From townerf@cyberlink.bc.ca Fri Feb 20 12:59:04 1998 Date: 17 Feb 1998 07:01:07 -0700 From: Fred Towner Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes Subject: COLLECTION (3) Basic Stock Followup-To: rec.food.cooking Beef Essence Or Extract Master Recipe for Chicken Stock Master Recipe for Fish Stock Title: Beef Essence Or Extract Keywords: stock, soup "To cook a heap of bones, beef and vegetables in a big pot for many hours and have to show for it a small jar or two of meat essence is truly making a molehill out of a mountain--but such a molehill! Possessing a batch of this essence--glace de viande, is like having 8 quarts of strong beef stock miraculously confined in a small container. Use it any time you like and keep it as long as you care to--it is virtually immortal if frozen and keeps several weeks refrigerated. Add a Tbsp. of the essence to a cup of boiling water and you have better and beefier broth than any you can buy canned, cubed, or powdered. A little of this concentrate, stirred into any meat flavored preparation, adds both body and savor. Glace de viande can rescue a pallid soup, a vapid sauce, or a lackluster gravy, or it can be a sauce base on its own. The extract is unsalted, for greater versatility when added to sauces and such so add 1/4 tsp. of salt to the cup if your drinking the broth. Makes 2 cups (reconstituted, about 8 quarts, or 1 cup of broth per Tbsp. of essence. 6 pounds (or more) beef and veal bones, sawed into pieces by the butcher (try to have the pieces cut no more than 2 to 3 inches long or wide.) 3-1/2 to 4 pounds boneless shin of beef, cut into 1 inch cubes 2 large, unpeeled onions, one sliced, the other left whole 2 large carrots, scrubbed and cut up coarsely Water as needed 2 ribs of celery, with leaves, cut up 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crumbled 1 medium bay leaf 1 whole clove 2 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chunked 1 unpeeled clove garlic, left whole 2 or 3 sprigs parsley Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In one or two large, shallow roasting pans spread all the bones and half of the shin beef, reserving the other half in the refrigerator. Add the sliced onion and the cut up carrots. Put the pan or pans into the oven and brown the ingredients for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring and turning them from time to time; you want a good brown color. Pour off any fat and put the bones, meat, and vegetables into a very large stock pot. Pour 2 or 3 cups of water into the roasting pan(s), then set over direct heat and stir and scrape to dissolve all the brown bits. Pour the deglazing liquid into the stock pot. Add enough water to cover everything by about 2 inches. Add the celery, thyme, bay leaf, the second onion (stuck with a single clove, tomatoes, garlic, and parsley. Bring the liquid to a boil, then adjust the heat so that the pot, partially covered, maintain a gentle simmer, with only an occasional bubble. Skim off any foam at the beginning and cook everything for 7 or 8 hours, skimming occasionally (this is to achieve clarity in the finished essence). The simmering can be interrupted for several hours, or overnight; let the pot sit, uncovered, for up to 8 hours at room temperature, then resume cooking when convenient. (Refrigerate for longer times or if the weather is warm.) After you judge all possible flavor has been extracted from the solids in the pot, strain them all out, pressing on them with a spoon to extract all the juices. Skim all fat from the strained broth, which by now will amount to about 4 or 5 quarts. Strain the broth through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into the washed out pot (or into a smaller one) and add the remaining beef, which you have meanwhile chopped or ground to the fineness of hamburger. Resume simmering, skimming off fat and scum about every half hour. After cooking the stock with the beef for 1-1/2 hours, strain out the meat, pressing it to extract all possible flavor. Strain the broth through the cheesecloth again a begin the final reduction. Resume simmering the stock, cooking the ever-strengthening essence gently as long as necessary for it to become a syrupy substance that will coat a cool metal spoon; this may take up to 2 hours. (For the clearest essence, skim frequently. However, the flavor of the finished product will be fine if you aren't too fussy about the skimming; just be sure to skim off any fat that appears. The essence is finished when it passes the metal-spoon test. Strain it through a fine meshed metal strainer into small jars or pots and let it cool, uncovered. Cover it closely and store in the refrigerator, or freeze it. If frozen, scoop out with a hot spoon as needed. Note: The exact yield will depend on how much collagen was contained in the bones and meat--the more collagen, the sooner the jellying stage is reached. The cooled essence will be firm, almost rubbery, and highly concentrated in flavor. If any surface mold should eventually develop, remove it--it's harmless. From: Better Than Store Bought Shared By: Pat Stockett From the recipe collection of Fred Towner MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02 Title: Chicken Stock - Master Chefs Categories: Basics, Stock, Masterchefs, New york Yield: 4 quarts 5 lb Chicken, parts, (backs, -- necks, carcasses, and -- giblets), (no livers) 2 lg Onions, coarsely chopped 2 md Carrots, peeled, trimmed -- coarsely chopped 2 lg Celery, stalks, with leaves, -- trimmed, coarsely chopped 2 Garlic, cloves, crushed 1 bn Parsley, stems 2 Thyme, sprigs, OR 1 pn Thyme, dried 1 Bay leaf 1/2 ts Salt, coarse 6 Peppercorns Wash chicken parts well and place them in a large stockpot. Add cold water to cover by about 2 inches and slowly bring to a boil, skimming all of the froth from the surface as it forms. Lower the heat and add all of the remaining ingredients except the peppercorns. Simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours. Add water as needed to cover the ingredients and skim when necessary. Add peppercorns for the last fifteen minutes of the simmering process. Strain the "soup" into a large bowl through a colander lined with a double layer of dampened cheesecloth. Gently press the solids to extract all of the liquid possible. Discard the solids and cool the liquid to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled and lift off the solid fat that forms at the surface. Discard the fats. Pour the stock into containers for storage, label and date. Stock keeps for about 3 days in the refrigerator, and up to six months in the freezer. Yield: 3 to 4 quarts Source: New York's Master Chefs, Bon Appetit Magazine : Written by Richard Sax, Photographs by Nancy McFarland : The Knapp Press, Los Angeles, 1985 MMMMM MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02 Title: Master Recipe for Fish Stock Categories: Soups Yield: 2 1/2 quarts 3 lb Fish trimmings; rinsed -cut in 3" pieces 1 md Onion; diced small 2 md Carrots; diced small 1 lg Celery stalk; diced small 8 Parsley stems; chopped 1 c Dry white wine 1/4 Lemon 10 Black peppercorns 2 Bay leaves 1 Dried chili pepper Note: Fish heads, tails, and bones are all possibilities for trimming and can be used for the stock. An equal amount of shrimp and lobster or crab carcasses can be substituted for the fish bones. Put all ingredients in a 6-to-8-quart pot. Cover with 2 3/4 quarts cold water. Bring to a boil over medium heat; simmer slowly for about 1 hour, periodically skimming away scum that rises to the surface. Strain stock through double thickness of cheesecloth, pressing out as much liquid as possible with the back of a spoon. Use to make fish soups, stews, etc. The stock can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Cook's Illustrated Nov/Dec 94 MMMMM ~~~ Rec.food.recipes is moderated; only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting. Please read the "Posting Guidelines" article. Recipes/requests go to recipes@rt66.com; questions/comments to tfdpress@acpub.duke.edu. Please allow several days for your submission to appear.