Daniela's Morning Bone/Collagen Broth

This takes about 2 days, but I make a big batch and freeze most of it into cubes so it lasts a long time.

What I use
• Chicken soup/bone kit (bones with some meat attached)
• Chicken feet
• Beef soup/marrow bones
• Chicken hearts + gizzards + liver or other organ meat, if available
• Celery
• Carrots
• White onion
• Fresh turmeric — about a thumb-sized piece, peeled
• Salt
• Fresh cilantro
• Water

Optional: fresh ginger, bell peppers, whole peppercorns, or other vegetables you like.

1. Clean the bones
Put the chicken bones, chicken feet, and beef marrow bones in water with either lime + salt or vinegar + salt for about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse everything thoroughly.

2. Start the broth
Cover the cleaned bones and chicken feet with fresh water and bring to a boil. Let them cook for about 1 hour, regularly skimming off the foam/impurities that rise to the surface. This helps create a cleaner broth.

3. Add the organ meats
Add the hearts, gizzards, liver, or whatever organ meats you're using. Continue boiling for approximately another hour, skimming the surface again as necessary.

4. Add the vegetables
Coarsely chop plenty of celery, carrots, and white onion and add them to the pot. They don't need to look pretty because they'll eventually be strained.

Add the fresh turmeric, salt, and, if desired, ginger, bell pepper and/or whole peppercorns.

Keep enough liquid in the pot that everything can continue cooking comfortably.

5. Long cook — about 12 hours
Let everything cook together for approximately 12 hours. Keep an eye on the water level and add water when necessary.

Then allow the pot to cool and refrigerate it overnight.

6. Remove the fat
The next day, you'll have a hardened layer of fat on top. I remove most or all of it, although you can leave some if you prefer.

Underneath, the broth should be very gelatinous when cold — that's exactly what you want!

7. Second cook + fresh vegetables
Put everything back on the stove and bring it back to a boil/simmer.

I add another round of fresh vegetables at this point — usually more celery, carrots, and onion, although you can change it up. The original vegetables have already given up most of their flavor during the first long cook, so the fresh vegetables make the final broth taste MUCH better.

Cook for another 6–10 hours, depending on your pot/cooking method.

8. Finish with cilantro
Toward the very end, add plenty of finely chopped fresh cilantro. This completely elevates the flavor of the broth.

9. Strain REALLY well
Let it cool enough to handle safely, then strain everything thoroughly.

I press/mash the cooked vegetables against the strainer to squeeze as much flavorful liquid out as possible. After cooking this long, most of the solids will basically be mush.

Optional thicker/soup version: You can add squash or potatoes during the cooking process if you want something thicker and more soup-like. Just remember that if you mash those through the strainer, they'll make the final broth MUCH thicker.

10. Cool + store
Divide the strained broth into glass or metal containers and allow it to cool, then refrigerate.

I normally keep about 1 quart in the refrigerator to use throughout the week and freeze the rest in ice-cube trays.

Once frozen, you can transfer the cubes to freezer bags/containers.

How I drink it 

In the morning, I usually heat about 5–7 broth cubes with a little water.I also may use it while cooking different meals. Sometimes I finish it with fresh lime.

It's rich, savory, comforting, and an easy way to have homemade broth ready every morning. 

 
Approx. per cupCalories~50–90Protein~8–14 gFat~1–4 gCarbs~2–5 g

Enjoy !

Daniela De La Cruz