Sunday, March 8, 2009

Beef/Veal Stock 101- Are we there yet?
















Do veal chops with sauted Swiss Chard and a red wine mushroom reduction sounds good for dinner?

Although for someone who has never made stock from scratch and gone through the process of making a true brown sauce...it can be daunting end to a means!














'A good flavor mix to throw in the roasting pan with some veal bones...well, as long as you get the idea...'















'skimming the riff raff from the pot as it rises to the top...'

Making stock in culinary school does not always carry over into the real world home kitchen, but trying it at least once can be a fun lesson...many restaurants still use this traditional stock method...but I never said out of a box was wrong, just buy the ones without added sugar and sodium!

There are so many processes that we just did not have time to stop and take pictures all the way through the stock making process...which I list below.














'the most important part...she found the end to her rainbow...'

All I kept hearing was 'that sauce is not brown, it looks orange', and 'are we there yet'? Reminding me of two children I had already raised, lol...I had to remind my student that the culinary process from start to finish list can go on, but a good sauce demands it!

Beef/Veal Stock

Blanch bones
chop and clean vegetables- place in roasting pan
roast bones and vegetables together...
cool down ingredients...
cold water in pot for bones and vegetables...
and then slowly turning up heat, letting the 'riff raff' rise to the top...
scoop the scum off the top, and turn down fire...
simmer most of the afternoon...
NEVER use the stock pot as a garbage can throughout the day!
remove bones and vegetables, discard or save for the hard times (kidding)...
cool down stock in ice water bath...
remove fat and strain through cheesecloth, or vise versa...

Brown Sauce...

chop mirepoix...
heat butter and brown mirepoix...
add seasoning sachet...
add flour and stir...
slowly stir in stock and tomato puree (orange color is natural)...
reduce for an hour on low...
strain sauce until you extract all sauce...
discard vegetables (in this economy or if you grew up poor like me, save for quick soup or over cooked brown rice)...

Red Wine Reduction...

slowly heat sauce in pan...
add beef/veal stock...
add mushrooms and red wine...
reduce for at least half an hour, or by half...
add 'hot' liquid to ramekin of flour to make paste, and...
add to sauce as thickening agent (cornstarch flavor is off putting for me)...
season with salt, pepper, and touch of garlic...
Plate Veal Chops on top of greens, and Bon Appetite!