Stocks, Broths, Gravies

Essential Easy Homemade Beef Bone Stock

January 26, 2020 by Becky Spoon

I love to make all of my stocks/ broth from scratch like this Homemade Beef Bone Stock. After I make them I store them in freezer bags flat so that when I have a recipe requiring a particular stock, I have them on hand.

The Difference Between Stock and Broth

Stock and broth share a lot of similarities, but they are actually two different things. There are three important factors that differentiate stock and broth: the ingredients, cook time, and the presence (or lack) of seasoning.

What Is Stock?

Stock is made by simmering a combination of animal bones (which typically contain some scraps of meat), mirepoix (a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery), and aromatics in water. Stock always involves bones, although not necessarily meat. Often the bones are roasted first, which makes for a richer, more deeply colored stock, although this step is not essential to the process.

Stock is cooked for anywhere from two to six hours on the stovetop. This length of cooking means stock doesn’t typically yield a thick or gelatinous texture, nor is it likely to gel when chilled. Stock is always left unseasoned.

Stock is typically used for sauces, gravies, braises, stews, and soups, another many other recipes.

What Is Broth?

Technically speaking, broth is any liquid that has had meat cooked in it. It is made my simmering meat (which can contain bones, but does not have to), mirepoix, and aromatics in water for a relatively short amount of time, usually under two hours. Unlike stock, broth is typically seasoned. It finishes as a thin, flavorful liquid that does not gel when chilled, and is used in all the same ways you’d use stock, including soups, sauces, and braises. And since it’s seasoned, it is flavorful and delicious sipped on its own.

The easiest homemade broth: Poaching chicken breast with a mixture of aromatics and salt will leave you with a light and flavorful chicken broth — not to mention tender chicken ideal for salads and soups.

Homemade Beef Bone Stock

I started this stock by roasting the beef bones with onions, garlic and carrots until golden brown. These bones were meaty, and I’ll used the stock and the meat for homemade vegetable beef soup. Here’s the link for my soup: https://the2spoons.com/comforting-easy-homemade-vegetable-beef-soup/.

Essential Easy Homemade Beef Bone Stock

Here’s the recipe! Oh, and did I mention I made this in my Instant Pot? Yes! What could take a 24 hour process took about 6 hours in the instant pot!

Homemade Beef Bone Broth

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Servings: 8 cups of broth

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

4 pounds beef bones, preferably a mix of marrow bones and bones with a little meat on them such as short ribs, knuckle bones, or soup bones
2 medium unpeeled carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 medium leek, end trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, quartered
1 garlic head, halved crosswise
2 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Equipment

Instant Pot or pressure cooker or 6 quart stockpot or large slow cooker

Method

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place beef bones, carrots, leek, onion, and garlic on a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Toss the contents of the pan and continue to roast until deeply browned, about 20 minutes more.
Srape the roasted bones and vegetables into the Instant Pot along with the juices. Add water to the recommended level on your pressure cooker or Instant Pot .Set the Instant Pot for 2 hours. After the two hours do a quick release and remove the bones, leaving the other ingredients. When the bones are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and reserve for making Vegetable Beef Soup. Then add the bones back to the broth and vegetables in the Instant Pot and set for another 4 hours. At the end, allow the pot to release on it's on.
If using a stockpot:
Fill a large (at least 6-quart) stockpot with 12 cups of water (preferably filtered) . Add celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and vinegar. Scrape the roasted bones and vegetables into the pot along with any juices. Add more water if necessary to cover bones and vegetables.
Cover the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook with lid slightly ajar, skimming foam and excess fat occasionally, for at least 8 but up to 24 hours on the stovetop. (Do not leave on stovetop unattended, simply cool and continue simmering the next day.) The longer you simmer it, the better your broth will be. Add more water if necessary to ensure bones and vegetables are fully submerged. Alternately, you can cook the broth in a slow cooker on low for the same amount of time.

Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly. Strain broth using a fine-mesh sieve and discard bones and vegetables. Let continue to cool until barely warm, then refrigerate in smaller containers overnight. Remove solidified fat from the top of the chilled broth.

Basic Shrimp Stock

June 3, 2019 by Becky Spoon

I almost always use homemade stocks, especially chicken and a basic shrimp stock. I try to keep both on hand in my freezer. I really think a basic shrimp stock is essential when making dishes, like Creole, New Orleans style dishes.

I buy the colossal Gulf white shrimp at one of the HEB stores I shop. They are always fresh, they sell out fast!! If you buy them with the heads removed, they are $14.97 a pound, but if you buy them with the heads on they are $7.97 a pound. Well, that is perfect because I’ll make a dish calling for peeled shrimp and I’ll keep the shells and heads in the freezer, then pull them out later and make this delicious stock. The Gulf white shrimp are a little sweet and when you leave the head on you get all the orange, like tomalley substance which also adds such a deliciousness and sweetness to your stock.

I cooked these shells in my Instant Pot for 40 minutes. I manually released the steam, I pressed on the shells with a large spoon to further release the flavors and then I put the lid back on and set the timer for another 40 minutes. It was well worth it! I mean, just look at that color!

