Jonathan's beef stock

Equipment

Stock pot
Roasting pan
Large spoon
Strainer
1 or 2 other large saucepans
Canning jars

Ingredients

5-7 lbs beef bones - get a mix of bones if you can. Neck and shoulder bones contribute gelatin, and leg bones have marrow. 1 lb ground beef
2-3 onions
1 leek (optional)
2 carrots
2-3 stalks celery
olive oil
thyme, a few fresh sprigs is best
parsley, several sprigs, to taste
peppercorns, 5-10, to taste
salt

1. First a note on equipment. If you have a real stockpot, you'll be able to make enough stock in one day for many dishes. If you are using a 4 qt soup pot, you are wasting your time. The recipe can be adjusted to the size of your stockpot. You can make it using 7.5 lbs of bones, 10 lbs, etc; just adjust the vegetables proportionately.

2. Getting the bones. Best to get bones from organic grass fed cows. These are available at markets like Whole Foods or at good farmers markets. Marrow bones are a special plus. If you get sections of marrow bones, soak them for a while in a separate bowl. Then take the marrow out and reserve. Notes on what to do with marrow coming soon! For now simply freeze it in a plastic bag.

3. Most cookbook recipes call for roasting the bones. This is because cookbooks are typically written by restaurant chefs, and most restaurants get bones with meat on them. If you buy bones separately as most consumers will do, there isn't any meat. So I don't bother with roasting bones and brown some ground beef instead. If you can get meaty bones, by all means roast them and skip the ground beef.

4. Put the bones in the stockpot (if you are using marrow bones, the marrow should already be taken out). Fill the pot with water, then empty. Do this a few times until the water is running clearer than when you started. The fill again with water and put the heat on medium.

5. Bring the pot slowly to a simmer. This may take quite a while, 45 minutes to an hour or more. If you crank the heat on high, the broth will be muddy. Take your time. As the broth starts simmering, gray foam will rise to the surface. Skim this off. Don't worry about getting every last drop of fat. In fact you can leave the fat. Get the gray stuff out.

6. As the broth comes to a simmer, prepare the vegetables. Clean and peel the onions, leek if using, carrots and celery and cut into a few pieces. Coat lightly with olive oil and roast at about 375-400 degrees until they brown. You don't want burnt bits tainting the flavor of the stock, but you do want them to  carmelize to add flavor.

7. After the vegetables are in the oven, brown the ground beef. Coat a pan with olive oil, add meat and salt liberally, and brown on medium-high heat. We are doing this to add flavor to the stock. Otherwise we'll just have the taste of boiled bones alone. So brown the meat as much as you can without burning it. Use a wooden spoon to stir and mash the meat to increase the surface area that browns.

8. After about 1 hour of simmering the stock (this means 1 hour after it comes to a simmer, which will be about 2 hours from when you put it on the stove) most of the gray gunk should be out. If you are still getting gray foam then you can keep skimming for another hour. When the skimming is done, add the browned ground beef, vegetables, herbs, peppercorns and salt. Go easy on the salt, especially if you will be reducing the stock later. Now most of the work is done and time will take care of the rest.

9. Let the stock simmer for at least 6 hours, and 8 to 10 is better. The top surface should be slowly bubbling. If there are no bubbles it isn't hot enough. If you have many bubbles it is too hot. About one to three bubbles per second is good. At this point you can cover or partially cover, and adjust the temperature to keep the simmer at the right pace. Check the stock every hour or two to make sure the temperature is right.

10. After 6 - 10 hours, the stock will be done. Turn off the heat and let cool. Then strain into your other 1 or 2 saucepans. Press on the meat and veggies a bit to get out the juices if you like. Let cool at room temperature, then refrigerate. If you have a dog they will love the meat - just don't feed them the bones.

11. Later or the next day, the refrigerated stock should have gelled. You will probably have a layer of tan fat on the top. Skim this off with a spoon. If you have enough freezer space, you can simply put the stock in plastic or glass containers. If freezer space is limited, reduce the stock but putting the saucepans on low heat. Stock can concentrate up to to 1/4 of its original volume. This will depend on how long the stock cooked in the first place and whether it was covered or not. Use your judgment. Just make sure the heat is low and let the stock concentrate slowly. It shouldn't bubble at all, otherwise it can burn when it gets concentrated.

12. I like using French canning jars with the rubber sealed lids because the flavor keeps best in glass. But plastic is OK too. Just wrap the plastic containers in a bag and twist tie. Some people freeze the stock in ice cube trays, then remove and put these in a zip-lock bag.

13. Using stock - use in soups, especially onion soup; make a quick wine sauce for meats by adding about 1/4-1/3 cup of wine to 1 cup of stock (remember if you reduced it adjust the percentage accordingly); and use stock in other braised meat dishes.

May your bones be strong!