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Yield: 4 Quarts
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"To cook a heap of bones, beef and vegetables in a big pot for many
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hours and have to show for it a small jar or two of meat essence is
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truly making a molehill out of a mountain--but such a molehill!
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Possessing a batch of this essence--glace de viande, is like having 8
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quarts of strong beef stock miraculously confined in a small
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container. Use it any time you like and keep it as long as you care
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to--it is virtually immortal if frozen and keeps several weeks
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refrigerated.
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Add a Tbsp. of the essence to a cup of boiling water and you have
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better and beefier broth than any you can buy canned, cubed, or
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powdered. A little of this concentrate, stirred into any meat
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flavored preparation, adds both body and savor. Glace de viande can
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rescue a pallid soup, a vapid sauce, or a lackluster gravy, or it can
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be a sauce base on its own. The extract is unsalted, for greater
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versatility when added to sauces and such so add 1/4 tsp. of salt to
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the cup if your drinking the broth.
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Makes 2 cups (reconstituted, about 8 quarts, or 1 cup of broth per
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Tbsp. of essence.
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6 pounds (or more) beef and veal bones, sawed into pieces by the
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butcher (try to have the pieces cut no more than 2 to 3 inches long
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or wide.) 3-1/2 to 4 pounds boneless shin of beef, cut into 1 inch
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cubes 2 large, unpeeled onions, one sliced, the other left whole 2
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large carrots, scrubbed and cut up coarsely Water as needed 2 ribs of
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celery, with leaves, cut up 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crumbled 1 medium
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bay leaf 1 whole clove 2 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chunked 1 unpeeled
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clove garlic, left whole 2 or 3 sprigs parsley
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Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In one or two large, shallow
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roasting pans spread all the bones and half of the shin beef,
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reserving the other half in the refrigerator. Add the sliced onion
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and the cut up carrots. Put the pan or pans into the oven and brown
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the ingredients for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring and turning them from
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time to time; you want a good brown color.
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Pour off any fat and put the bones, meat, and vegetables into a very
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large stock pot. Pour 2 or 3 cups of water into the roasting pan(s),
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then set over direct heat and stir and scrape to dissolve all the
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brown bits. Pour the deglazing liquid into the stock pot. Add
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enough water to cover everything by about 2 inches. Add the celery,
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thyme, bay leaf, the second onion (stuck with a single clove,
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tomatoes, garlic, and parsley.
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Bring the liquid to a boil, then adjust the heat so that the pot,
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partially covered, maintain a gentle simmer, with only an occasional
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bubble. Skim off any foam at the beginning and cook everything for 7
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or 8 hours, skimming occasionally (this is to achieve clarity in the
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finished essence). The simmering can be interrupted for several
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hours, or overnight; let the pot sit, uncovered, for up to 8 hours at
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room temperature, then resume cooking when convenient. (Refrigerate
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for longer times or if the weather is warm.)
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After you judge all possible flavor has been extracted from the
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solids in the pot, strain them all out, pressing on them with a spoon
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to extract all the juices. Skim all fat from the strained broth,
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which by now will amount to about 4 or 5 quarts. Strain the broth
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through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into the washed out pot (or into
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a smaller one) and add the remaining beef, which you have meanwhile
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chopped or ground to the fineness of hamburger.
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Resume simmering, skimming off fat and scum about every half hour.
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After cooking the stock with the beef for 1-1/2 hours, strain out the
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meat, pressing it to extract all possible flavor. Strain the broth
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through the cheesecloth again a begin the final reduction. Resume
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simmering the stock, cooking the ever-strengthening essence gently as
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long as necessary for it to become a syrupy substance that will coat
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a cool metal spoon; this may take up to 2 hours. (For the clearest
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essence, skim frequently. However, the flavor of the finished product
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will be fine if you aren't too fussy about the skimming; just be sure
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to skim off any fat that appears.
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The essence is finished when it passes the metal-spoon test. Strain
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it through a fine meshed metal strainer into small jars or pots and
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let it cool, uncovered. Cover it closely and store in the
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refrigerator, or freeze it. If frozen, scoop out with a hot spoon as
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needed.
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Note: The exact yield will depend on how much collagen was contained
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in the bones and meat--the more collagen, the sooner the jellying
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stage is reached. The cooled essence will be firm, almost rubbery,
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and highly concentrated in flavor. If any surface mold should
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eventually develop, remove it--it's harmless.
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From: Better Than Store Bought Shared By: Pat Stockett
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From the recipe collection of Fred Towner
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