Basic Brown Soup Stock
Makes 5 quarts of stock
"The Old World has always had basic soup stocks on hand. The frugal
cook was not about to throw out anything since he could not afford our
luxury of waste. The bones of any and every creature were used for
stock, and the stock eventually became the basis of another meal, in
the form of either a soup, a sauce or a gravy. You will need to make
a batch of this now and then. It freezes well and it has a much
better flavor than the only other possible substitute, canned beef
stock. Please do not even think of using a bouillon cube. It is
nothing but salt!"
5 pounds bare beef rendering bones, sawed into 2-inch pieces
1 bunch carrots, unpeeled and chopped
3 yellow onions, unpeeled and chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
Tell your butcher that you need bare rendering bones. They should not
have any meet on them at all, so they should be cheap. Have him saw
them up into 2-inch pieces.
Roast the bones in an uncovered pan at 400F for 2 hours. Be careful
with this, because your oven may be a bit too hot. Watch the bones,
which you want to be toasty brown, not black. Place the roasted bones
in a soup pot and add 1 quart water for each pound of bones. For 5
pounds of bones, add 1 bunch carrots, 1 bunch of celery, chopped, and
3 yellow onions, chopped with peel and all. (The peel will give
lovely color to the stock.)
Bring to a simmer, uncovered, and cook for 12 hours. You may need to
add water to keep soup up to the same level. Do not salt the stock.
Strain the stock, and store in the refrigerator. Allow the fat to
stay on top of the stock when you refrigerate it; the fat will seal
the stock and allow you to keep it for several days.
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