Beef Essence Or Extract Recipe

Recipe Ingredients

Info

"To cook a heap of bones, beef and vegetables in a big pot for many
hours and have to show for it a small jar or two of meat essence is
truly making a molehill out of a mountain--but such a molehill!
Possessing a batch of this essence--glace de viande, is like having 8
quarts of strong beef stock miraculously confined in a small
container. Use it any time you like and keep it as long as you care
to--it is virtually immortal if frozen and keeps several weeks
refrigerated.

Add a Tbsp. of the essence to a cup of boiling water and you have
better and beefier broth than any you can buy canned, cubed, or
powdered. A little of this concentrate, stirred into any meat
flavored preparation, adds both body and savor. Glace de viande can
rescue a pallid soup, a vapid sauce, or a lackluster gravy, or it can
be a sauce base on its own. The extract is unsalted, for greater
versatility when added to sauces and such so add 1/4 tsp. of salt to
the cup if your drinking the broth.

Makes 2 cups (reconstituted, about 8 quarts, or 1 cup of broth per
Tbsp. of essence.

6 pounds (or more) beef and veal bones, sawed into pieces by the
butcher (try to have the pieces cut no more than 2 to 3 inches long
or wide.) 3-1/2 to 4 pounds boneless shin of beef, cut into 1 inch
cubes 2 large, unpeeled onions, one sliced, the other left whole 2
large carrots, scrubbed and cut up coarsely Water as needed 2 ribs of
celery, with leaves, cut up 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crumbled 1 medium
bay leaf 1 whole clove 2 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chunked 1 unpeeled
clove garlic, left whole 2 or 3 sprigs parsley

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In one or two large, shallow
roasting pans spread all the bones and half of the shin beef,
reserving the other half in the refrigerator. Add the sliced onion
and the cut up carrots. Put the pan or pans into the oven and brown
the ingredients for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring and turning them from
time to time; you want a good brown color.

Pour off any fat and put the bones, meat, and vegetables into a very
large stock pot. Pour 2 or 3 cups of water into the roasting pan(s),
then set over direct heat and stir and scrape to dissolve all the
brown bits. Pour the deglazing liquid into the stock pot. Add
enough water to cover everything by about 2 inches. Add the celery,
thyme, bay leaf, the second onion (stuck with a single clove,
tomatoes, garlic, and parsley.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then adjust the heat so that the pot,
partially covered, maintain a gentle simmer, with only an occasional
bubble. Skim off any foam at the beginning and cook everything for 7
or 8 hours, skimming occasionally (this is to achieve clarity in the
finished essence). The simmering can be interrupted for several
hours, or overnight; let the pot sit, uncovered, for up to 8 hours at
room temperature, then resume cooking when convenient. (Refrigerate
for longer times or if the weather is warm.)

After you judge all possible flavor has been extracted from the
solids in the pot, strain them all out, pressing on them with a spoon
to extract all the juices. Skim all fat from the strained broth,
which by now will amount to about 4 or 5 quarts. Strain the broth
through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into the washed out pot (or into
a smaller one) and add the remaining beef, which you have meanwhile
chopped or ground to the fineness of hamburger.

Resume simmering, skimming off fat and scum about every half hour.
After cooking the stock with the beef for 1-1/2 hours, strain out the
meat, pressing it to extract all possible flavor. Strain the broth
through the cheesecloth again a begin the final reduction. Resume
simmering the stock, cooking the ever-strengthening essence gently as
long as necessary for it to become a syrupy substance that will coat
a cool metal spoon; this may take up to 2 hours. (For the clearest
essence, skim frequently. However, the flavor of the finished product
will be fine if you aren't too fussy about the skimming; just be sure
to skim off any fat that appears.

The essence is finished when it passes the metal-spoon test. Strain
it through a fine meshed metal strainer into small jars or pots and
let it cool, uncovered. Cover it closely and store in the
refrigerator, or freeze it. If frozen, scoop out with a hot spoon as
needed.

Note: The exact yield will depend on how much collagen was contained
in the bones and meat--the more collagen, the sooner the jellying
stage is reached. The cooled essence will be firm, almost rubbery,
and highly concentrated in flavor. If any surface mold should
eventually develop, remove it--it's harmless.

From: Better Than Store Bought Shared By: Pat Stockett

From the recipe collection of Fred Towner

Servings: 4

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