QuickTime videoWe’ve set out to make authentic French onion soup, complete with crusty toasted bread and gruyere on top. And when you embark on such a mission, you simply must make the soup base - beef stock - from scratch.
This is one of those really rewarding kitchen marathons. The stock may take hours and hours to make, but most of that is simply the simmering process that seethes out the delicious juices from the beef bones and vegetables.
GET CRASH TEST KITCHEN IN iTUNES.
And the preparation is enjoyably crude: vegetables roughly chopped, roasted with the bones, then tossed into a pot with water and a few simple spices.
Being the cheapskates we are, we took advantage of a local butcher’s offer of free bones - with the condition being that he didn’t have to cut them up. I rummaged in the loft and found a flimsy woodsaw, and you’ll see the results in the video.
When I was growing up, the closest I ever came to French onion soup was an insipid brew of powdered cup-a-soup mix and hot water. It was easy to find it underwhelming, and our visit to Quebec City on our trans-Canadian safari was the first time I’d tasted the real stuff.
I was blown away, and now our taste buds are primed in the hope our own home-made variety matches the best that French Canada can produce.
Stay tuned!
- Waz
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I wouldn’t take the fat away from the soup. The fat has all the tasteful elements in it, not the water. But If you use it to cook for example an onion soup it might be good that it doesn’t have such a strong taste. Don’t know.
I’m curious about what the onion soup will be like.
best wishes
Anna
Here’s a thought. Have you considered taking the stock and reducing it over a pan? If you simmer it alone for a sufficient amount of time the water content will steam away, and concentrate the flavour in the remaining stock. This is something my mother always did with Chicken stock, though, I will own up to her making it, usually from the juices in the pan after a sunday roast, as well as the bones.
Something worth trying though. Keep it up you two! ^_^
I think the primary reason the stock tasted a bit ‘weak’ was you guys kept adding water to the stock as it was simmering.. The idea is more to keep it simmer and let the flavours simmer and the stock reduce with all the bones without adding extra liquid.
I think Laura had a good idea to reduce the stock now, after the fact.
The reason the color was so light was because you could have browned the bones much more. I would have let the bones roast in the oven for an hour or more at a lower tempertature and gotten them really good and brown. You can’t go with exact times and temps with these things, you just have to watch and know when things are ready. The veggies also could have been browned and carmelized much more than they were. Also don’t keep adding water to the pots. Part of the flavor comes from the evaporation of the water and the concentration of the beef and veggie flavors in the pot.
One other thing: a good trick to skimming fat is to chill the stock and let the fat solidify on the surface. Then all you need to do is take it off with a spoon, it’s like hard wax floating on water.
Laura: we definitely could have reduced the stock to make it a stronger flavour, but on reflection, is a stock really meant to taste that strong anyway? Surely it’s the base for a dish, not the primary source of flavour …
Don: In the end we didn’t add water throughout the process, because with the lid on the stock didn’t really reduce that much.
Bill: Not sure that the bones needed any longer - wouldn’t they dry out? But we might try it next time.
Anna: I think scooping the fat off is pretty much essential, otherwise the stock will give a greasiness to any dish you use it in.
- Waz
As Bill Streeter says bones should have been roasted for a longer time (or higher temperature).
Another tip: the smaller the bone chuncks, the more color and flavor the stock gets. But with that saw… I understand it would have been a problem making smaller pieces.
Great videoblog!!
Bones can also be browned under a broiler, and the vegetables as well. It is all about caramelizing the outside as much as possible.
Also, any stock is weak tasting until copious amounts of salt are added, but Waz and Lenny are right that this serves as the base of a dish and I think they made a beautiful stock.
As for the water, it has to cover the ingredients and it’s okay to add water to keep them covered by adding more.
The tip for de-fatting the stock is also a great one. Overnight in the fridge then you can just lift the congealed fat off the top.
If you had roasted the bones and vegetables a bit longer, you would have gotten a little more brown out of the stock. Also, if you kept the skins on the onions, there’s tons of flavor and color in the skin.
This is a good stock.
Greetings again!
There is little doubt that a longer roasting was necessary to infuse the brown stock with more color/flavor. Making sauces is quite an art. The temperature that is taught in cooking schools, as far as I know, is about 175-180ºC (350ºF) until richly brown, but without burning (which will make the dark mirepoix bitter and ruin your stock. As for the simmer time, you were in the short end of acceptable. Perhaps next time you can do a 12-18 hour stock. You will not be disappointed (especially if you caramelize you bones nicely.
Cheers!
Jon
Hi,
Just found you on iTunes! Thanks for the crash course in making beef stock, I can hardly wait to use it to make my beef stew. I reckon it will be better than the can broth I get from the store.
Thank you and keep cooking!
Dave
It is a chalenge for anyone to do this from scratch. I had my own restaurant and their are some great extracts to make the stock, or buy canned seef stock and build on that.
From scratch? Oye veh!
After I made the first round of stock, the leftovers smelled so delicious that I could hardley stand sending them to the compost, How many more times can I recook my stock and with what results? Obvoiously taste will be the factor, anyone else try adding the same amount of water as in round one for a second try???
KT,
If you’ve properly leached all the collagen out of the bones, which what give the stock it’s jelly state when cooled, and it’s lip-smacking quality, you won’t be able to use the bones for anything. Well, I give them to the dogs, but that’s about it. I usually just strain the stock, and toss all the solids with dry dog food for a few days worth of dog food.
Then again, I simmer my bones for MUCH longer. If you followed the times in this recipe you might be able to do it again for a very weak stock…but I wouldn’t.