Mineral and gelatin packed bone broths are so good for you and they taste wonderful. Today we will make Lamb Bone Broth but with a most unexpected bone segment, the head.
Soooooo remember back in April I had challenged myself to drink homemade bone broth every day for 1 month? And I blogged about it twice with recipes? And then I went on a cruise and life happened! Well I did indeed complete my 1 month challenge but somehow I never got around to post my two final bone broth recipes. Wait no more here is the third one and the fourth will follow in August.
I have to admit something to you to. I am a little scared to post the next two recipes. Why? Because they are – how should I say – graphic in nature when it comes to unusual animal carcass parts! The fish recipe is obviously made with fish skeletons but they are whole with head, fins and tail. Today’s bone broth recipe is made with lamb – a lamb’s entire head!
This post is part of my Follow your Gut series where I talk about my GERD condition, give you tips, and share my tried treatments. To learn more about the goodness of bone broth please read my other posts: the Chicken and Beef Bone Broth recipe is where I discuss how I learned that bone broth could help acid reflux, the Pork Bone Bone covers the GERD condition plus what foods to avoid, and for the Fish Bone Broth (coming soon) I will tell you what actually worked!
Today we will cover the things that I have tried. Since the whole point was to get off prescription medication, I went the natural route:
- slippery elm: mucilage forms a protective shield within the mouth, throat, and stomach.
- licorice and chamomile tea: really soothing in the tummy, licorice best but better to have DGL
- DGL: is licorice and acts the same as slippery elm plus helps heal. DGL is licorice without glycyrrhiza, something in licorice which is hazardous when taken long term.
- pureh tea: this intense fermented tea is great for digestion
- oatmeal: low-fat, high in fiber, makes you feel full and can soothe your stomach.
- apple cider vinegar: 1 tbsp in a glass of hot water. One theory is ACV lowers the acid level in the stomach as it has a lower PH than stomach acid.
- chewing gum: stimulates the salivary glands, and increases the flow of saliva. Any acid that has built up in the gut is diluted and washed away or cleared out more quickly.
- diaphragm breath + meditation: general relaxation of the organ to give it a break
- raise bed at head: keeping the oesophagus down acid reflux has less tendency to rise, gravity 101.
And by coincidence I got a seriously awesome swag bag of samples from 3 companies in February which could not have hit the jack-pot better concerning my digestive issues:
Bio K probiotics and travel sample (perfect for my cruise in a foreign land)
Rise kombucha drink, another probiotic
Clef des Champs with their Goddess Tea, a nutritive tonic great over and for the tummy
Being samples, I did not have enough to say they had an impact on my condition but I did not get any tummy upset during my travels. Perhaps the Bio K helped and having the other two just before my trip.
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So, yeah, back to the head. I saw lamb’s heads at my local Middle Eastern grocery store about one year prior and I was really curious to know what would one make with it. Well it was an obvious choice for a broth so I got up my nerve to a) decide to make the recipe with a head and b) actually buy it. Like my store, you may have to ask for them or check the frozen section. And they are cheap, I got the whole thing frozen for 4$.
I know what you want to know! What came with it? Just about everything: the skull obviously, the brain, teeth, a little bit of cheek meat (very delicious) and the eyes. The only thing missing was the tongue. If you ever try this recipe here is a little piece of advice: do NOT try to remove anything before hand because you will make more of a mess of things than you can imagine. Just trust me on this USE AS IS. Time to make broth…
Do not forget the most IMPORTANT STEP in making bone broth: let the bones sit for 30-60 minutes in cool water and a bit of apple cider vinegar without turning on the heat. Leaving the mixture sit while cool will permit the vinegar to extract the minerals from the bones. When is your bone broth ready? The broth is ready when the bones crumbles or when you can break them easily. This broth took a bit less than 24 hours.
This was a very delicate and lovely broth, I truly enjoyed it. Do take the time to pick at the meat of the bones. There is not much but cheeks are very tender and tasty. You can use the same recipe with any other lamb bone, about 2 pounds worth.
Lamb Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 1 lamb head skull or 2 pounds of lamb bone
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- 3 celery ribs
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Roast the lamb head for 30 minutes in an oven preheated at 375F. Let it cool.
