It was cold, windy and snowing this morning when we opened our eyes and started to think about getting out of bed. I got up and put the kettle on for our morning cuppa Joe. When Glenn finally made his way downstairs he looked me in the eye and we both knew there was really only one thing to do on a day like today; while I built a fire in the woodstove Glenn got out the stockpot! So now the beef bone broth is simmering nicely on the stove and the air is filled with an aroma that promises a tasty soup will soon follow.

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 beef marrow bones
• 2 litres water
• 3 T cider vinegar
• 1 cooking onion
• 1 large carrot
• 2 stalks of celery
• 6 pepper corns
• 2 bay leafs
• ½ bunch of flat leaf parsley
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1. Arrange the soup bones on a rimmed cookie sheet lined with foil and place on the middle rack of the oven. Roast the bones for 1 hour until they are browned nicely.
2. Carefully remove the cookie sheet from the oven. There will be some liquefied fat from the bones in the pan, so keep it steady as you lift it up out of the oven.
3. Put the browned bones, liquefied fat and everything else into a large soup pot and bring the liquid to the boiling point. Immediately adjust the heat under the pot so the liquid cools to a point where it is just simmering gently. The trick to getting a nice clear broth is to simmer the broth slowly and not let it get up to a full rolling boil. It’s also important to skim off any scum that forms on the top of the stock and around the edges. Do these two things and your broth will be clear and not cloudy.
4. You can let the bone broth simmer all day if you want but do it for at least 4 hours to achieve a deep enough flavour. When you take it off the stove and it is cool enough to handle discard the bones and veggie chunks before pouring the stock through a fine sieve to remove all the little bits. Let the broth cool to room temperature then store it in the fridge. The excess fat will solidify on the top once it’s been refrigerated for a few hours making easy to remove. I always leave a bit though, because it adds so much flavour to a broth.

Tip: You can also save leftover bones from meals like T-bone steak, cross-rib pot roast or beef short ribs in the freezer and toss them into the stock pot along with fresh marrow bones when it’s time to make a good beef stock.