Immune boosting soup stock is a potent soup base which can be made ahead of time and frozen into cubes in ice cube trays. These cubes can then be added to soups, stews and gravies to lend immune system supporting properties to your meal.
Immune Boosting Soup Stock
- 6 cups of bones (Any raw of cooked animal or fowl bones will do. These could be beef marrow bones, turkey bones, chicken bones, lamb bones or pork bones. If you happen to have some game bones lying around like venison, duck, or goose these will work as well. You can save things like chicken carcasses or turkey bones after you have carved most of the meat off of them and freeze them for future stock making.)
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3 medium sized yellow or red onions, chopped
2 whole heads of garlic, chopped
1 big bunch of parsley with stems included, chopped
4 tablespoons or 6 sticks of Codonopsis root
10-15 Shiitake mushrooms with stems included, chopped
3 sticks of Astragalus
6 celery stalks, chopped
4 parsnips, chopped
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, ghee or coconut oil in a large soup pot.
Add the garlic and onions to the fat and fry until lightly browned.
Add the bones and parsley to the pot and fry in the fat for 5 to 10 minutes.
Add all of the other ingredients, cover with 4 quarts of water (or more if needed to cover) and bring to a rolling boil.
Turn heat down and simmer on a low boil for at least 4 hours. I prefer to cook this stock uncovered which will result in losing some of the liquid through evaporation. If there seems to be too much of this going on (i.e. if there is no longer adequate liquid in the pot to keep the contents covered and give them ample room to boil around freely, add more water to the pot.)
Take off heat and add 2-4 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid amino acids, or tamari if you prefer. These will add some more body to your broth. You can add 2 tablespoons and taste and then add more if you like.)
Strain out all solids and discard them.
Freeze in ice cube trays or other small containers. Add a few cubes to anything you want to lend an immune boosting kick to when you need a little liquid or broth. This could include things like soups, stews, gravies, grains and sauces.