- Add lamb head, vegetables and the apple cider vinegar to the slow cooker and add water to cover the bones by about an inch.
- Let the mixture sit for 30-60 minutes without turning on the heat. Leaving the mixture sit while cool will permit the vinegar to extract the minerals from the bones.
- Simmer in the slow cooker on low for 24 to 36 hours. Top with water if too much evaporates.
- Strain the broth and salt to taste (I only used 1/2 tsp). Let it cool in the fridge and skim the fat off the top once hardened. Your broth is ready.
DGL: is licorice and acts the same as slippery elm plus helps heal. DGL is licorice with glycyrrhiza, something in licorice which is hazardous when taken long term.
I copied and pasted this off your web page because you inadvertently put that DGL is licorice WITH glycyrrhizin. Actually it is DeGlycyrrhizinated Licorice. The hazardous part is remove so it no longer will cause problems with high blood pressure, etc.
Just thought you’d like to know
Hi Nancy and great catch! I think I just forgot to put the ‘out’ of the word without. Corrected, thank you so much!
You are adventurous in trying things, Evelyne! I would be very happy to try this broth. It sounds flavorful! 🙂
This would be quite intimidating for me! ha There’s just no way I could handle looking at the lamb’s face in my hands, but I’d eat the tender cheek meat. Glad you try this!
I’ve only made lamb stock once and loved it. It was only made with a few bones so I can only imagine the amount of goodness you were able to extract from the head. So drinking meat stock is good for Gerd? I need to start drink it rather than just using it in soup and stuff. Interesting post!
So they say, make sure to check out my last post this month with my best GERD tips!
Damn deliicous, i’m a lamb person and definitely lovin this broth…
I can so see you doing this Dedy!
Hi Evelyne, What a great find your blog is. I saw a comment of yours on Kitchen Riffs and came over for a look. I love adventures in food and your blog is certainly one for me. I’m a new follower.
Thank you Lea Ann for your great message, sorry for late response was on vacation. off to visit your blog!
1000% reminds me of Taiwan! They love their mutton and use every part of the animal they use for eating! ha ha! Who would have thought you’re eating something Taiwanese! 😉
Funny coincidence!
I certainly admire your adventurous spirit, Evelyne! And why not? We should use every possible part of the lovely animals that provide for us. I’m sure it was a quite a tasty broth indeed 🙂
Thank you Viviane. it is a challenging decision and recipe but well worth it indeed!
Wow, you rock! I’ve had roast sheep’s head before (the whole animal was roasted!), but never cooked with one myself. This looks really interesting! Kudos on a fun — and different! — recipe. Thanks.
Aw thanks John, I try to present crazy stuff some times. You whole roasted sheep sounds awesome.
I had no idea gelatin packed bone broths were so good for you. I love learning something new everyday, otherwise life would be boring. And I just know that broth was amazingly good.
Kia / House of KTS
http://www.houseofkts.com
It is Kia, hope you read the series to learn more and make some 🙂
This broth must be exquisite and if you drain all the parts, it must make a great base for all types of sauces!
Thank you Katerina. Yes I did drain it and had it as a broth. Great for recipes too.
Bonjour! How healthy does this look Evelyne and wow you are adventurous! I would love to try this…well, at least once!
GDay Joanne, very healthy and hope you do try it.
Wow, that was so brave of you and what a good use of a cheap part of the animal. Thanks for sharing! I have sent the link to this post to a few friends 🙂
Thanks for sharing Tandy with friends, glad you liked ti.
I loved this both Eve! I’ve seen pig’s heads roasted but I haven’t seen things raw but I’m really intrigued by the idea of bone broth as it is so cold here at the moment.
Perfect indeed for your cold weather, hope you can try it.
I would be happy to sip this broth as long as I didn’t have to make it! You are such a trooper!!!
ha ha thanks Liz, hope you would sip and this one was a challenge even for me!
24 hours?!! wow…bet it’s delicious. Though I don’t eat lamb, but I am really willing to try your lamb bone broth!
It was good, you can try it with any bones.