows) are free.  In Vancouver, a pound of bones (and not necessarily marrow or meaty ones) could cost up to 12 Canadian dollars.  Thus, (in a profoundly ironic turn of events) bone broth becomes a food, not of economy, but of privilege (10 dollar to-go cups!).  This is exclusionary and just not cool.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love bone broth.  I more than love it.  I L-U-R-V-E it. (See this love letter detailing why).  Nothing brings me more joy than converting the uninitiated to the way of the bone.  I truly believe it plays an important role in a balanced, nourishing diet, as well as in a more sustainable system of animal husbandry.  Coincidentally, it’s also delicious and the addition of broth to something as simple as a pot of rice is nothing short of miraculous.

I’m just wary of our tendency to position certain foods within a kind-of exalt/abase cycle (See: soy, agave nectar, wheat bran, etc.).  Firstly, because it’s exhausting.  Secondly, because every person’s dietary needs are different according to their lifestyle, their physical, mental and spiritual constitution, and their geographic location.  And thirdly, because I believe that in order to really heal what ails us–yes, even love handles and spotty skin–we need to bring nourishment into our lives from many directions, not just from one to-go cup.

And so I leave you with my recipe for beef-broth.  One based on traditions, on creating something (a food) out of nothing (a formerly inedible substance); liquid sunshine from bare bone.

soakedboneoxtail

This broth won’t make you skinnier, or smarter or “healthier” in our entangled sense of the word.  But it will, if you let it, nourish you.  And, alongside other nourishing practices like, for example, self-love, gratitude, 64oz of water every day, interpretative dance, it can, eventually, contribute toward healing in whatever form that takes for you.

brothy

Beef Bone Broth

Notes:

The steps in making beef broth are quite similar to those in making chicken broth.  If you’re a broth beginner, I’d recommend reading through my post of chicken broth & broth-making essentials here.

As always, the goal here is to get your broth to gel.  Attending to steps #1 & #8 will ensure that all is gel-tastic.

#1.  Use cartilaginous bones.

Collagen, which is found in cartilaginous bones like the joints, neck, head and feet, renders gelatin.  For beef broth, if I can get my paws on one, I use a portion of a calf’s foot.  If not, other cartilaginous bones work (almost) just as well.

#2.  Use bones with some meat on them.

This won’t affect the gelatin content of your broth, but it will increase its flavor immensely.  I usually use a small portion of oxtail, as it can be quite meaty and is less pricey than ribs or the like.

#3.  Use marrow bones.

This also won’t affect the gelatin content of your broth, but it will add many nutritious delights.  Marrow is an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acid, which is essential for brain-health, of the amino acid glycine, which helps make and repair proteins, and is a complete form of vitamin A, which is an important catalyst for many, many biochemical processes and a powerful antioxidant.

#4.  Add vegetable scraps (if you have them) or even whole vegetables.

Bone broth is a great way to make use of kitchen “waste”–onion skins, garlic skins, ends of carrots, potato peelings.  If you’re making broth weekly, you can store these in the fridge.  Otherwise, freeze them for later use.

Whole cloves of garlic, halved onions, halved potatoes all add flavor to your broth.

#5.  Place the bones (except the meaty ones) in a large stockpot.  Fill to the top with cold water and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar.  Let sit for an hour.

The vinegar helps to draw out the minerals from the bones.

#6. While the other bones are soaking, brown your meaty oxtail bones in the oven.

This will add complexity to your broth’s flavor.  I usually do this at around 400F for 15 minutes.

#7. Add meaty bones to the pot.  Turn heat on medium-high.  When the liquid starts to roll, turn down heat immediately to low. At this point, there will be a good amount of foam on the surface of your broth.  Skim, skim, skim.

This foam contains surface impurities and will negatively affect the flavor of your broth.

#8.  Simmer, simmer, simmer.

I usually cook my beef broth for 24 hours +.  You can keep it cooking for up to 72 hours, but I find that this can be tricky & my broth usually gels after a good 24.

#9.  Let cool in pot, then strain and pour into sterilized glass jars.

These keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.  A layer of fat will form at the top of your cooled broth.  This helps preserve your broth and can also be used to, say, fry an onion, or cook an egg.

You can freeze your broth for later use.  Frozen broth will last indefinitely, it would seem.  I’ve experimented with freezing in glass jars, but have had inconsistent results–with the glass shattering more often than not.  I now use plastic bags, letting the broth cool completely before transferring it.

#10.  Don’t waste the meat or marrow!

You’ve just slow-cooked oxtail for 24+ hours.  Save this & use it on a sandwich, or in a taco.

Same goes for marrow.  You can spread it on bread, mix it with butter, or top a baked potato with a spoonful of it.

Filed Under: Animal, Beef, Kitchen Essentials, Recipes, Winter Tagged With: beef, bonebroth, nourishing, traditionalfoods, wapf

Dimanche Roast: Pot-au-Feu

November 16, 2014 By Lauren

I had my first Suisse pot-au-feu last February while tucked away in the snowy mountains.  This was the traditional version, with beef, bones and vegetables slowly simmered on the stove, carrots and leeks ladled from the broth then salted and slathered with grainy mustard, broth and tender meat sopped up with, not fork, but hunk of crusty bread.  It was just the kind of cheek-flushing, sweater-no-longer-necessary, deeply-warming meal that the (witch) doctor ordered.

