Ingredients
- Beef bones, preferably with some joints and not just marrow bones
- Mirepoix veggies (carrots, onions, celery), chopped into large chunks
- Fresh woody herbs (e.g., rosemary, thyme), if desired
- Tomato paste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Cover the beef bones with water in a stock pot and set on the stove on high heat until boiling. Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, skimming all the nasty scum that bubbles up to the surface.
Drain and rinse the beef bones, then arrange on a sheet pan. Roast the beef bones for 15 minutes, then add the chopped vegetables and roast another 20 - 30 minutes, or until everything is nicely browned. Make sure not to crowd the vegetables and bones too much so that you get good browning, cause that’s where the flavor is.
Remove the bones and vegetables from the oven and add them to a large stock pot and cover with water. Deglaze the sheetpan by covering it with a layer of water and returning it to the oven for three or so minutes. Then, scrape the sheetpan to get all the little brown bits off the pan and into the stock pot.
Set the stock on high heat until simmering, then turn the heat down as low as it will go. Simmer for as long as you want, just no less than three hours. Strain the stock with a fine meshed strainer or cheesecloth and store in the refridgerator for up to four days or freeze for several months.
Notes
Once the stock has been strained, you can bring it to a rolling boil and reduce it down to make meat glaze, which is one of those things that brings me just the most inexplicable type of joy imaginable.