A Question About Stock

Hello again all. Yesterday I received another question in my inbox. This one about stock;

“I make wonderful chicken and turkey stocks.

My challenges are with making good beef and vegetable stocks. I have never tried making vegetable stock and only once tried making a beef stock. It produced glue.

Could you please provide good recipes and guidance, including for example, good tips like should I buy beef bones with meat on the bone?”

In my training at Reservation, the place which laid the foundation of my culinary journey, I was largely responsible for making massive quantities of stocks and jus. Stocks may seem like a lot of work to some of you but they provide the backbone for many, many preparations and should be given respect as such.

The first key to making a good stock is, are you ready for this, PATIENCE.

When making stock and then jus at Reservation I would start with an appropriate mirepoix while I was roasting the bones. Naturally having a convection oven makes the bones come out a little bit better than a regular home oven, but you can get similar results.

First and foremost I want to say this; Ingredients are key. If you buy bad, soured, spoiled or off ingredients (not that I’m suggesting you would but I find that common sense is by no means common). Thus source out the best place to get the freshest ingredients.

The principle for a beef, veal or chicken stock is the same. Bones, mirepoix, wine, water and herbs and spices.

In this case, for a beef stock, I would suggest buying bones directly from a reputable butcher. Only because I know who is asking this question well I happen to know that you can very easily hit St. Lawrence Market or Kensington Market to find what you need.

At Reservation and Without Reservation I use Veal Leg Bones and Beef Leg Bones. They come to me without any meat on them or at the very least only a little. There are numerous methods to preparing the bones for stock. Some people clean the bones while some prefer to just roast them. For the most part this is a matter of personal preference although there are some very specific and detailed culinary reasons for the multiple preparations.

I would not clean the bones that I was using as I would roast them in a 375 F oven until the bones achieved the colour that I desired (by I naturally I am referring to what Chef wanted which in turn became what I wanted). In a convection oven this could take anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes depending on a whole host of variables.
Once the bones were in the oven I would set to work on the mirepoix. For a good beef or veal stock you want to use roughly 40 % onion, 30 % Carrot and 30% Celery. This is only one way of doing the mirepoix though. You could include fennel, as an example, in place or in addition to celery. I would make my stocks at reservation with a case of bones that weighed 50 pounds and for that I would use approximately five onions, two heads of celery and around 11 carrots. This should give you a pretty good idea.

Some people prefer to roast the mirepoix a bit. I personally do not as I do not like the flavour that develops. Again personal preference.

I would then mix a slurry with Red Wine and Tomato Paste. Again it will depend on the amount of bones that you are using but for a smaller batch I would suggest using twelve or more ounces of tomato paste to each bottle of red wine.

Put a pot on the stove and wait for it to get very hot. Once very hot add the slurry to it and allow it to reduce. You know that it is ready when there is no more alcohol smell. DO NOT PUT YOUR FACE OVER A HOT POT. Instead, use your hands to bring the aroma to your nose.

Let’s assume that your bones are ready. Take them out of the oven and let them cool for a minute or two. PLACE, very important; PLACE the bones into the pot as opposed to just throwing them in. There are both flavour and appearance reasons for this.

Ones the bones are in you want to add your mirepoix and then cover with water. The last thing you want to do is add your flavouring agents, such as; Thyme, Peppercorn, Rosemary, etc. There is no need to do this as a bouquet garni as you are going to have to put the stock through a sieve or colander later.

At this point you have the basic preparations of a stock. You want to bring the stock up to a gentle simmer and then reduce the heat so as not to impart the stock with that tell tale flavour of burn or overheating. Moreover, if you boil your stock it will become cloudy (which for the home cook is not so big a deal but in a restaurant you don’t want it to be cloudy).

At Reservation stock would take me 24 hours to make to come up with a final product of approximately 20 L.

I would suggest that if you follow these instructions you can complete a very nice stock in 8 or so hours.

Now this is very important. You will notice that the scum will float to the surface. Regularly skim off this scum. It will, if left in, adversely affect the flavour and clarity of your stock. I would suggest skimming once every thirty minutes or so.

If you need to you can add a bit more water to the stock if you feel that it has reduced too far. However, as with any reduction, the flavours will grow more intense the more you reduce.

Finally, I use to at Reservation put my (read Chef’s) stock through a fine sieve. What this does is remove the small particles that will adversely affect you stock.

This will produce a very fine beef or veal stock. Best part is you can make big batches and freeze them to be used later.

Moreover if you wanted to turn that stock into a demi you would simply add more water to the pot and allow it to reduce for about the same time that you did the stock. Apply equal portions of stock and remi (second boil) into a pot of reduced red wine and gently simmer until reaching the consistency you desire and voila DEMI!

Vegetable Stock

A great vegetable stock starts with the ingredients and you follow the same basic principles of beef or veal stock although the time required is less plus you do not require the wine. Although this is a matter of personal preference as well.

Again with both stocks; PATIENCE IS KEY. You must skim your protein stocks very well.

In terms of recipes, some of the best have come from the incredible work of Escoffier, Blanc and as of recently Apicius. Each are available from the public Library and offer a wealth of knowledge when it comes to stocks. By the way, the current recipe belongs to an Executive Chef who I respect immensely and as such I have not given out his recipe.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, stocks are the basis from which many of the dishes I prepare gain their complexity, colour and beautiful flavour. Play with them over time and you will develop a recipe that is best for you.

I hope this answers your question. If not send me an email and let me know.

Raymond Blanc once said; “Like my father before me, I'm a very passionate person, with boundless energy and tremendous willpower.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!

A la prochaine

SDM