Pot-au-feu, or literally pot-over-fire, can be said to be France’s national dish.  Recipes for pot-au-feu are as various as the country’s regions, the families living in those regions.  The main point of pot-au-feu, from my vantage, is to gather honey from a weed: a low-cost (read: tough) cut of meat, some bones, some vegetables, a few sprigs of something green all turned tender, transcendently so, with the aid of heat and time.  The perfect meal for the first truly cold early winter Sunday with an extra-special bonus for une femme comme moi.

bone

Isn’t it Iron-ic?

I’ve said before that L & I really only eat meat once or twice a week, but this all changes for me during, borrowing my Ethnobotany professor’s line, my moon-time.  (For the more literal friends and/or the men among us, I mean menstruation.  Yep, just said menstruation on the internet.  Girl power!)  Us moon-timing women require 18mg of iron per day, as we’re losing 30-40mg of iron each month during our cycle.  Iron is one of the most difficult minerals to absorb and, although iron absorption increases with increased need, it takes several months to completely replenish iron concentration in the blood so it’s important to keep levels consistent. (Haas, 188)

Iron is actually a micro-mineral, or an essential trace mineral, yet it receives way more attention than some of the big gun macro-minerals like sulfur.  This speaks to two things: the first being just how important iron’s role is in our health.  Iron helps to form hemoglobin.  Hemoglobin carries oxygen molecules throughout our body.  Red blood cells pick up oxygen from our lungs and distribute it to the rest of our tissues, all of which need oxygen to survive.  To put it concisely: If we lack iron, we lack hemoglobin and therefore our tissues lack oxygen.  More concisely: no iron, no energy.  Even more: no Fe = no Fun.  The second thing: although iron exists in many food sources it’s also damn difficult to absorb, and not just for us moon-timers.

Heme vs. Nonheme

Two forms of iron exist: heme and nonheme or, simply, animal and vegetable.  Heme is found only in animal foods–it’s highest in liver and beef–and is the most easily absorbed and utilized form of iron.  Nonheme is found in vegetable sources–like spinach and pumpkin seeds–and, as even my vegetarian-leaning nutrition book admits, is quite poorly absorbed and utilized by our bodies.  (Haas, 188)

To further complicate matters for the herbivores amongst us, the highest sources of nonheme iron–whole grains and dark leafies like spinach and chard–contain certain compounds–phytates and oxalates respectively–that actually bind to iron, inhibiting its uptake and making it even less easy to absorb.  Further still, soy, a common source of protein in many a vegetarian’s diet, has been shown to decrease iron absorption.

potaufeu-6

Absorbing it All

You can see now that the main concern with iron is absorption.  The bad news is that there are other factors negatively affecting this besides the aforementioned ones.  These include caffeine and tannic acid in coffee and tea, phosphates in industrial meats and soft drinks, antacids and the less easily remedied low stomach acid and fast gastrointestinal motility.

The good news is there are a few ways to positively affect iron absorption as well.  Vitamin C (sauerkraut with pot-au-feu!), the use of iron cookware (cast-iron dutch-oven for pot-au-feu!), and the combination of heme and nonheme sources (a kale salad with a heap-load of seeds with your pot-au-feu!).

Before I get to the recipe, I’d like to quickly discuss supplementation.  Elements of inorganic iron–such as those used to supplement refined flour–are dubious. In that form, iron can’t be utilized by the body and its build-up in blood and tissues is toxic.  Elevated amounts have been linked to heart disease and cancer. (Fallon, 44)  If supplementing, it’s best to use a supplement derived from whole foods rather than one synthesized in a lab.

Print
Dimanche Roast: Pot-au-Feu

Ingredients

  • 1 pound beef shoulder or brisket
  • 2 pieces of oxtail or marrow bones
  • 2 medium-sized yellow onions
  • handful of carrots
  • handful of turnips
  • 1 leek
  • two handfuls of new potatoes
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • bouquet garni with sage, rosemary and thyme
  • salt and pepper
  • knob ghee

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 200F. Lightly rub your cut of beef with salt and pepper. Heat cast-iron dutch-oven on stove-top and add knob of ghee. Once dutch-oven is hot, sear beef on each side for 1 minute or so. Remove from heat immediately.
  2. Place oxtail or marrow bones in dutch-oven with beef. Cover and place into oven.
  3. While your meat is roasting, prepare your vegetables, roughly chopping them so they are more or less the same size. The turnips and potatoes we used were small, so we just chopped them in half. You can peel your vegetables, or not. Leave garlic whole. Prepare your bouquet garni by tying a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary and sage together with string.
  4. After your meat has roasted on its own for about an hour, add vegetables and bouquet garni to dutch-oven. Keep roasting for another hour-and-a-half, checking on meat to see if it's tender.

Serve with grainy mustard, pickled things and a hunk of crusty bread (to spread your roasted bone-marrow on).

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References:
Haas, Elson M, 1992, 2006. Staying Health with Nutrition. Berkeley, Celestial Arts.
Fallon, Sally, 1999, 2001. Nourishing Traditions. Washington, DC. Newstrends Publishing Inc.

Filed Under: Beef, Dinner, Recipes, Winter Tagged With: beef, dinner, potaufeu, roast

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