BEEF BONE BROTH

Broth, stock, fond, or caldo. No matter what it is called in cooking it is all the same thing: animal bones cooked in water with some vegetables and herbs/aromatics added for additional flavour. The French, the ones that standardized the modern kitchen in the 1800s, used terms to describe two of these components and you will see these terms used in many recipes. ‘Mirepoix’ refers to the mix of vegetables used and ‘bouquet garni’ is the bundle of herbs/aromatics used. Stocks, however, have been made in all cultures for centuries.

The ability to make a good stock is essential in any professional kitchen as it is the base of many things. I encourage any home cook to learn the basics as they are ridiculously simple to make. DON’T buy that fake shit they sell you at the grocery store, put in the #proofofwork.

Stocks will come in two styles, roasted or not roasted. By roasting your bones and mirepoix prior you naturally get more colour to the stock, the longer you roast, the more colour and deeper flavour you get.

Each component in stocks can be changed. I have made stock from the following bones: beef, chicken, lamb, duck, turkey, fish, pork, and veal. I don’t mess with the mirepoix much, keeping it fairly classic but I do remove the carrot and add fresh fennel bulb when making fish stock (to keep the colour clear). The bouquet garni can be changed freely and whole spices added. Toast the spices first. Mix it up depending on the bones you use and what cuisine you are cooking.

The following recipe is for a classic roasted beef stock. If you roast the bones there will be some fat that accumulates, save this. I make all my stocks with a slow cooker and increase the cook time to 36 hours for beef, lamb and veal. 24 hours for poultry and 12 hours for fish.

You can make a stock with just vegetables but I don’t know why you would! 🤣

#enjoy and as always DM if you have any questions.

INGREDIENTS

1.5 kg Beef marrow bones

1.5 kg Beef chuck bones

1 ea Carrots, unpeeled and diced

1 ea Brown onion, unpeeled cut in ½ horizontally

1 ea Celery stalks, washed and large diced with leaves removed

¹⁄₂ ea Leeks washed and large diced with the dark green tops removed

1 ea Garlic bulb, unpeeled and cut in half horizontally

1 ea Bay leaves, fresh if possible

¹⁄₄ teaspoon Black peppercorns whole

4 ea Thyme sprigs, fresh

3 ea Parsley stalks, fresh

2 ea Rosemary stalks, fresh

5 L Water

#proofofwork: 20 minutes prep for unroasted, 1 hour for the roasted. 8 hours cook time.

YEILD: 5 litres

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200c
Place the bones and vegetables on separate roasting trays and roast the bones in the oven for about 45-50 minutes or until they are a deep brown roasted colour. Roast the veg for about 20-30 minutes.
Remove bones from the roasting trays and place them into a large stock pot, avoid adding any fat from the trays. Don’t discard the fat, keep it!
Heat the trays on a stovetop and deglaze them with water (or red wine) and using a wooden spoon scrape off any residual deposits. Pour this over your bones in the pot and cover with the water.
Place the stock on high heat and bring it to a boil. Once your stock is boiling turn it down to a simmer and skim any of the scum and oil that will rise to the top. Again, KEEP the oil. Leave on a low heat overnight.
Next day skim any fat and scum that is on the surface of the stock and add your roasted vegetables, herbs, garlic & pepper.
You should simmer your stock, not rapidly boil it, for a further 2 hours. Make sure you skim the scum and fat off your stock every 30 minutes at least. I’ll say it again, KEEP THE FAT.
When finished strain the stock removing the bones, mirepoix and bouquet garni. Keep the liquid.
Allow the stock to cool and then store, label and date. Stock freezes very well and I break it down into 500ml containers.

#enjoy #chefstr #foodstr #yumstr #grownostr #bitcoin