Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [6]
6 cups (1.51) unsalted Brown Stock or White Veal Stock (pages 12-13) Kosher salt
1.Before starting, pour 1½ cups (375 ml) water into the saucepan you plan to use. This will show you the quantity of the concentrated stock you’re aiming for. Discard the water.
2.Pour the stock into the pan and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until it is reduced by about three-quarters, about 15 minutes. Pour the stock into a glass measuring cup to see if it has reduced to 1½ cups (375 ml). If not, return it to the saucepan and continue to boil to reduce it further. The stock will become syrupy and turn darker.
3.Pour the reduction back into the measuring cup and add a good pinch of salt. Taste for seasoning, and allow to cool slightly. Then pour the stock into ice cube trays and place in the refrigerator. (I usually end up with twenty-four cubes, each about 1 tablespoon.) When cold, the cubes will set like jelly and can be popped out of the trays and stored in bags in the freezer.
4.These stock cubes are four times as strong as the original stock. You can use them to boost the flavor of soups and sauces. Or, to reconstitute them to use in place of stock, add 3 tablespoons water along with each cube.
TIP If you reduce the stock too much, just add a little water.
Beef Consommé
Beef consommé is beef essence in a bowl. Consommé makes the perfect starter for an elegant winter dinner party, with a garnish of blanched julienned root vegetables, or chilled and lightly set in summer with a garnish of diced tomato.
6 cups (1.51) Brown Stock (page 12)
1 small leek, trimmed and chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
3 flat-leaf parsley stems
6 ounces (175 g) diced or ground lean beef
2 egg whites
Kosher salt
1.Place the cold stock in a large saucepan and heat it just until it liquefies. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
2.Place the leek, carrot, and parsley in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the beef, egg whites, and 2 tablespoons water and blend until well mixed. Stir this mixture into the stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the saucepan to prevent the egg white from sticking. As the liquid approaches a boil, it will appear to curdle; don’t panic, that is what you want. As soon as the stock begins to boil, stop stirring, and remove the saucepan from the heat. The whites will form a congealed mass on the surface, which will puff up and then crack as the steam escapes.
3.Reduce the heat to very low and return the saucepan to the heat, making a larger hole in the egg white mass with a spoon to allow the steam to escape. Simmer very gently—you want to see small bubbles of steam break through the hole in the egg white mass—for 45 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
4.Line a sieve with a double thickness of damp cheesecloth or a dampened thin cotton tea towel, and place over a bowl. Using a skimmer or large slotted spoon, carefully lift off as much of the egg white mass as you can and set aside in another bowl. Ladle the consommé into the sieve and allow it to drip slowly through the cloth. As you get closer to the bottom of the saucepan, you might notice that the clear consommé is muddied by bits of egg white. Don’t worry, just add it to the sieve. Check the bowl with the egg white debris and pour any liquid that has escaped from it into the sieve. Allow all the liquid to drip slowly through the sieve; don’t be tempted to press on the egg whites, as that would cloud