Brown Stock or “Estouffade”

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6 to 8-quart heavy stockpot or Dutch oven
• •Large rimmed roasting pan
• •Wide heavy skillet
• •Fine-mesh sieve or chinois
• •Skimmer or wide shallow spoon
• •Kitchen twine
• •Large basin or roasting pan for an ice bath

Instructions

1. 1

   Separate meat and bones

   Have the butcher remove the beef and veal shin meat from the bones and crack the bones into pieces small enough to expose plenty of cut surface. Cut the meat into 2-inch (5 cm) cubes, cover it tightly, and refrigerate it while the bones cook. The original strings the boned meat into neat pieces; cubing removes that brigade scaffolding and, as the source allows, shortens the final extraction to about ninety minutes without changing the stock's proportions. Rinse the pork rind in tepid water, drain it, and tie the bouquet garni.

2. 2

   Brown the bones

   Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Spread the cracked bones in a large roasting pan, coat them with 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the stock fat, and roast for 45 to 55 minutes, turning every fifteen minutes so every cut face takes colour. They should be deep chestnut with dark amber edges, never black. Scrape every brown, nonblackened deposit from the pan into the stockpot; this fond is the beginning of the finished colour.

   If only a few corners burn, remove those pieces and wipe away the blackened fat before continuing. If the whole pan smells acrid, the bones have gone too far; bitterness grows during twelve hours of cooking and cannot be strained away.
3. 3

   Brown the roots

   While the bones finish, melt the butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the minced carrots and onions and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until they are soft and evenly golden with patches of deeper brown. Butter, not margarine. The vegetables need true colour, but scorched onions will make the stock bitter. Transfer them to a 6 to 8-quart heavy stockpot with the browned bones, fresh ham, rinsed pork rind, and bouquet garni.

4. 4

   Draw twelve hours

   Pour in the cold water and bring the pot slowly to a boil on the stovetop. As soon as foam and grey impurities collect, skim them carefully, then wipe the inside rim of the pot with a damp cloth. Set the lid half on and move the pot to a 210°F (100°C) oven for twelve hours. Check after thirty minutes and raise the oven as high as 225°F (110°C) only if the liquid is completely still. The surface should barely tremble, with an occasional lazy bubble, never roll. If it boils hard and clouds, lower the heat at once, leave it undisturbed for ten minutes, and skim again. Ça se rattrape: the stock may lose a little brilliance, but its flavour will remain sound.

   Check the pot every few hours. If evaporation exposes the bones, close the lid farther; add only enough boiling water to cover them if adjusting the lid is not sufficient.
5. 5

   Strain and cool

   After twelve hours, let the pot stand for ten minutes, then skim off the loose surface fat, reserving a clean tablespoon for the meat stage if you wish. Lift out the large bones and strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean container. Do not press the solids; pressing forces particles through the sieve and trades clarity for very little flavour. Set the container in an ice bath, stirring the stock rather than the ice, until cool, then cover and refrigerate. A deep stockpot cools too slowly on its own.

6. 6

   Brown the meat

   The following day, lift away the hardened fat from the chilled stock. Dry the beef and veal cubes thoroughly. Heat the remaining tablespoon of stock fat, or the clean fat reserved from the first stage, in a heavy pot just large enough to hold the meat. Brown the cubes lightly in batches, giving them colour without building a black crust, then return them all to the pot. Pour off the loose fat while leaving the brown fond behind.

7. 7

   Glaze the meat

   Add ½ cup (120 ml) of the prepared stock to the browned meat. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and simmer gently for 25 to 35 minutes, turning the cubes several times, until the liquid has almost disappeared and coats the meat in a glossy brown glaze. This réduction, cooking the liquid down to concentrate it, gives the second extraction its depth. If the bottom begins to scorch, move the meat immediately to a clean pot and continue with another spoonful of stock, leaving every burnt deposit behind.

8. 8

   Finish the extraction

   Pour the remaining prepared stock over the glazed meat and bring it just to a boil. Move the pot to a 225°F (110°C) oven, uncovered, and hold it at the quietest regular simmer for about 1½ hours, the time specified for cubed meat, until the cubes are fully tender and have surrendered their juices. Skim fat and foam as they appear, but do not stir unnecessarily. C'est la même grammaire: browning supplies colour, gentle extraction supplies body, and boiling supplies only cloudiness.

9. 9

   Strain without clouding

   Lift out the meat, skim the surface thoroughly, and pass the stock through a clean fine-mesh sieve without pressing. It should be transparent and the colour of fine burnt amber. If you have more than 8 cups (1.9 L), reduce it at the barest simmer to about that amount; if you have slightly less, keep its concentration rather than diluting it merely to reach a round number. Never salt it. Cool it promptly in an ice bath, cover, and refrigerate or freeze in useful portions. The stock may taste deliberately quiet on its own because its seasoning belongs to the sauce, glaze, or braise still to come.

Chef Tips

• •Order the shin by combined flesh-and-bone weight and ask the butcher to separate it for you. Beef shin brings depth, veal shin brings gelatin, and cracked bones expose the surfaces that twelve hours of gentle cooking must reach.
• •The ham must be fresh, uncured, and unsmoked, and the pork rind must be plain. Cured ham, bacon rind, or brined pork quietly salts the whole pot, which defeats the reason Estouffade is left unseasoned.
• •Judge the roasting pan by smell as well as colour. Deeply browned bones smell rounded and meaty; blackened bones smell sharp and acrid. Stop at chestnut, because a stock only concentrates what you put into it.
• •Clarity comes from restraint. Skim when the impurities rise, keep the liquid below a rolling boil, and never mash or press the solids through the sieve.
• •Do not season a cup for drinking and then decide the stock is dull. Estouffade is a working foundation meant for reduction, brown sauces, meat glazes, and braises; salt added now becomes excessive later.

Advance Preparation

• •The sensible home schedule is two stages. Begin the bones in the morning, draw them for twelve hours, strain and chill the liquid that evening, then complete the meat extraction the following evening.
• •The first strained bone stock can remain refrigerated for up to two days before the meat stage. Keep the cubed raw beef and veal tightly covered and cold, and use them within the same period.
• •Finished Estouffade keeps for four days under refrigeration. For longer storage, freeze it for up to three months in 1-cup (240 ml) and 2-cup (475 ml) portions, leaving expansion room in rigid containers.
• •A chilled cap of clean stock fat may be saved separately for browning meat or beginning another brown sauce. Discard it if it smells stale or carries burnt particles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)