The Third Time's the Charm

I think I'm finally getting the hang of this stock-making thing. While doing some research on the internet, I discovered that older beef stock recipes assume that you are using meaty beef soup bones. However, the soup bones I have been seeing in the stores are scraped clean of any meat. Thus, I may need to rethink my approach to making beef stock. I found a Williams-Sonoma Beef Stock recipe that appealed to me, so I got to work. The obvious first step was to shop for some nice, meaty bones. For this purpose, I decided to purchase some beef short ribs.

Here are the beef short ribs, along with some short rib bones and a rib eye bone that I had saved and frozen, ready to go into a 450 degree oven for 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, I prep the aromatics for the stock. I have one celery rib, along with some celery leaves. Don't throw the leaves out, folks, as they impart a strong celery flavor to the stock. One carrot is roughly chopped along with one onion. I didn't have a leek, but I did have green onions on hand, so INto the pot it goes. I went out to my deck and cut some fresh thyme, flat-leaf parsley and oregano (honestly, your honor, it's not my fault I can't follow a recipe!). I also picked two small Roma tomatoes and a fresh bay leaf from my garden. Three garlic cloves, some black peppercorns and oddly enough, two whole cloves round out the ingredients list.

I deviated from the recipe by adding the onion, tomatoes, carrot and garlic to the roasting beef and bones 15 minutes before the timer was set to go off.

Remove the beef, bones and veggies to the stock pot and drain the fat from the roasting pan. Set the 'dirty' pan aside for later.

Hmm, what are we missing? What could it be?

That's right: water! Add enough water to the pot so that the beef is covered by 4 inches of water. This pretty much filled my stock pot.

Cook over medium heat until the stock begins to boil. This may take up to 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the remaining aromatics. I chose not to roast the green onion so that it would add another flavor component to the stock.

Now, this simmers for 4 to 8 hours.

Ah, I see you remembered the roasting pan with the 'dirty' bits on the bottom. Add 2 cups of water and simmer over medium heat, scraping the bottom to loosen the fond from the pan. This liquid should then be added to the stock.

Skim off the scum that forms on the top of the liquid occasionally.

Eight hours later the solids are removed and the stock pot is placed in a sink of ice water so that the stock can cool quickly.

Having given up all the flavor, this is now going into the trash.

Once the stock has cooled, strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer.

At the end of 12 hours I have two quarts of lovely beef stock. Store overnight in the refrigerator for Act 2: Consomme.

Isn't science fun? Thanks to the prodigious application of cold to the stock, the fat has congealed on the top. Now, skim off the fat.

Reserve one cup of the stock and add one egg white. Looks like I have an egg yolk for my breakfast.

Bring the remaining stock to a simmer. Again, this will take a while. Be patient.

Once the stock has reached a boil, reduce the heat and add the one cup stock with the egg white to the pot. Set the timer for 5 minutes and pull the pot off to the side of the burner. At the end of the time, turn the pan one quarter turn and set the timer for another 5 minutes. Repeat two more times, for a total of 20 minutes.

Take off the heat and skim off the solids. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer.

And here we have 4 cups of beautiful beef consomme. Many thanks to Rosie Hawthorne for pointing me in the right direction here. Of course, I can't promise to not veer off course once in a while.