Collagen

One day my good friend Rita handed me a package of chicken feet. Of all the parts of the chicken, the feet are not exactly something I run to cook. They’re kind of gross. I vaguely remember a book I used to read to my sons at bed time about chicken feet in a soup. “Why?” I said, “Make a broth for the dog, it’s good for her” was the response. OK, so, now I’m curious, why chicken feet. So, it turns out, chicken feet are an excellent source of collagen, which, is not only good for the dog, but good for me too. So, we’re going to make chicken feet broth. If I had called the post chicken feet broth you would not be reading this, so I called it Collagen, because that’s what we’ll end up with. So, at least read the post, there’s some information in here.

Turns out chicken feet are not the only source of natural collagen. Marrow bones are also an excellent source. They are cooked the same way, in the slow cooker for the whole day so all the nutrients can be released into the broth. However, the prep is slightly different for marrow bones, they need to be roasted before putting in the slow cooker. Because, obviously marrow bones and chicken feet come from different animals, the resulting broth will have slightly different components, although they are both very good for you.

There are different types of collagen found in the body dependent on the application, so bone broth seems to improve gut health and chicken feet broth seems to improve skin and joint health. Either way collagen is a good addition to your diet, and you have choices about how to get it more naturally than pills and potions.

For thousands of years, when we slaughtered an animal, we would use the entire carcass, and, chicken is no exception. Some like the light meat some, the dark meat. But, there’s so much more, I have a post about chicken hearts, they’re quite delicious. But, it’s not just the meat, we can use the feathers for insulation. So, the feet are part of the carcass and certainly something we can use. Turns out, in some countries, they’re a delicacy in Vietnam and Taiwan, they’re also popular in the islands of the Caribbean and some south American countries. I even talked to Mum about them. She said her grand mother used to put them in her soup for some consistency, and, she was Italian. OK, I’m not going to eat them, they look like tiny claws out of a horror movie, but, a broth is plausible.

From a health standpoint, they have a lot to give. Primarily collagen. So what is collagen? And why do I need it? Collagen is the most abundant protein found in our bodies. As well as making up the outer layer of our cells, it found in bone, tendons, skin, teeth, it’s part of the cartilage between our bones. Collagen supplements have been around for a long time. Touted to help with skin elasticity and joint health. This is a more natural approach, and can work just as well.

The broth I’m making here is good for both human and animal, I use it as an additive to an existing recipe or meal. For the doggies, a tablespoon or so mixed into either wet or dry food is more than enough. For us humans I add a cup or so to soups and stews when making them. Pretty much any time I’m going to use some chicken broth, I’ll add some chicken feet broth also. With this in mind, the only seasoning will be a little salt. The prep is pretty simple. If you don’t feel up to it, it’s tough to get past the monster claw part, just delegate the process to someone else.

Remove the tips of the toes with the nails, a knife or kitchen shears works well. Also, sometimes the pads of the feet are dirty from them walking around, just cut them off too. Kitchen shears work great for this too. You can also find some helpful videos online. Now put them in a bowl with some vinegar, this will help with the final cleaning, mix them up well, rubbing off any staining. Now rinse in cold water. Put them in your slow cooker, sprinkle with some salt, add water to cover by about an inch. Turn onto low and walk away, let them cook all day, or all night.

Now take a slotted spoon and remove the feet, I just throw them straight in the garbage, they’re gross. Pour the broth into a bowl and allow to cool. Then place in the refrigerator overnight. What you will have is a bowl of thick jelly. It will only be good for about 3-4 days in the fridge, but 6 months in the freezer. So put into appropriate sized containers for ease of defrosting and freeze. You can also fill ice cube trays, 8 ice cubes is one cup. And now you have an excellent source of collagen for whenever you need it. Thank you for reading