Roasted Beef Stock
Ingredients:
5 pounds or so of Beef Soup Bones –
meaty bones with marrow, adding a few veal bones gives a wonderful thick
consistency
Your favorite veggie scraps (if you
save the scraps in your freezer, you can make stock once your bag is full)
Or you can cut up: 2 carrots, 1 onions,
2 celery stalks with leaves, 6 garlic cloves smashed with skin on, sliced
leeks, or mushrooms, etc. Use your favorites. Don’t use beets or cruciferous
veggies in beef stock though. I never have, but have seen several chefs note
that it throws off the taste of the stock. And as there seems to be a consensus
I thought I’d best comment right along with them.
Water
2 T Cider Vinegar
2-3 Bay Leaves
Optional – black peppercorns
Directions:
Rinse and pat the bones dry.
Roast them at 400 ° F for about an
hour until they are well-browned. If you used big chunks of
veggies instead of scraps, roast them with the bones.
Drain the fat from the pan and deglaze
with a little water. Add the deglazing water to the stock pot with the bones,
and your veggies or scraps.
Add water to cover and bring to a
simmer. It’s best not to boil beef stock. Add the vinegar and bay leaf and
simmer for 4 – 12 hours. It’s up to you. Longer is great for beef stock, but it
will be delicious after four hours.
Skim the scum that rises to the top
every now and then – about every 30 minutes - and if you need to add water if
it is evaporating too quickly, do so. If you are suspicious because there is no salt, taste it right before straining and add a little if you absolutely have to.
Strain the stock through a fine mesh
colander lined with cheesecloth. Set the pot or bowl in the fridge to cool so
the fat rises to the top and is easy to remove and discard.
Ladle the delicious stock into the container
of your choice – I like freezer containers. If you like to put things up in
jars, that will work well for stock.
It will thin as it is reheated. Try
caramelizing some onions and mushrooms. Then heat them in a cup of stock for a
nourishing meal.
With knuckle bones especially --knuckle bones are also cheaper than the long shafts--it has helped to break the bones to reveal more of the marrow on the inside.
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