Better living through veal stock
Next to plain water, veal stock is the de facto cooking liquid in a professional kitchen, serving as an inconspicuous but powerful flavor enhancer in soups, braises, and sauces. I’ve read a lot about it, but it took Michael Ruhlman’s dead-simple recipe (and a bag of frozen veal scraps) to convince me to make my own. The smell as it simmers gently in the oven is heavenly, and the applications have been delicious. Though I’ll still use Tabatchnick beef broth from our local supermarket in a pinch, the ease and wholesomeness of fresh veal stock has me thinking twice about continuing to buy canned stuff.
Here’s a streamlined version of the brown (i.e. roasted) veal stock recipe. What’s great is that the slow, unattended simmering makes it very easy to fit into your schedule. Let it bubble away while you sleep, or while you work.
Basic Brown Veal Stock
Originally from Michael Ruhlman’s The Elements of Cooking (Scribner, 2007)
- 4 pounds of meaty veal bones and joints, cut into three inch pieces
- 4 quarts cold water
- 1 pound onions, chopped
- 1/2 pound carrots, chopped
- 1/2 pound celery, chopped
- 1/2 head of garlic (five to ten cloves)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Small bunch thyme
- Small bunch parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, roughly cracked
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a roasting pan or sheet tray large enough to contain the bones without crowding them. Roast in the oven, turning once, until nicely browned, about 45 minutes.
Reduce oven to 190 degrees.
Combine the roasted bones and water in a heavy pot and place in oven, uncovered, for 10 hours. (I prepped all the vegetables in advance and popped them in the fridge, simmered the broth overnight, and continued the following morning.)
Add remaining ingredients and cook for one more hour.
Pass stock first through a mesh strainer to remove bones and vegetables, then through a clean cotton kitchen towel or cheese cloth to catch particulate matter.
Cool stock, skim fat, and transfer stock to freezable containers or zip-top bags in easy-to-use quantities (as pictured above).
I spoke to Rabbi Seth Mandel, head of meat kashrut at the OU, who suggests that we purchase red veal, rather than white veal, because, in his words, there is no humane way to raise white veal.
Does the OU only certify red veal?
Any tips on how to tell one from the other?
AFAIK (and someone please correct me if I am wrong) the OU does not certify Foie Gras out of concern for tza’ar ba’alei chayim (the Torah prohibition against animal cruelty. I too am curious to know if this extends to all white veal.
So they’ve pulled their certification of French Delice foie gras?
Frankly, I’d be surprised if the OU got suckered by the anti-foie people. Ruhlman and Bourdain provide a thorough counter-argument.
I’ll b’n check where my source got his (seemingly bad) intel. Thanks for linking to the Ruhlman and Bourdain article, I am curious to see how their argument stacks up against the halachic definition of animal cruelty. Of course, the entire conversation is moot to me as my landsmen living in Nebuch-Out-Of-Town, USA.
On a completely unrelated note, my stomach convulsed when I opened the French Delice link.
Cut bones into three inch pieces? You must have massive muscles!
Have cleaver, will travel.
This was useful.
It is important to do the final cheesecloth sieving of the stock. Otherwise, the bones can leave grit behind in the stock. Stock, I heard, keeps better if all soilds have been removed.