WHERE'S THE BEEF..!?!?!?

If you don't remember the commercial featuring Clara Pelle that launched one of the most over used catch phrases of all time, then you are too frackin young to be reading this blog...
"GET OFF MY LAWN! You dang kids!"
Okay, I am done shaking my fist at the kids in my virtual yard and I have an answer to the question of the day...

I'z n ur pot makin ur stawk

So as mentioned in my last post, March 25th was my first semi-annual stock making day. Here after to be known as Spring Beef Stock Day.
Making stock, I learned, is not a task to be entered into frivolously. It takes commitment. Not "50 year til death" commitment, but "you can't leave the house for 8 hours" commitment. Thats a commitment I can commit to.
"What's it take to make stock?" you ask. Well besides the afore mentioned commitment, it takes bones. Piles and piles of beef bones. 7-8 lbs actually, a few cups of mirepoix, red wine, bouquet garni, and water.

I started using Emeril's Demi-Glace recipe from foodnetwork.com refer to the brown stock part.
Step 1: Roast 7 lbs of bones for an hour at 450°f
Step 2: Brush with tomato paste and top with veggies roast for another 30 mins. Looks like this...

And this... close up.

Step 3: Dump all that roasted goodness into a stock pot - with the water and the herbs. Drain off as much of the fat as you can before dumping and deglazing the pan. I used tongs to gently and lovingly plop all the bones and veggies into the pot, because, the distance from top of my pot to the water level would have resulted in a kitchen tsunami.

Deglaze the roasting pan with the wine and add the resulting liquor to the pot. (no deglazing pics sorry was to busy scraping the pan)
Bring the proto-stock to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer... (Simmer whats it mean? Couple of bubbles every few seconds)
Simmer for 4 or more hours.

Once the simmering is done strain into another big pot. Again I use tongs to get all the big bits out of the proto-stock before actually using cheese cloth to filter.


Emotional reaction to straining "Eww!"... but comforted by the knowledge that I have wrought a wonderful thing.

There was a good bit of fat swirling around in the pot when I was done straining. It's not easy to remove while the stock is still hot, so I quick cooled the pot by putting the pot into the sink and filling the sink with cold tap water. This draws the heat out of the pot.
I had to change the water twice to get the temp down low enough to stick the pot in the fridge. Which I did and left it to chill over night.
This morning reveled a nice but sorta icky disc of solidified tallow that I broke up and scrapped off.

Leaving over a gallon of home made beef stock that I now have to portion and freeze for future use.

Yay beef!

Next stop espagnole sauce then demi-glaze... But that's a future show...

Cheers

J.A.F.A.R.