STOCKS AND BROTHS

Of course, you could cook your stew, your blanquette, and your boiled chicken in water with vegetables. Of course, you could make a sauce by deglazing your cooking dish with water. But you can do better, and here’s how.

For more information, see:

Which cookware for my beautiful piece of meat? here

Boiling here

Boiling, a user’s manual here

Maillard reactions here

A matter of taste here

BEEF STOCK

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: At least 6 hours

Resting time: 1 hour

MAKES 4¼ QUARTS

– 4½ lb beef (oxtail, thick rib, or shin)

– 2 marrowbones

– 2¼ lb ox bones, crushed by your butcher

– 2 tbsp olive oil

– 2 large onions, halved

– 3½ oz button mushrooms, washed and diced

– 3 carrots, peeled and diced

– 2 leeks (green leaves removed), washed and diced

– 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

– 5 cloves

– 1 bouquet garni (10 sprigs parsley, 5 to 6 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves, cut in half) wrapped in leek leaves and firmly tied

Preheat the oven to 390°F. In a cast iron pot, coat the bones in the olive oil, place them in the pot, and brown them in the oven for 30 minutes, turning them over from time to time. Once well browned, remove the pot from the oven.

It doesn’t look like much, but this is the base for our stock. The little pieces of meat stuck to the bones have browned and the cartilage on the ends of the bones has turned a golden color, too. The marrow melts and creates sticky juices at the bottom of the pot. All of this together develops an incredible quantity of flavors.

Set the bones aside in a dish. Heat the pot over very high heat. Place the meat in the pot and add the onions flat side down. Brown for 5 to 6 minutes, turning the meat over only after 3 minutes.

To our greatest delight, more juices are created here and numerous Maillard reactions occur on the meat, developing its flavor. The onions will turn the stock a nice amber color.

Take the meat out of the pot and set it aside in a dish. Add the mushrooms, carrots, leeks, garlic, cloves, and bouquet garni. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes over low heat until softened.

Place the meat and the bones back into the pot, add water up to 2 inches above them, and heat slowly without letting it boil or even simmer.

You should only be able to see some steam and a little bubble float to the surface from time to time. You’re infusing the meat to extract as many of its flavors as possible.

As this temperature, no foam or scum forms on the water.

Don’t add salt, don’t add pepper, don’t stir it, don’t cover it. Let it infuse for at least 6 hours over gentle heat.

Meanwhile, the flavors of everything you put in the pot creep slowly into the liquid. The tasteless water evaporates and the flavors of the stock intensify little by little. Just add a little water if the meat or the bones begin to peek out of the surface. Again, let time do its work because we are making an infusion.

After cooking, let cool for 1 hour before pouring your stock through a conical strainer or a cloth-covered colander over a large bowl.

The cloth will collect lots of tiny, useless pieces of meat that fell off the bone during the cooking process. Your stock will be a lot clearer and tastier.

And now you have an insanely delicious stock!

A STOCK IS AN INFUSION

When you make a broth or a stock, you’re not cooking the meat but infusing it so that it releases as many of its flavors as possible. It’s exactly the same as making a herbal infusion. That’s the idea you should have in mind: an infusion.

IT’S EASY TO FREEZE

Once your stock is cooked, pour it through a cloth and store it in closed containers in the freezer. You can take them out when you need them, for a stew or for boiling a chicken, for example.

SCUM AND IMPURITIES

You often hear “remove the scum and impurities that float to the surface.” Don’t be fooled by this! First of all, the definition of the word “scum” is a mixture of liquid and impurities. There are impurities in our meat? Really? What do you do about the impurities when you’re grilling a rib of beef or cooking vegetables? Well, nothing, because there are none. There’s meat and there’s vegetables. That’s it! The white foam that forms is a mix of clotted proteins, fat, and air. Don’t worry about impurities; there aren’t any. But you should remove this foam if it forms because it might give a bitter taste to the stock.

HOW CAN I AVOID GETTING THIS FOAM?

It’s funny that all the cookbooks tell you to “skim it off.” But what if, instead of skimming, we make sure that there isn’t any scum (or foam) at all? The secret to no scum, or very little of it, is to cook the stock just below the simmering point.

IT’S VERY FAST TO MAKE

The preparation time for a stock or a broth is very brief: 10 minutes, no more! It’s the cooking time that’s long. But we don’t mind that because it cooks on its own. And as it does, we can read or chat to a friend on the phone.

STOCK, BROTH, CONSOMMÉ, AND VELOUTÉ

Stock is cooked for a long time with bones, to extract as many flavors as possible. Broth isn’t cooked for as long and doesn’t usually contain bones. A consommé is a stock or a broth that’s been clarified with egg white and ground meat to make it translucent. A velouté is made with broth and thickened with a roux (butter + flour). And if you add cream, a velouté will become a cream sauce. An egg yolk is sometimes added.

