I PUT A LOT OF STOCK IN STOCK

Those of you who read my recipes know I love using home-made stock to cook. Here’s one you may like… and while it’s very TIME intensive, there’s not a lot of WORK. And you may only have to do this every 6 months….. enjoy!

BEEF STOCK AND AU JUS


BEEF STOCK

Makes about 3-4 quarts
Time: 2 DAYS! (And you should start this in the early morning so it will have time to cool before bedtime)

INGREDIENTS:

4-6 pounds meaty beef MARROW bones (see picture below), including some knucklebones if possible. Ask your butcher to cut the bones lengthwise to expose the center marrow, and include at least a couple veal bones if you can, for their gelatin. (Save and freeze any raw beef trimmings from other meats you cook and toss them in this as well)

2-3 shank bones

Oil
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
10 peppercorns

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Rub a little oil over all the bones and onions. Place everything EXCEPT PEPPERCORNS in a large, shallow roasting pan. Roast in oven for about 45 minutes, turning the bones halfway through the cooking, until nicely browned. If bones begin to char at all during this cooking process, lower the heat. They should brown, not burn.

When the bones and meat are nicely browned, remove them and the roasted onions and place them in a large (12 to 16 quart) stockpot. Deglaze the roasting pan by placing it on the stove-top on very low heat (may cover 2 burners), pour 1/2 cup to a cup of hot water over the pan and use a metal spatula to scrape up all of the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Pour the browned bits and water into the stockpot.

Add peppercorns to the stockpot. Fill the stockpot with cold water, to 1 to 2 inches over the top of the bones (4-6 qts probably). Put the heat on high, bring the liquid to a low simmer, and then reduce the heat to low. If you have a candy or meat thermometer, the temperature of the water should be between 180° and 200°F (boiling is 212°F). The stock should be at a bare simmer, just a bubble or two coming up here and there. (You may need to put the pot on your smallest burner on the lowest temp). Cover the pot loosely and let simmer for 4-8 hours. DO NOT STIR THE STOCK while cooking. Stirring will mix the fats in with the stock, clouding up the stock.

As the stock cooks, fat will be released from the bone marrow and any meat pieces and will rise to the top. From time to time, check in on the stock and use a large metal spoon to scoop away the ‘scum’ that rises to the surface. Discard that.

After about 3 hours, remove one bone and see if the marrow is soft. If it is, use a crab pick or a long, thin knife to scrape out the marrow from all the bones into the pot. (Return bones to the pot.) Continue cooking on simmer as long as you can.

At the end of cooking time (4 hours minimum, 8 hours if you can do it) use tongs or a slotted spoon to gently remove the bones and onion pieces from the pot and discard. DON’T STIR! Let the stock cool completely and then cover the pot and refrigerate overnight.

Once the stock has chilled, the fat will have risen to the top and solidified. Remove it and discard – or save for some other project.

At this point, you have a rich beef stock, suitable for soups, and you can freeze it in 2C portions. OR you can continue to the good stuff below!

REDUCING THE STOCK

After removing the fat, heat the stock to barely WARM – not even close to boiling. Place a colander on the top of another large pot (8-quart) and line with 3-4 layers of cheesecloth. Pour the stock SLOWLY through this to strain it of remaining solids.

Return the stock to the burner and bring to a boil. Reduce to a slow gentle simmer and cook UNCOVERED until the volume has been reduced by half. (Measure depth of liquid with a knife – then check depth every 20-30 minutes  (I had about 1-1/2 quarts of stock when I finished the reduction, but this will vary)

AU JUS (makes about 4 – 2 oz servings)

INGREDIENTS:

Pan drippings from roast
1/2 C QUALITY red wine (one you would drink)
1-1/2 C reduced beef stock
S&P to taste

Bring beef stock to a simmer – add about 1/2 C to the roasting pan and scrape to deglaze the pan – return stock and pan juices to pot – add wine and bring to a boil – cook over med/low heat until reduced by about half.

Remove from heat and add kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Serve warm. Freeze any leftover au jus in little plastic ‘bathroom’ cups – these are about a one-serving size. (I use leftover au jus to warm up a slice of Deli roast beef. Just heat it in a shallow pan and add the beef slices – Voila!)