I rarely have a difficult time beginning a blog post, but this one just isnāt starting itself. I usually keep things light and recipe-focused in this space, but it doesnāt seem like thereās a way to go forward here without telling you all about something thatās recently changed in my life:
A few weeks ago, my husband Brendan was diagnosed with diabetes. Heād been experiencing some unexplained symptoms starting in early February (waking up with dry mouth and excessive thirst/craving for sweet drinks, mostly). On February 22nd, after a particularly carb-heavy dinner, he was feeling a little off. This lead him to do a little googling, and he quickly put it all together. Ā
A slew of doctor appointments that week resulted in a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, the autoimmune form of the disease that requires management with both long-acting and short-acting insulin. We knew it wouldnāt make a lot of sense for it to be Type 2, since Brendanās a slim, active guy with a balanced diet. Still, neither of us had ever heard of someone being diagnosed with Type 1 as an adult.
As it turns out, itās not unheard of. People who are genetically predisposed to diabetes can live without the disease until something triggers their immune system to set it in motion in adulthood. This form of Type 1 diabetes is informally referred to as LADA, or Type 1.5.
Turkey Chili with Black Beans and Lentils
Dinnertime has changed pretty drastically in the last few weeks. Brendan has to determine the carb count of every meal beforehand, in order to dose himself with the appropriate amount of short-acting insulin. As the main cook in our little family unit, this means I have to keep the nutritional content of our dinners in mind as Iām putting them together.
So far, weāve found that the easiest way to keep Brendanās blood sugars from spiking too much is to eat fairly low-carb. Well-balanced meals that are based on lots of non-starchy vegetables, a good amount of protein, and a healthy dose of good fats are easiest to manage.
Broccoli Bacon Slaw and Coconut Chicken Tenders
While Iāve always preferred to cook recipes with mostly unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods (case in point, the recipes on this blog), Iāve never had to be so mindful of carb counts. Iām used to thickening sauces with a little cornstarch, adding a scoop of breadcrumbs to meatloaf and meatballs, a teaspoon of sugar to vinaigrettes and marinades, using fruit juice as the cooking liquid in Instant Pot braises ā¦ itās easy to end up sneaking more carbs into a meal than youād think.
Miracle Noodle Pad Thai
Weāve also learned to enjoy different kinds of indulgences. The warm, savory comfort of a mug of bone broth before dinner is a new one, and itās especially nice in cold weather. Weāve made our way through the roasted turkey broth that was in the freezer, so yesterday, I made a similar chicken-based version. I used necks and backs bought from Dittmerās, one of my favorite local butcher shops. These are my favorite chicken parts for making broth, since they release lots of gelatin as they cook, adding body to the broth.
You can certainly just throw everything in the Instant Pot, press a button, and walk away. For a really special broth, though, I like to either sear the chicken parts first, or even better, give them a quick roast in a hot oven along with some aromatic vegetables. The chicken, carrots, parsnips, and onions take on a golden brown color, which makes the stock look extra appealing, too.
Bone Broth, Frozen in Silicone Mini Loaf Molds
You can serve this bone broth as is, add a pinch of salt for extra seasoning, or for a spicy, sinus-clearing version, add a spoonful of sambal oelek (chili paste) to each mug. Bone broth also makes a great cooking ingredient, adding depth to soups, stews, and braises. Store it in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer, for a few months. However you enjoy it, I hope it adds nourishment and comfort to your meals, as it has to ours.
Instant Pot Roasted Chicken Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 2 Ā½ pounds chicken necks and backs about 6, cut in half crosswise
- 1 teaspoon fine Himalayan pink salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large carrot cut in half lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 medium parsnip cut in half lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 12 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ĀŗF and line a sheet pan with a silicone mat or aluminum foil.
- Place the chicken parts on the lined sheet pan, skin side down. Sprinkle the chicken with half of the salt and pepper, turn the pieces over so theyāre skin side up, and sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Arrange the carrot, parsnip, and onion around the chicken. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and the vegetables are browning around the edges.
- Use tongs to transfer the chicken, carrot, parsnip, and onion to the Instant Pot. I also like to scrape in as much of the fat and browned bits as possible from the pan ā a thin, flexible nylon spatula is great for this. Add water and bay leaves, making sure not to fill the pot more than 2/3rds full.
- Secure the lid in the Sealing position. Select the Soup/Broth setting and set cooking time for 1 hour at high pressure. (Itāll take about 35 minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking program begins.)
- Let the pressure release naturally for at least 1 hour (itāll take about 1 hour 15 minutes to release completely on its own). You can also leave it on the Keep Warm setting for up to 10 hours.
- Working in batches, ladle the broth through a strainer into a fat separator. Youāll need to let the broth cool to room temperature before storing. I like to speed up this process by pouring the broth from the fat separator into a big stainless steel bowl, with an even bigger bowl or sink full of ice water underneath. Either way, I do the whole operation in the sink for easy clean-up. The broth cools down in minutes, and then you can ladle it into storage containers and put them in the fridge or freezer right away.
- Reserve the chicken fat (schmaltz) for another use, if you like. Discard the leftover vegetables and chicken parts -- they will have given up most of their flavor to the broth.
- Store the broth in mason jars in the fridge for a few days, or ladle it into silicone mini muffin or mini loaf pans, freeze solid, then pop out of the molds and into freezer bags, and store for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Do you have the recipe for Miracle Noodle Pad Thai?
Iāll be posting that one next week! ????
I just shared it — you’ll find it on the blog now! ????
Question, has anyone considered asking your local butcher to save the necks and backs and then freezing them to use for broth? Thank you for the recipe. I canāt wait to make it. With the new IP coming out that also cans, Iām looking forward to canning small batches as I make them.
You know, that’s what they do at Dittmer’s. They just make up bags of necks and backs and keep them in their freezer, then put a few out in the refrigerator case for sale each day. They only have them available when the butcher happens to have been cutting up chickens, but luckily that’s most of the time!
Do you think I can add chicken feet to the chicken & vegetables when I roast them?
Sure!
Thanks Coco….I am looking forward to making this. I wasn’t sure if I could roast the chicken feet…never did that before…I know I can add them to the bone broth. I will give it a try. My husband freaks out whenever he see them!
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Greetings Coco, I’m here to let you and your readers know that you have messed up here and in your book “The ultimate Instant Pot Cookbook” (page 285).
For BONE broth…
1) The vinegar that is missing from your recipe is essential for two reasons. The acidic vinegar (a) causes bone cacium to dissolve into the broth, and also (b) makes the bones more pourous and permeable so that nutrients in the bone and marrow can escepe into the broth.
2) You must NOT use the Soup/Broth setting for BONE broth. This is because the Soup/Broth setting STOPS the Instant Pot from producing the ‘rolling’ boiling action that is needed to extract maximum nutrients from inside the bones. The Soup/Broth setting is designed to ELIMINATE rolling/boiling turbulence in the water so as to produce soups and broths that are clearer and not cloudy. This is exactly what we do NOT want with Bone Broth.
More information at http://instantpot.com/
“A good bone broth is cloudy with bits of collagen, gelatin, calcium and fat suspended in the soup. Boiling motion is critical to make good bone broth. The Soup/Broth setting eliminates boiling motion under pressure. This is perfect for making clear stock, but not bone broth.”