Veal Stock

Chuck Hughes’ flavor packed veal stock – perfect for all sorts of soups and sauces.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 11 hours

Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 cups (1 l)

Easy, Moderate, Complex

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons canola oil (45 ml)
  • 8 meaty veal bones
  • 1 whole garlic head
  • 16 cups (plus 1 cup water) (4,25 l)
  • 4 carrots
  • 3 onions
  • 4 celery stalks
  • 2 large leeks
  • 4 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
  • 4 large fresh flat leaf parsley sprigs
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste (15 ml)
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, (15 ml)
  • Sea salt

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
  2. In roasting pan, arrange bones in a single layer, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast bones in lower part of the oven, flip after 20-30 minutes and remove from oven after 40 minutes to 1 hour, when bones are golden brown.  Smear the tomato paste over the bones with a spoon.  Add the garlic, carrots, onion, celery and leeks.  Return to oven and allow to roast for 1 additional hour.
  3. Into a large stockpot, add roasted bones, roasted vegetables, herbs and 16 cups (4 l) of water. Discard fat from roasting pan.  Place roasting pan directly onto stovetop and heat on medium for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and immediately add ½ cup to 1 cup of water to the roasting pan, scraping up brown bits.  Add the deglazed liquid to the stockpot.  Bring liquid to a tremble (190°F), and simmer for 8 hours, skimming and discarding froth frequently during the first hour.
  4. Pour stock in batches through a large fine sieve and discard solids. Skim off fat. (Alternatively, cool stock, uncovered, and chill, covered. Scrape away and discard congealed fat from chilled stock.) Gently simmer stock, skimming froth occasionally, until reduced to about 4 cups (1 l), about 1 hour.  Before storing the stock cool it completely (about 1 hr), uncovered.  Stock keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week or, frozen in airtight containers, 3 months.
  5. Cook notes: If desired, pour cooled stock into ice-cube trays and freeze. Frozen cubes keep in heavy-duty sealable plastic bags 3 months. Stocks are key to any restaurant as they are the base of so many recipes. When you go to cooking school, learning how to make stocks are one of the first things you do.  Although this might seem laborious when you can just go to the grocery store and get one out of a box, there is nothing better than a homemade stock to add that extra depth to anything you might be making, whether it’s a soup, a sauce, a braise or a roast.  Just pick a rainy day when you have some stuff to do around the house, get your ingredients and go for it! You won’t regret it.  The best part about this is that you can freeze it in containers and use it for up to three months. Time very well spent.  Not to say that grocery store stocks are bad, they do the job and if you really don’t have the time, it’s a great alternative.  When roasting the bones, you’ll know it’s time to add the vegetables when they’re an irresistible golden brown color, almost caramelized by the glistening fat.  You can’t get any better than that!