The title “beef stock” is probably not ideal for finding it on the Internet. In fine cuisine, it would be a veal stock and certainly some of the bones we have used over the years came from younger cattle. How young, until when they are called veal in one country or another and how people feel about animal products in general is the subject of much debate in our time.
We think that’s the right thing to do. At the same time, this is not a vegan blog or a vegan cookbook, because we are also looking at the history of cooking. You decide for yourself what you eat and cook and why. We try to explain how to cook. And many techniques are universal.
How to prepare broths, stocks, sauces and the like is an ongoing topic here and crucial in the art of cooking. This article is in the “Know-how” section. You can simply select this and then read through it. This would be very useful for understanding what follows. We no longer refer individually to all the parallel articles that we have already written.
The basic ingredients of a beef or veal stock are bones, with or without meat. These are the parts of the animal that are not suitable for consumption – except in liquid form. And of course they should not be thrown away, but used.
People who like to cook also buy instant products due to a lack of time. This can be granulated stock or a stock in a jar. The basis of all these products is what we use here. It takes time to make it yourself, but of course it only costs a fraction of the industrially made products – and you know what’s in it and where the ingredients come from.
So let’s start by preparing around 3 – 3.5 liters of stock. This can be frozen for months. We like to do this in flat bags because it saves a lot of space.
You will need beef or veal bones, ideally large bones with marrow in them and smaller ones with meat on them. Add a little oil to sear them, as this is the only way to make a dark stock.
A pot is heated to a high temperature and the pieces of meat are roasted vigorously on all sides. This takes a few minutes and there will be smoke.
Chunks of onion, carrot and celeriac are now added and also roasted, stirring occasionally. When you can smell the intense aroma of the vegetables, add bay leaves, peppercorns and juniper berries to the pot as well.
Chopped tomatoes – canned tomatoes are always better when out of season – are also roasted. You want plenty of color, as this brings depth of flavor. The heat must therefore remain high and it is perfectly fine if a dark base forms at the bottom of the pot. However, by stirring the tomatoes thoroughly, the juice from the tomatoes will dissolve it a little already.
Now it is time to deglaze with highly aromatic liquids. We use Madeira, sherry, port or Shaoxing rice wine (the Chinese cooking wine) to dissolve the roasted substances at the bottom of the pot and then pour in red wine. This doesn’t have to be very expensive, but the simple rule is: if you wouldn’t drink it, then it doesn’t belong in your sauce.
When both liquids have almost turned to syrup, add water. Everything is stirred well, brought to the boil and then simmered on a low heat without a lid until all the flavor has been extracted from the bones, meat and vegetables. This takes at least two hours, more time never hurts.
Then we add butter, parsley and thyme to the pot and leave everything to infuse gently for another 20 – 30 minutes, almost like a tea. If you want to flavor your stock even more at this point, you can for example use garlic cloves, ginger, lemon or orange zest in various combinations. It’s best to just try it out and taste every few minutes to see how it develops.
Then the entire contents of the pot are passed through a pointed sieve. If you only have a smaller sieve, first remove the meat with tongs or a slotted spoon to make this easier.
The result is delicious and silky, albeit only the very first stage of the art of making sauces.
To be continued.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients (for a good 3 liters of stock):
3 tbsp neutral vegetable oil
1 kg marrow and meat bones from veal/beef
150 g onion
70 g carrot
70 g celeriac
3 bay leaves
12 peppercorns
5 juniper berries
200 g tomatoes (or canned tomatoes, just the flesh)
100 ml Madeira, Sherry, Port wine or Shaoxing rice wine
200 ml red wine
4.5 l water
50 g butter
3 sprigs of thyme
8 sprigs of parsley
Optional: garlic cloves, ginger, zest of lemon and/or orange
