INGREDIENTS:
- 3 pounds marrow bones
- 3 pounds shin of beef
- 3 large onions, unpeeled and quartered
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 celery stalks, peeled and sliced
- 3 heads garlic, sliced in half to expose pods
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 springs parsley
- 15 black peppercorns
- 1 tsp whole thyme
- 1 ½ gallons water
- 3 cups dry red wine
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Have your butcher select and save three pounds of beef or veal marrow bones and three pounds of an inexpensive shin meat or stew meat of beef. Place bones and shin meat in roasting pan and bake until golden brown, approximately thirty minutes. Place browned bones, meat and all remaining ingredients in a three gallon stock pot. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook for six hours adding water if necessary to retain volume. During this cooking process, skim off impurities that rise to the surface of the pot. Remove pot from heat and strain stock through fine cheese cloth or strainer. Allow stock to rest for fifteen minutes and skim off all oil that rises to the top. Return stock to a low boil and reduce to two quarts.
GAME STOCK:
To create the basic game stock, proceed exactly as you would for the beef or veal stock. The difference, however, is that you must substitute three pounds of duck, rabbit, venison or other wild game bones into the stock pot in place of the veal or beef bones. Other than the shellfish stock, game stock is used more often in Cajun and Creole cuisine than any other sauce base. |
