Good Broth Will Resurrect The Dead
~ South American Proverb

Photo by Ed Bierman

Lately, symptoms of tiredness and general low energy have been weighing me down and this week I even got the sniffles! For male readers this is the same as man flu. So, I decided it was time to pull out the big guns – chicken soup.

It's no secret that chicken soup makes you feel better. For generations, carers would concoct this magical broth when their loved ones fell ill. I decided to look into why it seems to work. Read on to find out and get my bonus recipe for Wholesome and Magical Chicken Soup.

First of all, it's important to note that you won't find magic in any of the processed tinned or packeted soup mixes. These are poor copies, fakes. There will also be a lot of additives. If you're looking for real magic, you need to start from scratch. Here's how you do it...

Wholesome and Magical Chicken Soup Recipe.

I used the leftovers from the Sunday Roast Dinner. We'd eaten all the breast meat so what was left was a decent amount of leg, wing and belly meat (as well as all the bones and skin and bits).

Put the entire carcass in a big pan with water and white wine vinegar (the vinegar helps leech out calcium from the bones). Bring this to the boil and let it simmer for an hour or so. Then skim the foamy scum from the surface.

Time to add other ingredients! I used...

onion, garlic, carrot, spinach, potato, sea salt, pepper, turmeric, white wine vinegar, tarragon.

Leave this simmering with a lid on for the day (I got impatient and had some after 5 hours but it's okay to leave this going for 8+ hours).

Strain the soup and keep some of the broth for other recipes. Some let it cool down and lift off the lovely fat layer! I don't – the fat gives it more flavour and makes the broth filling and just OMG mmmmm!

Pick through the sieve and return what you want to the soup. The meat is delicious and tender.

You can give some of the veg and softened bones to the dogs (mine love it) but be careful not to give them any of the sharper bones.

Don't forget to eat the bones!

I chomp on some of the bones myself. They're generally chewy and the marrow is suckable. The socket bones have a pleasant but easy crunch to them. You just know there's nutrients hiding in there :)

Why is proper chicken soup magic?

Because we've used much of the chicken – meat, skin, bones, tendons, cartilage – the soup is rich in goodies such as:

• gelatin –
  holds onto fluids, helps keep you hydrated, helps with digestion.

• protein –
  essential for growth and repair; all body cells contain protein; it's important stuff!

• calcium –
  essential nutrient; all body cells need calcium; helps maintain bone density (avoid osteoporosis); helps muscle contraction, neurotransmitter function, digestion, blood clotting; also helps with prevention of colorectal cancer; possibly protective against breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.

• magnesium –
  activates enzymes; important for parathyroid hormone secretion (bone metabolism); essential for muscle and nerve function.

• phosphorus –
  essential for bone health and tooth structure and cell membrane structure; contributes to energy metabolism.

• silicon –
  helps with bone and connective tissue formation.

• sulphur –
  potential benefits in conditions such as fibromyalgia, depression, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, AIDS. Study

• chondroitin sulphates –
  anti-inflammatory; helps with osteoarthritis.

• glucosamine –
  helps keep the joints supple.

• L-glutamic acid –
  a neurotransmitter precursor.

The MAGIC is that it's REAL FOOD! :D

Results

I'm already feeling better, more energetic and even happier! That must be the magic. Still, I don't want to risk these sniffles coming back so I'm gonna go have me some seconds. Mmmm :)

Have a magical day.

Recommended Reading

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

Nutritional info from Nutrition.org

Other eclectic articles

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Crochet for beginners Part 2

Crochet for beginners. Part 1

Chia seeds are EVIL

MEN: how to get a bigger, more effective penis

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Unless otherwise stated, all pics in my blog are either mine or freely available online, labelled for reuse and doctored by me.