Brown Veal Stock

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy roasting pan
• •6 to 8-quart tall stockpot
• •Tongs and a flat wooden spoon
• •Fine-mesh chinois or strainer
• •Cheesecloth, optional
• •Large bowl or basin for an ice-water bath
• •Shallow heatproof storage containers

Instructions

1. 1

   Separate meat and bones

   The quantity of shin and aromatics is the home-scale half batch drawn from White Veal Stock, and Poultry Stock (No. 10). Ask the butcher to separate the shin meat and saw the bones into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces; a cleaver and heroic intentions are poor substitutes for a butcher's saw. Keep the meat cold for the later roasting. Tie the leek and celery together, then bind the parsley, bay, and thyme into a bouquet garni.

2. 2

   Roast the bones

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Pat the veal bones and optional chicken carcass dry, spread them in one uncrowded layer in a heavy roasting pan, and roast for 45 to 60 minutes, turning twice, until every broad surface is a deep coppery brown. Pour off accumulated fat as needed so the bones roast instead of frying. Do not add oil, salt, or tomato. If a few tips blacken, remove them before they taint the pot; if one area of fond burns, leave that black patch behind when deglazing. Ça se rattrape.

   Mahogany is the target, not charcoal. The bones should smell roasted and faintly sweet; an acrid smell means a scorched piece must come out.
3. 3

   Draw the bone liquor

   Transfer the roasted bones to a tall 6 to 8-quart stockpot. Let the roasting pan settle for five minutes, add 2 cups of the measured cold water, and scrape up every clean brown deposit with a wooden spoon. Pour this fond into the pot, add the remaining measured water, and bring it slowly to the first boil. Skim away the grey foam and loose fat without stirring, then lower the heat until the surface barely trembles. Mark the liquid level and simmer the bones gently for 4 hours, uncovered or with the lid slightly ajar, adding a little cold water only when bones rise above the surface. If it boils hard, lower the heat, add ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) cold water, wait for the fat and foam to gather, and skim again. The stock may lose a little clarity, but its flavor is safe.

4. 4

   Brown meat and roots

   When the bones have simmered for about 3 hours 15 minutes, return the cleaned roasting pan to the 450°F (230°C) oven with the reserved veal meat spread in one layer. Roast for 20 minutes, then add the carrots and onion and continue for 25 to 35 minutes, turning once, until the meat is well browned and the vegetables carry dark bronze edges. Press the clove into one softened onion quarter after roasting. If a vegetable scorches, discard it and replace it rather than sending bitterness into eight hours of work.

5. 5

   Finish the extraction

   Add the browned veal meat, carrots, clove-studded onion, tied leek and celery, and bouquet garni to the bone liquor. Ladle a little hot stock into the roasting pan and scrape up its clean fond, then return that liquor to the pot. Restore the liquid to its marked level with cold water, bring it just to a boil, skim carefully, and return it at once to a bare tremble. Simmer gently for 3 more hours. No hard boiling and no stirring; agitation pushes fat and particles into the liquid when they belong on top where you can remove them.

6. 6

   Strain it clear

   Lift out the large bones and meat with tongs, then pass the stock through a fine-mesh chinois or a strainer lined with damp cheesecloth into a clean pot. Let gravity work and do not press the solids, because pressing clouds the fond and gives it a coarse, spent taste. You should have about 2 quarts (1.9 liters). If there is more, simmer the strained stock gently until it reaches that quantity; if there is a little less, keep its honest concentration and loosen individual dishes only when needed.

7. 7

   Cool and degrease

   Skim the obvious fat from the hot stock, then divide it among shallow heatproof containers and set them in an ice-water bath. Stir the stock occasionally until it is cool enough to refrigerate, getting it into the cold within 2 hours rather than putting one large hot pot straight into the refrigerator. Chill until the remaining fat forms a firm cap, then lift it off completely. The source calls for a stock free of grease, and that clean finish is what lets later meat and butter speak clearly.

8. 8

   Portion for service

   Cold fond brun de veau should set into a soft, trembling jelly. If it remains liquid, it still has flavor; reduce the quantity required for a sauce until it gains body. Portion the finished stock unsalted for the freezer. Use it clear in Poëlings (No. 250), as a poaching liquor for quail, with poultry, or as the neutral foundation for thickened veal stock.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for veal shin rather than marrow bones alone. Shin gives you both connective tissue for gelatin and lean meat for flavor; bare marrow bones make a fatty stock with less body.
• •Tomato paste, wine, garlic, and salt stay out. Many modern brown stocks use them, but this formula is deliberately neutral so it can take up the aroma of whatever meat it meets. Modernize the equipment, not the intent.
• •The optional raw chicken carcass comes from the proportions of White Veal Stock, and Poultry Stock (No. 10). Include it when the stock is headed mainly toward poultry, or omit it when you want the veal foundation at its most neutral.
• •In Poëlings (No. 250), the stock spends time with butter, browned vegetables, and the juices of the roast. That is why it must begin clear, unsalted, and restrained; the finished meat supplies its final character.
• •Cloudiness is not a ruined stock. Keep it below a boil, strain without pressing, and the flavor will remain sound even if the liquid is not perfectly transparent. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the fond a day before you need it. An overnight chill sets the gelatin and hardens the fat into a cap that lifts away cleanly.
• •Refrigerate the finished stock for up to 4 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months for best flavor.
• •Freeze in 1-cup (240 ml / 240 g) and ½-cup (120 ml / 120 g) portions. The larger measure suits a pan sauce or poaching liquor; the smaller one is enough to loosen a braise or capture a roasting pan's fond.
• •If using frozen veal, thaw it completely in the refrigerator and dry it well before roasting. Surface water delays browning, and browning is the one step this stock cannot surrender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)