Grammie Nancy's Homemade Stock Recipe
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: There are no hard and fast amounts for most of the items in stock, so this recipe is more of a "concept discussion".
Mirepoix is a blend of sautéed chopped carrots, celery, and onions. I try to use the same amount of onion by volume as both the carrots and celery together. This is the base of all of my stocks and most gravies, and will be added to the stock no matter what else you put in there. If you do not have leftover fat from the last time you made stock, use butter (4-5 tbs.) to sauté.
Bones. Roast bones for stock for about 30-45 minutes at 400° to 425° until they are a rich golden brown, turning them halfway through.
Put the roasted bones in your stock pot or crock pot.
Add a cup of water (or wine - but cook it a bit longer if you use wine to ensure you get the raw alcohol taste out of it) to the bottom of the roasting pan and scrape the heck out of it to get all the yummy bits (fond) and fat out of the pan.
Dump everything in the roasting pan into your stock pot. You can toss beef, lamb, or pork bones with a half a small can of tomato paste before cooking and add any larger chunks of veggies and giblets to the roasting pan for the last 20 minutes of cooking. Use bones with plenty of meat scraps unless you are working towards a clear broth (but why would you?).
**Auntie Reagan Diamond says use the Instant Pot for this - much better in less time!**
Bits and ends and veggies starting to wilt sound like garbage. Not so, add them!! Save all the trimmings whenever you prep veggies in a large freezer bag and you will always have what you need to make stock.
Herbs: I put my herbs in a "spice bag" available on Amazon. You can wrap them in cheesecloth for a "bouquet garni", or place them in the stock in a tea strainer that can be removed after cooking. Use a lot of herbs (as there will be a lot of liquid). At the least, I use an entire bunch of fresh thyme, 4 bay leaves, parsley, some peppercorns, and sometimes ginger and cloves - everything whole with the stems. In addition, add spices that go particularly well with the type of stock you are making such as mint with lamb, Bell's seasoning with poultry, and extra bay leaves with beef.
Fill your stock pot with 6 - 8 quarts of water, less or more depending on how many bones and veggies.
Add salt and pepper to taste. I often throw in some red pepper flakes as well.
Taste the stock as it cooks and adjust the seasoning to make it taste just right.
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Directions: |
Directions:Bring 6 - 8 quarts of water up to a simmer in a large stockpot. If you are using a crockpot, add everything else and then cover with hot water. I will just call these the "pot".
Melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté 4 cups (1 carrot, 1 celery, 2 onion) mirepoix until tender, 10 - 15 minutes. If you are using minced garlic, open up a place in the middle of the pan, add a pat of butter if needed add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, 3 minutes or so. Put it all in the pot.
Put the roasted bones in the pot, cracking and breaking them. This allows the goodness inside to come out into the stock. Put the roasting pan from the bones on top of the stove with 2 burners on and add a cup or so of water (or wine, or stock). Scrape the heck out of it with a metal spatula to get all the yummy bits (fond) and fat off of the bottom of the pan. If using wine, be sure to cook it at least 10 minutes to get rid of the raw alcohol taste. Dump everything from the roasting pan into your pot.
Add any veggie scraps, the bouquet garni (spice bag), salt, pepper, red pepper, the kitchen sink or whatever else you like. Ensure that everything is covered with water. Simmer the stockpot, skimming off any scum from the stock every 10-15 minutes for the first hour then twice each hour for the next 2 hours. For the crockpot, add water to cover, and place on the high setting. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Both of these should cook 6 - 8 hours or more. Check that the water does not get too low and add more if needed.
Place a cheesecloth in a large strainer (the scola maccharon according to Great Grammie Gloria Chagnon) and place the strainer over a large bowl. CAREFULLY pour the broth from your pot into the lined strainer. Use the cheesecloth to catch any bits from the stock. Take the bits and whatever is left in the pot, set it to the side, and let it cool. "Pick" out all the meat pieces and good bits from the "bone pile" and add to the broth. Dispose of these well used bones. (If you are really earth-friendly, you can grind up the clean bones - no meat - and add them to your garden). Place the broth in the fridge overnight, the fat will rise to the surface and harden. Remove 3/4 of the solidified fat, place it in a Ziplock container, label and freeze it - this is your start for the next stock. Your stock, if done correctly with sufficient bones, should have a consistency a bit like Jello when it cools. Use what you need, dividing the fat so some is in each serving and freeze the rest - it lasts. |
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Number Of
Servings:10 - 20 |
Preparation
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Preparation
Time:2 Days |
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Personal
Notes: The Gravy vs. Sauce argument.
1.) All of my stocks are "bone broths". You need the marrow and the gelatin from the connective tissue in the meat to make a decent stock so be sure to use the bones and maybe a very cheap cut of meat with a lot of connective tissue. Necks and feet are fabulous and you can get these from a butcher, even at Hannaford's. Watch for sales and freeze until needed. Great Great Grandpa Randy Chagnon used to call this "used meat" he he.
2.) If there is meat, bones, or meat drippings in it - it is gravy. Brown gravy, red gravy, fuchsia gravy - have at it.
3.) No meat = sauce. There, debate ended.
Be frugal! Keep your bones, peels, ends of veggies and everything for the stock (are you sensing a familiar theme here?) in the freezer until needed. Not only will your end result far exceed anything that you can buy, you will save a ton of money.
Stock freezes well and is great to have on hand. Make sauce, gravy, soup, or stew. It will all be much better for the addition of homemade stock and is likely very healthy for you.
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