Tip of the Day: Beef Stock

It’s been a while since my last post so I thought I would just post some of the new things I am learning in school. I definitely won’t have a lot of time to type up “books” anymore but hopefully my little tips of the day will help you further your cooking techniques if you want them to.

Tip of the Day
Beef Stock

Never boil a stock rapidly.  It reincorporates the impurities that come out of the bones back into the stock. Still edible just not a perfect product!

Vocabulary Words
mirepoix (meer-pwa) -50% onion to 25% carrot and 25% celery by weight (usually 1lb total)

bouquet garni (boo-KAY gar-NEE) -2 bay leaves, 3 twigs of thyme, 2 stems of parsley and 6 peppercorns wrapped in cheesecloth and tied up

Sachet – same as bouquet garni

Stock is one of the easiest things to make and is the basis for many things.  Without a great tasting stock so many of your soups and sauces will only be good.  Not GRRRRReat!

Recipe
Yields: about one gallon of stock

Ingredients:
• 8 pounds beef bones, including knuckle bones, trimmings, etc., sawn into 3-4 inch pieces
• Oil
• 6-7 quarts cold water
• 8 ounces onions, coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces carrots, coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces celery, coarsely chopped
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 3 or 4 parsley stems
• 3 twigs of thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns

Heat the oven to 400F. Lightly oil sheet pan. Place the bones on the sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Slather the bones with tomato paste, add the mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery) on top of the bones and roast for an additional 30 – 45 minutes (until the tomato paste turns dark “almost” burnt looking, turning occasionally, until evenly browned.

Place the bones, browned mirepoix and sachet (parsley, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns into a 4″ square of cheesecloth and tied into a sack) in the stockpot and cover with cold water.

Drain the fat from the roasting pan and discard. De-glaze (to scrape up little bits stuck on the bottom) the pan with water and add to the stockpot. Bring to a boil quickly, and then lower to a simmer. Skim any scum that forms on the surface gradually as needed.

Continue to simmer the stock for 4-6 hours, skimming as needed. If necessary, you may add more hot water to keep the bones covered.

Strain the stock through a strainer lined with cheesecloth, and cool the stockpot in an ice-water bath.

Transfer to a container and refrigerate overnight; the next day, skim off all the fat that’s risen to the surface.

Let me know if you try making your own stock.

Good luck and until next time……