The Paleo Mama

Homegrown and Handmade

homemade stock

Smoky Roasted Butternut Soup

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These cool autumn days in Western North Carolina have me wishing that I had a freezer stash of my homemade chicken stock. It seems that as soon as I make chicken stock, it is gone the next day! We love soup in our house and this particular soup, Smoky Roasted Butternut Soup, is one of our favorites. It’s a deeply nourishing soup to go with the chilly fall air. It’s loaded with nutrition (homemade stock, ginger, cumin) to help fight off colds and keep the immune system healthy.

There are many ways and methods to make stock, but I do mine a very simple way in my crockpot. I throw the bones and organs in my crockpot, along with a few carrots, a few sticks of celery, an onion, a few garlic cloves, and a inch-long piece of ginger. I fill it up with water and cook on low for, at least, 24 hours. For step-by-step directions you can check out this post I wrote, “Good Broth Resurrects the Dead.” 

With the autumn chill rolling in, you will find a beautiful assortment of squashes and pumpkins at your grocer or Farmer’s Market. This past week I picked up a delicious, organic butternut squash and made one of my favorite soups with it. We like to throw a protein on top of our soups since soup is the main dish of our meals. Some great protein sources to throw on soup is leftover chicken, boiled eggs, or ground meat. Chicken really compliments the smooth, sweet taste of the butternut, so that is my recommendation!

Smoky Roasted Butternut Soup

Ingredients: 

  • 9 cups of chicken stock (this is how I make mine), divided use
  • 1 butternut squash
  • 6 TB of butter/ghee/bacon fat/coconut oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 TB of sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ginger
  • 2 TB cumin
  • Protein of choice: boiled eggs or leftover chicken
  • Top with sour cream (optional)

Items Needed:

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the butternut squash in half. Scrape out the seeds. Put the butternut squash with the cut side up on a baking tray. Put a tablespoon of butter or ghee in each cavity. Place in the oven, uncovered, and bake until fork-tender; about an hour.

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2. Remove the squash from the oven and allow it to cool until you can handle it. Use a spoon and scrape the squash out.

3. Put the squash and 1 cup of chicken stock in a blender and puree till smooth. Set aside.

squash

4. In a heavy stock pot or dutch oven, heat 4 TB of your fat of choice (I use butter) over medium-high heat.

5. Add the onions and the garlic and sauté until soft and translucent; about 5 minutes.

6. Add the squash puree, stock, cumin, ginger, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes to allow the spices to blend.

7. Top with your protein of choice and serve with a dollop of sour cream (optional).

Enjoy!

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“Good broth resurrects the dead.”

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Chicken stock simmering away in my crock pot!

Unfortunately, because of our modern meat processing techniques and our fast-food, semi-homemade society, homemade stocks and broth have become a lost art. Nourishing Traditions says (one of my favorite cookbooks ever!), “In days gone by, when the butcher sold meat on the bone rather than individual filets and whole chickens rather than boneless breasts, our thrifty ancestors made use of every part of the animal by preparing stock, broth or bouillon from the bony portions.”

When properly prepared, meat and bone stocks are extremely nutritious, containing minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes. I’ve also learned that adding an acidic medium, like Bragg’s raw Apple Cider Vinegar, makes the stock even more nutritious by helping to draw out even more minerals (i.e. calcium, magnesium, and potassium).

There is magic in homemade stock that cannot be replicated with chicken or beef flavored water sold in stores. Another advantage of making homemade stock is that it’s just so dang easy. My method for making stock has become second nature.

How I Make Stock:

  1. I always plan on eating a whole chicken a week. I rinse the chicken, put the organs in the fridge for the stock, throw the chicken in the crock pot (breast-side down), add 2-4 cups of water (depending on the size of the bird), and then cook the chicken on low for 6-8 hours. I know when it’s done when the legs easily fall off.
  2. I then let the chicken cool. Once cooled I take all the meat off and throw the skin, bones, and organs back into the crock pot.
  3. I cut an onion in fourths and throw it in along with , 2 whole garlic cloves, about an inch long piece of ginger, one celery stalk, one carrot, half a cup of apple cider vinegar, and a chicken foot (for added gelatin) if I have them.
  4. I then fill the rest of the crock pot up with water. I set it to low and I let it simmer for 24-48 hours.
  5. About an hour before I am ready to turn the crock pot off, I add my spices. I put in salt, pepper, and sage.
  6. I let it simmer for one more hour, let it cool, then strain the stock.

The outcome is amazing! It’s so dark and beautiful! Yes, I get excited about it! I usually plan on making some kind of a soup every week. Sometimes I freeze the stock. You can also boil the stock down and put it in ice-cube trays. It’s so easy and so frugal to make stock. When I see bones, I think of all the wonderful stocks I can make with them.

I also use my stock when I’m making baby food for my little 6 month old man. I add the stock to the vegetable purees to get them to the right consistency. I do this in my blender after I steam the veggies. Then I pour the mixture in ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen I label a ziploc and dump the frozen cubes in the baggie! When mealtime comes around, I grab a few cubes and nuke them. My son LOVES his food like this! It’s a great way to add nutrition, protein, and important minerals to a baby’s diet!

I think we need to take note of how our ancestors appreciated every bit of an animal. Not only is it highly nutritious, but it’s also extremely frugal!

Now check out the color of that stock! All from 1 chicken…you can’t find that in a box or can!