Beef Stock

Name: Beef Stock
Yield: makes about 1 gallon
Ingredients: 3 to 4 pounds meaty beef bones, like shank, shin, tail, or short ribs; 2 medium onions, chopped; 2 medium carrots, chopped; 2 celery stalks, chopped; 3 fresh thyme sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried; 10 fresh parsley sprigs, or more to taste; 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste; 3 cloves; 10 peppercorns

December 14, 2011

Beef stock is made everywhere there’s beef—it’s a fine use for scraps and not-too-meaty bones—but it’s associated most closely with France, where, along with other stocks, it is considered the fond, the foundation or basis for many important sauces and dishes. While canned chicken stock is an often-acceptable substitute for fresh, canned beef stock is nearly useless, and bouillon cubes completely so. Though I don’t make beef stock even a tenth as often as I do chicken stock, I’m never sorry when I do; it’s incomparably flavorful.

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