This is John Besh’s recipe from his cookbook “My New Orleans Cookbook”. https://www.amazon.com/My-New-Orleans-Cookbook-John/dp/0740784137.

I had been dying for some Shrimp and Grits! He has a recipe in his book I wanted to re-visit and it called for shrimp stock. Realizing I didn’t have any, I remembered I had all the shells in the freezer, so with my Instant Pot, which ended up being so quick, considering you can literally cook a stock for 4-6 hours. Here’s the link for my Shrimp and Grits, but remember to prepare this stock beforehand. it is well worth it!

Basic Shrimp Stock

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Course: Stocks

Cuisine: creole

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

1/4 cup canola oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lb shrimp shells (heads included if you can find head on)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
couple of black peppercorns

Method

Heat canola oil in a large pot over moderate heat. Cook the onions, celery, carrots, leeks, and garlic, stirring often, until they are soft but not brown, about 3 minutes.
Add the shrimp shells , the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, and 3 quarts of water. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the surface, until the stock has reduced by half, about 2 hours.
Strain through a fine sieve into a container with a cover. Allow the stock to cool. Cover and refrigerate, then skim off the fat. Freeze the stock in small batches to use later.

Chicken Broth, Reserving the Chicken for Recipes

January 6, 2019 by Becky Spoon

I always have chicken broth that I’ve made in my freezer.

It’s just so easy to make and adds so much to your recipes, and it’s less expensive!

Here you go for the recipe!

Chicken Broth, Reserving Chicken for Recipes

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Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

1 3-5 lbs Whole Chicken
1-2 Carrots and celery, large chunks
1 Onion, halved or quartered The onion does not have to be peeled
2 Garlic cloves, whole
1-2 Bay leaf
Fresh thyme sprigs Optional
Black peppercorns
1 Tsp Salt
Water to cover

Method

Place the whole chicken in a large stock pot and add all the ingredients. Cover with water.
Bring to a boil and cook until the chicken begins to fall off the bone.
Remove the chicken from the broth and set aside to use in soup, chicken salad, chicken and dumplings, casseroles, etc.
Strain the stock in a colander and discard the vegetables.
At this point I like to chill the stock so the fat comes to the top and is easily discarded.

Giblet Gravy

November 19, 2018 by Becky Spoon

Giblet Gravy is another of those recipes that is a family tradition. Most of us in Texas not only put giblets in the gravy buy we add sliced boiled eggs. Of course you can leave these two things out and have a delicious gravy, just omit the part about cooking the giblets and the final adding the hard boiled eggs!! You will love it and you have to have gravy for the dressing, mashed potatoes, turkey?

This recipe is based on 6-8 servings but it is easily doubled. The prep time is after you have your giblets cooked, so I'll add the instructions on cooking your giblets and boiled eggs first.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Total Time 15

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

For the Giblets

1 package giblets (hearts and gizzards) plus the neck and heart and gizzard from your turkey
1 stalk celery
1/2 onion, quartered
1 carrot
6-8 cups water
1-2 cubes bullion (I like Knorr)
1 bay leaf

Hard boiled gs

4 eggs
water to cover

For the Gravy

Giblets that have been sliced, with the cartlidged removed
4-6 cups chicken stock left from the giblets or store bought is fine
1/4 cup pan drippings or vegetable oil
4 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp dressing
4 eggs cooled and sliced

Method

For the Giblets

Add the giblets to a stock pan and add 6-8 cups water. Add a stalk of celery, the onions, carrot, the bullion cubes and bay leaf. An alternative to the bullion cubes would be to cook the giblets in stock, but if you are like me I always seems to run out of stock for my gravy and dressing, so I like to make this additional stock that you can strain and use in your gravy.
Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer to medium heat and cook until the giblets are tender. An Alternative is to do this in your Instant Pot and set it for 30 minutes.
Once your giblets are tender, strain the broth and pick out your cooked giblets from the vegetables, discarding your vegetables. Slice the gizzards removing the cartridge part...just keep the meat part, shred the meat off the neck, slice the heart and set aside. Save the broth to be used in making your gravy.

Boiled eggs

I know we can all boil eggs, but I'll go ahead and give you the instructions of how I do them. Place the eggs in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat just a little. Once they start to boil, start timing 10 minutes. Remove from the heat at this time and submerge in ice water to stop the cooking and to insure you have a lovely yellow yolk. Tap the ends on the counter and roll your egg for easy pealing. An alternative given to me by a friend is to put your eggs in an Instant Pot with one cup water and set the timer for 4 minutes. When the timer goes off...release the steam and remove to the ice water....follow above instructons from here.

For the Gravy

Add the 1/4 cup pan drippinngs from your turkey or vegetable oil to a pan and heat to medium heat. Add the flour, using a whisk stir and cook for about a minute. Still whisking, add your stock, bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook until thickened. Be careful as the gravy will easily boil over, so reduce the heat as soon as it starts to boil. (At this point your gravy is ready to serve if you do not want to add the giblets and eggs)
Go ahead and add your giblets and keep the gravy warm until ready to serve. When ready to serve add your dressing and lightly stir to combine, then add your boiled eggs, just stir to combine.