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Demiglace - Beef Concentrate

Since the first edition of the recipe book, I have discovered a wonderful substitute for home made demiglace. It is Williams Sonoma's Veal Demiglace. It is quite expensive, but only a small amount is needed in any sauce or soup so it is quite fair, really.

Genuine French demiglace, calls for whole entire herds of cattle to be boiled down to a cup full of essence. This is a very modified version.

5 - 7 lbs. veal (neck bones, shanks, stew meat,)
2 lbs. beef stew meat or neck bones
2 onions, peeled
3 - 4 stalks celery diced
2 carrots diced
Assorted dried or fresh herbs (sage, thyme, oregano, marjoram) about a half teaspoon each if using dried, and more if fresh
Same herbs sprinkled on the meat before roasting
A half bunch of parsley
A bay leaf
A half can of tomato paste
A half cup of wine (any)

Sprinkle some dried herbs on the meat and roast at 375¼ for about 45 minutes, turning over part way through. Sweat the vegetables in a little oil in the bottom of a very large stock pot.

Add the semi roasted meat to the stock pot and pour some water into the roasting pan to loosen the meat bits that have stuck on to the pan. Add this to the stock pot. Add water to cover the meat. Add herbs. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and cover. Cook for about 3 hours, add wine and tomato paste, cook uncovered for about another half hour.

Let cool, discard the meat and bones. Pour the stock through a fine sieve or a cheesecloth lined strainer. Reduce the resulting liquid by boiling until there is about a cup and a half remaining in the pot. Chill, skim and discard fat after it solidifies. Cut into cubes, freeze in plastic baggies. These frozen cubes make a fantastic base for soups and sauces, particularly the steak sauce made after pan frying a filet steak. (Note: I read the Escoffier book on how to do this and it takes 12 hours. He made a stock from the bones, then added it to the roasted meat and made a second stock from that. Also, never used tomato or wine in it.)


-Kate

Tip:
You can make what is known as a bouquet garni by putting the herbs together in a bunch (fresh) and wrapping with string, so you can fish it out later, or using a teaball for dry herbs. I don’t usually bother when making this particular recipe because it gets strained at the end but if you want the stock to be clear, it helps. Also, if you just barely simmer the stock will be clearer. I saw a chef add a lightly beaten egg white to the stock and then gently ladle it out again. This for some mysterious reason made the stock clear.