BONE BROTH RECIPE - SLOW COOKER RECIPE - IMMUNITY BUILDING SUPER DRINK

Bone broth is one of those things that we have been meaning to write about for quite some time. Ever since we started purchasing grass-fed cow shares, we have been more committed to using all parts of the animal. Our favorite way to use the bones from the cow is to make slow-cooker bone broth. The benefits of bone broth are extensive - a quick google search can outline them for you with greater clarity than I can provide you, but trust me, it is great for strengthening immune system function, which is more important than ever.

Additionally, making bone broth serves as a way to create a base for homemade soups and stews, as well as provides a use for “scrap” pieces of meat, organic veggies and other things that you feel bad about wasting or composting. It reduces waste and improves our personal and planet health - double win!

Making bone broth is simple, easy, and inexpensive. We find the easiest thing to do is make in in a crock pot. You’ll need:

SLOW COOKER BONE BROTH:

Soup Bones or any type of bones, preferably from a grass fed animal

Water

Onion

Celery

Carrot

Apple Cider Vinegar

Sea Salt (optional)

Pepper (optional)

Garlic (optional)

Grass Fed Beef Neck Bones

Quarter your onion

Use the odds/ends of celery

Chop a carrot

Add a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar - you want the one “with the mother” (aka, unfiltered with all the good stuff).

Once everything is chopped and assembled, simply place the ingredients in the crock pot, fill with water, and cook on low for 24 hours. You can choose to add salt, pepper and garlic - sometimes I wait to do this until I use the broth so I can adjust the seasonings as I see fit for the purpose I am using the broth for - up to you!The vinegar will help extract the nutrient value from the bones and helps to ensure the maximal health benefit from the broth.

After your time is up, simply drain, discard solids, and pour into glass jars. The fat will rise to the top and create a seal. The broth can be kept with this seal for up to 6 months as long as the seal is not punctured. Too easy!

Super easy and super smart way to use pieces of leftover quality ingredients - plus, a huge bonus for your health. It’s awesome! A tip: We will save odds and ends of veggies in a freezer bag until we are ready to use them - that way we always have the items ready when we have bones to use.

Hope it works for you - enjoy!!

-The Benander Crew

GLUTEN-FREE SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS - THE REAL DEAL!

Ok. We are mostly gluten free around here and that is mostly awesome….mostly. There are just some things that don’t really cut it being gluten free and most homemade bread products land in that category. We hate to even THINK about the amount of time, money, and energy we put into trying to master a great bread product that is also gluten free. We can nail most every other baked good, but true bread products have kicked our tails!

However, we FINALLY cracked the code on gluten free biscuits! Success! It makes sense in that it is not a yeast based dough and gluten free yeast doughs struggle to rise due to the lack of gluten protein. That stated, a lot of trials for biscuits have still been too crumbly, dense or dry.

We think the magic to these is making sure you follow the technique and also ensure that you use buttermilk - if you are dairy free, you could sub the butter for oil and the buttermilk for almond milk base, but I make no promises on the outcome! Adding the dairy to the buttermilk smooths the grittiness that is often found with gluten free products, so it really makes these work!

Also, like with any gluten free product, your flour blend can change the texture. We used VITACOST baking flour which already has xantham gum in it. If your blend includes xantham gum already, you should be good to go. If not, make sure to add about 1 tsp to the recipe.

Additionally, it is a great base - you can add a twist and use them for strawberry shortcakes too! Are you ready for that? Ummmm…yum.

Alright, let’s cut to the chase! Happy baking!

GLUTEN-FREE SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

2 c. gluten-free flour blend

1/2 t. salt

1 T. baking powder (prefer aluminum free)

2 T. sugar

1 c. chilled buttermilk (can use 1 T. lemon juice and 1 c. milk - sit for 10 min first)

1 egg, whisked

6 T. cold butter (if you only have unsalted butter, then increase salt to 3/4 tsp)

Preheat convection oven to 425 degrees or regular oven to 450 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Slowly cut in cold butter (can use a food processor with dough blade) until the butter is pea like texture. Separate the buttermilk into two parts. To the first part, add the egg and then slowly pulse in the egg/buttermilk mixture. As the dough starts coming together, slowly start pulsing in more of the buttermilk until you have a sticky dough. You may or may not use all the rest of the buttermilk. Gluten-free flour is a thirsty flour and sometimes it will soak up more or less, depending on your blend. You don’t want a soupy dough.

Put some parchment paper on the counter and dust with flour. Dump your dough on the counter, and fold on itself twice (if a little more flour is needed, that is fine). Press into a 7-8 inch round - Do NOT roll out the dough with a roller - you will lose the rise and air pockets we’ve created. Cut 2 inch circles, pressing straight down and lifting them up. Place into a greased cast iron skillet and bake for about 15-20 min. Remove when the tops are golden brown and then brush tops with butter.

TRY to resist eating them…but good luck!

Need ideas? We love:

Making Spicy chicken Sandwiches with them

Adding sausage patties or bacon and eggs

Adding Kerrygold Irish butter and smiling!

Making strawberry jam spreading in on thick! We just went strawberry picking, so we are making strawberry everything!

Making them into strawberry shortcakes - you can sweeten them up with doubling the sugar in the recipe, and then brushing the tops with a little milk and raw cane sugar on the top before baking. They might not rise quite as high, but they are a little sweeter and OH MAN!!

Hope it works for you - enjoy!!

-The Benander Crew