SHOULD I DRAIN OFF THE FAT OR NOT?

As the stock cools, the fat rises and forms a layer across the surface. You can leave it, remove some of it, or remove all of it. If you leave the fat, the flavors of the stock will be less distinct but will linger for longer on the palate. If you remove part of it, the flavors will be more refined. If you remove all the fat, the flavors will be very refined. In any case, don’t throw out the fat; it’s perfect for replacing oil in a vinaigrette or for basting vegetables.

VEAL STOCK

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: at least 6 hours

Resting time: 1 hour

MAKE 4 ¼ QUARTS

– 4½ lb cheap veal cuts, such as veal tail or short rib

– 2 marrowbones

– 4½ lb ox bones, crushed by your butcher

– 2 tbsp olive oil

– 1 large onion, halved

– 3½ oz button mushrooms, washed and diced

– 3 carrots, peeled and diced

– 2 leeks (green leaves removed), washed and diced

– 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

– 2 cloves

– 1 bouquet garni (10 sprigs parsley, 5 to 6 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves cut in half) wrapped in leek leaves and firmly tied

It’s the same principle as for the beef stock: brown the bones in the oven, then the meat, then soften the vegetables and mushrooms, and finally, pour in the water to cook everything for at least 6 hours.

PORK STOCK

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: at least 6 hours

Resting time: 1 hour

MAKES 4¼ QUARTS

– 4½ lb cheap pork cuts (cheek, rib tips, shank)

– 7 oz pork rind

– 2¼ lb pork bones, crushed by your butcher

– 2 tbsp olive oil

– 1 large onion, halved

– 3½ oz button mushrooms, washed and diced

– 3 carrots, peeled and diced

– 2 leeks (green leaves removed), washed and diced

– 5 cloves

– 1 bouquet garni (10 sprigs parsley, 5 or 6 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves cut in half) wrapped in leek leaves and firmly tied

LAMB STOCK

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 4 hours

Resting time: 1 hour

MAKES 3 QUARTS

– 2¼ lb cheap lamb cuts, such as the breast or neck

– 2¼ lb lamb bones, crushed by your butcher

– 2 tbsp unsalted butter

– 3½ oz button mushrooms, washed and diced

– 3 carrots, peeled and diced

– 2 leeks (green leaves removed), washed and diced

– 2 large onions, halved

– 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

– 1 celery stalk, washed

– 1 bouquet garni (4 to 6 sprigs parsley, 5 to 6 sprigs thyme) wrapped in leek leaves and firmly tied

It’s the same principle as for the beef stock: brown the bones in the oven, then the meat, then soften the vegetables and mushrooms, and finally, pour in the water to cook everything for 4 hours.

POULTRY STOCK

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours

Resting time: 1 hour

MAKES 3⅛ QUARTS

– 2¼ lb poultry giblets (wings and drumsticks)

– 3 poultry carcasses, cut into small pieces

– 2 tbsp unsalted butter

– 3 carrots, peeled and diced

– 2 leeks (green leaves removed), washed and diced

– 2 large oni ons, halved

– 3½ oz button mushrooms, washed and diced

– 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

– 2 cloves

– 1 celery stalk, washed

– 1 bouquet garni (5 to 6 sprigs parsley, 5 to 6 sprigs thyme) wrapped in leek leaves and firmly tied

It’s the same principle as for the beef stock but without browning the bones or the meat or the onions. Soften the vegetables, the herbs, and the mushrooms in the butter, then add the giblets and the carcasses. Add water and cook everything for 2 hours.

THE GOLDEN RULES FOR A GOOD STOCK

THE QUALITY OF THE WATER

This is fun-da-mental! Water is the main ingredient in stock. Don’t hesitate to use a few bottles of mineral water if your tap water has an aftertaste. It will cost very little and will make a huge difference.

NO SALT OR PEPPER

Salt slows down the transfer of the meat juices to the stock. The pepper infuses and becomes bitter and acrid when cooked in liquid. You can add them at the end. In the past, pepper was used not for its flavors but solely for its antiseptic properties.

THE COOKING TIME

It takes time for the meat to infuse and release the most flavors possible into the water, at least 2 hours for a poultry stock and 6 or 7 for a beef stock.

THE COOKING MATERIAL

You don’t make stock in just any saucepan. Nope! The type of material the saucepan or the pot is made of is of huge importance: it should be cast iron or stainless steel. Whatever you do, don’t use a simple iron saucepan.

THE COOKING TEMPERATURE

For heaven’s sake, no boiling or even simmering! As the ingredients infuse, the collagen in the meat melts and turns into a delicious gelatin. The water should only be steaming and you should see a little bubble rise to the surface from time to time, nothing more.

CHECK THE QUALITY OF THE STOCK

After a night in the refrigerator, your stock should have turned into a delicious gelatin, just like red-currant jelly. This is the proof that the collagen in the meat transformed into a flavorful gelatin. A world-class stock!