Slack Time

We're distracted this month by our side interest, the "Dorm Food Survival" blog.  Sorry, and we'll get back to you!

Beef Stock for Little Soups

Making beef stock is an all-day-long proposition.  You don't have to do much, but you do have to be home!  It's worth doing occasionally, because with a supply of homemade stock in the freezer and a few fresh vegetables on hand, a fast bowl of good soup can be enjoyed any time.

Beef ribs and oxtails roasted and ready to go in the soup

We made this stock out of beef ribs and oxtails, 4+ pounds. Ordinary soup bones would have been nice but there were none at Walmart that day.  A good-enough broth can be made from boneless chuck, if need be, but meat with bones is better for the purpose. 

Beef stock tastes richer if the bones (and meat) are roasted first. No seasonings are needed - just roast at 325 F. until well browned, then transfer them to a stock pot.

Simmer the beef and bones on "low" until the meat is tender;  remove it all from the pot,  detach the meat and return the rest to the pot for further simmering.  It takes many hours for cartilage, which adds richness, to break down.

When the bones are fully cooked with cartilage no longer clinging to them, strain it all and return clear broth to the pot. To this add sauteed seasoning vegetables such as onions and carrots.  Simmer until  vegetables are soft.

Remove some (or most) of the stock and set it aside to cool before freezing.  It takes about a pint to fill one ice tray.

Frozen beef stock, about 1 ounce each

The remaining stock and seasoning vegetables, together with reserved soupmeat, will be the basis for a good beef soup, with additions.

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).

Vegetarian stock

I don't know whether it helps or hurts that I don't much like vegetarian broth - no brand or form of it canned is even edible, so far as I am concerned.  Ugh, what do they put in it?  So  I am trying to make it from scratch.  We've had several batches, all different, all okay, none perfect, but we're getting closer. 

Ingredients.  We decided against the turnip. Not shown: peas

One rule: don't overcook, because most overcooked vegetables, even seasoning vegetables, taste sour and awful. (There are exceptions; some green vegetables develop a different and much better taste after being cooked for an hour or more.)

Another rule, as I am learning, is that what meat contributes to good stock is an abundance of the flavor called "umami", a Japanese word meaning "deliciousness", which in its pure form is found in monosodium glutamate.  If a veggie stock is going to satisfy, umami must be included from vegetable sources.  Ingredients high in glutamates include ripe tomatoes and mushrooms, especially dried shiitake mushrooms.  Also high in glutamates are potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas. Thus, veggie stock will be more satisfying if it contains, at least, tomato paste, mushrooms, carrots and peas.  The more of those other ingredients included in the soup,  the more satisfying the broth will be.  With glutamate- rich foods as a base and liberal inclusion of the standard seasoning vegetables, we can produce a stock both satisfying and tasty.

Start with this:

Onion
Celery
Garlic
Carrot
Green pepper
Mushrooms

Saute seasoning vegetables

Dice and saute vegetables in batches to bring out the flavor, and when softened, place them in a cooking vessel (stockpot, crockpot, microwave- safe container, hotpot) about twice the volume of the vegetables you've sauteed.  Then add:

Tomato paste
Green peas
Parsley with stems

Fill pot 3/4 with water

Cook on High until hot, then reduce to Low and cook until vegetables are just done.

Strain out as much of the broth as you want to reserve, leaving enough broth with the cooked vegetables so that with the addition of some fresh items you can serve it as Vegetable or Minestrone soup.

One pint of stock will fill a 16-cube ice tray,  giving you frozen stock measured roughly in ounces for use in quick "little soups" or in other dishes.

Note:  Other ingredients to consider for veggie stock are "kombu", a seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, soy sauce, and Chinese cabbage.  All these will undoubtedly increase the "deliciousness" of your stock, but whether the flavors are appropriate will depend on what you intend to do with the stock.

Vegetarian Stock

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).

** This recipe also appears in our companion Blog "The Baker's Dozen"