>Beef Stock – The base for a perfect winter soup

My favorite winter food is a good hearty bowl of soup.  So many people I know love a good bowl of soup but say they just can’t get it to taste right or that it is just too much work.  It does take time to make a great bowl of soup but it does not take a lot of effort.

The foundation of a great soup is the stock.  I have already given you the recipe for my chicken stock, and now I am going to give you my beef stock recipe.  Tomorrow I will release the vegetable stock and then we will embark on a series of blogs on soup making.  With these three stocks you will be able to make a wide variety of flavorful soups that your family will love.

I will again reiterate that factory food soup bases and stocks don’t come close to homemade in flavor or nutrition.  The high levels of sodium and the level of processing require to provide the desired shelf life in my opinion results in a substandard product from both a taste and health standpoint.  Careful caramization of ingredients and slow simmering will build flavors that will not need to be overloaded with sodium.

This stock takes about 8 hours on the stove but can be left overnight or put it on the back burner and let it simmer away.  It can also be finished in a slow cooker when you are at work.  Don’t let 8 hours of sitting bother you because it only takes about 15 minutes of actual time to prepare.

Ingredients

2 pound beef soup bone (shank piece with meat and bone)

One onion Pealed and course chopped

1 Tbsp Grape seed Oil

3 carrots washed and course chopped

3 stalks celery washed and course chopped (remove bottom white part – bitter)

1 bulb of garlic cut in half loose peal removed

3 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1.5 cups Dry Red Wine

1 Tbsp Freeze dried Sage Leaves or 3 Fresh Leaves

6 sprigs of Fresh Thyme

6 pepper corns

Salt to taste – 1 to 3 tsp

Preheat the oven to 375.  Sprinkle salt and a few turns of fresh ground black pepper on all sides of the meat.  Place on a roasting rack in a pan for about 45 minutes until meat is browned.  Turn about half way through.  Be careful not to burn the meat or bone because it will add a bitter flavor to the stock.  You just want to get enough brown on to add flavor.

Rough chop all of the vegetables and heat the grape seed oil (preferred because of the high smoke point and neutral flavor) over medium high heat in a 6 liter stock pot.  Add the vegetables to the hot oil in the stock pot stir occasionally until the onions start to turn golden, be careful not to let anything too dark.  To quote Gordon Ramsey “If it’s brown it’s cooked if it’s black it’s …” (I’m not famous enough to get away with that.J) 

Once there is a light gold on the onions add the tomato paste and cook for another 5 minutes or so stirring frequently.  Deglaze with the red wine.  Add in the soup bone and fill the pot with water.  Add in the herbs and pepper corns.

Simmer on low heat. Do not bring to a rolling boil the odd bubble is not a problem but keep just below the boil covered for 8 hours.  If you see foam on the top skim it off, this contains fats and other impurities.  I usually do this two or three times during the process. 

After 8 hours salt the stalk to taste and then drain the stock into a bowl through a strainer.  (Don’t do like a buddy of mine as stain it in the sink and be left with the veg and bone :s).  You can save the meat off the bone and discard the rest.  Cool the stock.  At this point you can skim the fat off the top and strain through cheese cloth if you desire a very clean stock. 

This flavor rich stock will be an excellent base for your soups or stews.  I will be posting several recipes using this stock in the near future.