Joel Salatin from Polyface Farm in Virgina holds his pasture-fed chicken

I was up in Franconia, NH in the fall visiting a friend’s and my daughter started feeling under the weather. She loves chicken noodle soup so I decided to stop at the only grocery store in town to buy some. Since, unfortunately,  my only options were canned, I took a few minutes to read all the labels to find the healthiest one. 

There were an infinite number to choose from all claiming something: low sodium, low fat, heart healthy, etc.  I read the labels on about 10 different cans of soup and I could not find one that wasn’t filled with junk such as huge amounts of sodium, MSG, hydrolyzed protein (code word for MSG), sugar, artificial colors, preservatives -even the organic ones.  I settled for an organic brand but wasn’t too excited about it – my daughter wasn’t either, lucky me the canned imitation didn’t hold up to mom’s chicken soup! (phew!)

So I stick to homemade as often as I possibly can. I think there is nothing more nourishing than have a pot of chicken stock brewing on the stove.  Once I have a great stock, I know I’ll have a great soup.  Properly prepared stocks are extremely nutritious and contain the minerals, marrow and gelatin that puts store bought to shame! Don’t’ ever throw your chicken bone away!  If you can’t cook them at the time, throw them in the freezer and use them when you have time.

I follow the Nourishing Traditions recipe which includes a bit of vinegar to help draw out the calcium magnesium, potassium in the bones into the broth. If your stock gets gelatinous – that’s a good thing!  The gelatin actually helps you digest the stock and help you utilize the protein that you take in.

Directions:

Place either a chicken or 2-3 pounds of chicken bones with 2-3 carrots, 2-3 celery stalks and a large onion and cover it with water (about 4 quarts).  (Coarsely chop veggies.) Add two tablespoons vinegar.  Let stand for 30-60 minutes.  Bring to a boil and skim the skum off the top (toxins float to the top) and the let simmer for 6-24 hours. The longer you cook it, the more flavorful and nutritious it will be. 

The last 10 minutes add half cup chopped parsley.  Strain the stock into a large bowl and cool in the refrigerator until the fat rises to the top and congeals.  Skim off the fat.  Store for 3-4 days in the refrigerator or freeze. If the bones turn white, that’s a good sign that the calcium has been drawn out of the bones.  If it wiggles when you chill it this is a good sign that it is gelatinous.

Unfortunately locally grown chickens are hard to get!  I typically get my chickens from Peter Allen (Newfield’s Own Produce), Brookford Farm or Kellie Brook but many of them seem to be out of chickens. I’m going to the winter farmer’s market today in Rollingsford and I will check to see who has some. (Find all the farm listings in the Seacoast Harvest Local Food Guide at www.seacoastharvest.org/.