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The flavor of this Homemade Beef Stock is deep, rich, and complex. The flavors from the wine, vegetables, beef and veal bones all meld together to create a magnificent stock that will put any store-bought variety to shame!
I know that beef stock is a really strange Valentine’s Day post, but I can totally explain. Starting at the beginning of this week all anyone could talk about was how it was how it is going to snow in Atlanta again and how there were going to be massive power outages and, essentially, life as we know it would be temporarily over. In light of the impending Atlanta Wintergate 2.0 I felt it would be foolish to bake cupcakes (what I really wanted to post today) when we could potentially be without power for several days. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to make beef stock and some hearty dishes that we could survive on when the insane weather struck? Indeed.
So here we are with Homemade Beef Stock. Happy Valentine’s Day!
I don’t watch too many cooking shows (shocking, right?!), but recently I started watching Martha Stewart’s Cooking School. There is something about Martha that makes me want to do everything better. And more beautifully.
In one recent show on onions she made French Onion Soup with homemade beef stock. My Husband and I will drive 45 minutes to eat our favorite French Onion Soup in Atlanta. No, seriously. It’s that good! Well that got me thinking, if I am so in love with my chicken broth recipe, wouldn’t homemade beef stock be just as good!
After that I couldn’t get it out of my mind and I started thinking of all the yummy dinners I could make with this rich, luscious beef broth. The easy beef stroganoff and beef melt sandwich recipes I could enhance with it…
Martha’s recipe calls to roast the vegetables, bones and meat prior to simmering, which means dirtying an extra pan, but I am here to tell you it was so worth it! The flavor is deep, rich, and complex. The wine, vegetables, beef and veal flavors all meld together to create a magnificent stock.
I loved being able to make it salt-free, because beef stock (and French Onion Soup) is known for being almost unbearably salty and often bland.
You will see this stock starring in some pretty spectacular dishes very soon. The French onion soup I make with this stock is truly the Best French Onion Soup out there!
Get excited!
Homemade Beef Stock
Ingredients
- 8 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
- 6 sprigs thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 sprigs rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 pound beef-stew meat cubed
- 5 pounds veal bones sawed into smaller pieces
- 2 carrots cut into thirds
- 1 onion quartered
- 2 stalks celery cut into thirds
- 2 cups dry red wine I used a reasonably priced Cabernet Sauvignon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°. Tie all herbs together. Martha says to make a bouquet garni with cheesecloth, but she’s an overachiever. Seriously.
- Arrange meat, veal bones and vegetables in a single layer in a large roasting pan. Roast, turning every 20 minutes, until the vegetables and bones are a deep brown, about 1 ½ hours.
- Transfer meat, bones, and vegetables to a large stockpot and set aside.
- Discard fat from the roasting pan, and place pan over high heat on the stove. Add wine, and use a flat wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits; boil until wine has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Pour all liquid into the stockpot with the bones.
- Add 6 quarts of cold water, or more to cover the bones, to the stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Add the herbs. Simmer over the lowest possible heat for 3 hours. Discard the skin that forms on top of the liquid.
- Strain the stock through cheesecloth or a fine sieve over a large bowl. Discard the solids and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- Stock may be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for 4 months. If storing, leave fat layer intact to seal the stock (I didn’t do this either.). Before using skim the fat layer off the surface.
Nutrition
I have a question before I make this – where do you get veal bones? I don’t think I see veal for sale in our supermarkets. Thanks Lindsey!
Hi Elizabeth! If you can’t find veal bones in your supermarket, you might need to locate a butcher shop or specialty meat market! If you don’t luck out, you can use beef bones, but I find the veal to be particularly flavorful. Different bones might require a different simmer time, but experiment to find what works best for you!
I just made this plus the caramelized onions and french onion soup. OMG it was so good and now I’m planning to make another batch of broth.
The only thing I would suggest is when straining the beef stock, remove the bones and squeeze the leftover content in the cheesecloth to get out all the good flavour from the vegetables and beef chunks. The broth was good prior to this but it was so much better with this extra goodness.
My dogs were pretty happy also since I fed them what was left of the vegetables and beef chunks (minus the bones).
Hi Tammy! I am so glad you enjoyed it! It is amazing how wonderful it is in its simplicity! Great tip about squeezing the bones and veggies! The only reason you wouldn’t do that is if you wanted a more clear broth, but it does add such a richness!
Nice! Brown stock is the best. Adds such yumminess to whatever dish you are making.
Hope you had a nice Valentines. Me..I’m just glad it’s over and that I survived the crazy night. It was madness at the restaurant!
We did have a good Valentines. I’m glad you survived and that business wasn’t affected by these ridiculous storms! We usually go out for Vday on the 15th for just that reason!