A new look at cooking and home decorating...with an attempt to add more greens to the plate, more vegetarian options & hopefully lots of new ideas to explore

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Veal Stock Part 2- The big boil

Well, this morning I cut up my veg, tossed them in oil and set them in the oven to roast. Then, out came the veal bones. I placed them into a roasting pan with a dash of tomato paste and a dusting of flour. They were set in the oven to roast along side the veg. After everything roasted for its allotted time, it was transferred to an 8 quart stockpot and set to simmer for the what I now call the “big boil”- though technically boiling will cloud the stock, so ideally it is more of a gentle simmer. Eight to ten hours.

I am halfway into this project. Glad, that I have not been turned into homeland security just on general principal, for the huge weirdness factor. Requesting 5-10 pounds of veal bones is sure to raise some eyebrows, even at the butcher shop. I think the veal stock has been simmering for about 7 hours now and I don’t think I can hang in there for the full 10. Call me a whimp, but a small friend of mine, home with the stomach bug, just threw up on me for the second time today.

On a brighter note, while my stock was simmering, I received a recipe request for Irish soda bread. Irish soda bread is one of the easiest breads to make and because I was weaned on it I am forever tinkering with the recipe. I whipped up a batch and will post the recipe soon.

Later-
A miracle occurred. In the rush to get dinner ready I forgot about the stock. It was left to simmer for somewhere between the eight and ten hour mark. At some given point I glanced down into my pot of brown simmering water and saw something miraculous. The texture had changed. The color had darkened. Any meat had fallen from the bones. It looked syrupy. I strained it and plan to make demi glaze tomorrow.

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