Since moving to Russia I have been missing the availability of pre-made broth/stock. It simply doesn’t exist in the stores here and instead people either use bullion cubes or make their own broth.
Bullion cubes are convenient but I find their taste to be a bit like chemicals. After learning some Russian recipes I decided to make a batch of my own to keep in the freezer. Not being one to do things the easy way, I went all out and made some really good dark stock that will work well for a lot of different things. Process I followed is as follows.
I started with beef bones, about 5 lbs. Veal bones are the best if you can get them due to the extra collagen. Chicken bones will also work and are easy to get.
I mixed a couple tablespoons of tomato paste with a little water and brushed it all over the bones. Then take a couple tablespoons of flour and dust them all a bit on all sides.
Oil some pans and throw the bones on and throw in the oven at about 400F. Turn them every 20 minutes or so and make sure they don’t burn. There is no need to preheat the oven and the times vary based on your bones and oven.
Rough chop a couple onions, carrots and stalks of celery and put them on another pan. Roast that for about 30 minutes
Once the roasting is done throw everything in a large stock pot and fill with cold water with peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, parsley and rosemary.
The careful cooking of the stock now is key. You can boil the shit out of everything and rush it but the stock will be cloudy. If you slowly bring it to a low simmer and hold it there for 8-12 hours you will have a good result to be proud of. Skim off the fat and foam as it cooks and set it aside. Never boil, only slowly simmer. There is no need to stir anything here, just simmer it forever. You are not trying to reduce the amount of liquid by evaporation.
Once you are satisfied with the cooking of things down, take the pot off the heat and pull out the bones with some tongs. Pour the both through a fine mesh or sieve or cheesecloth.
Put it in the fridge or freezer and use it and enjoy it.
Bullion cubes are convenient but I find their taste to be a bit like chemicals. After learning some Russian recipes I decided to make a batch of my own to keep in the freezer. Not being one to do things the easy way, I went all out and made some really good dark stock that will work well for a lot of different things. Process I followed is as follows.
I started with beef bones, about 5 lbs. Veal bones are the best if you can get them due to the extra collagen. Chicken bones will also work and are easy to get.
I mixed a couple tablespoons of tomato paste with a little water and brushed it all over the bones. Then take a couple tablespoons of flour and dust them all a bit on all sides.
Oil some pans and throw the bones on and throw in the oven at about 400F. Turn them every 20 minutes or so and make sure they don’t burn. There is no need to preheat the oven and the times vary based on your bones and oven.
Rough chop a couple onions, carrots and stalks of celery and put them on another pan. Roast that for about 30 minutes
Once the roasting is done throw everything in a large stock pot and fill with cold water with peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, parsley and rosemary.
The careful cooking of the stock now is key. You can boil the shit out of everything and rush it but the stock will be cloudy. If you slowly bring it to a low simmer and hold it there for 8-12 hours you will have a good result to be proud of. Skim off the fat and foam as it cooks and set it aside. Never boil, only slowly simmer. There is no need to stir anything here, just simmer it forever. You are not trying to reduce the amount of liquid by evaporation.
Once you are satisfied with the cooking of things down, take the pot off the heat and pull out the bones with some tongs. Pour the both through a fine mesh or sieve or cheesecloth.
Put it in the fridge or freezer and use it and enjoy it.