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I don’t just make beef stock, I make the authentic brown stock using roasted bone marrow. You really get the flavour of the beef and all the goodness of the bone marrow.
The brown stock is used for many classic dishes like the French onion soup, or the refined consomé or the Italian Risotto alla Milanese in which saffron is added to the stock.
I like to use it when making minestrone, it adds so much flavour. It makes any boring soup superb.
What gives this brown stock a really deep flavour is the bone marrow which is first roasted in a very hot oven for 45 minutes.
The vegetables are added to them after 20 minutes and roasted in the fat released from the marrow. The pan is deglazed with hot water and the roast juices added to the stock.
I then make the stock in my pressure cooker WMF Perfect Pressure Cooker(affiliate link to amazon), so it is done in 35 minutes.
If you want to know why I love it compared to others and what else I cook with it you can find my review here: Pressure Cooker
But the best part of making this stock is the end: eating the marrow on a toasted slice of bread.
It is one of my favourite bites, but it is loaded with calories. Fortunately, my maternal guilt keeps me away from temptation. My 11 years old son Francesco loves it so much that he finishes it in a flash. I would feel too bad to take it away from him.
As I do for all my stocks, I always add a Bouquet Garni herb bundle.
It’s a leek leaf wrapped around rosemary, laurel and thyme freshly picked from the garden. The herbs, as well as the leek, add some subtle complexity to the broth.
To fill up my freezer I also make Chicken Stock with free-range chicken and Fish Stock with shrimps shells.
I make sure I label them and put the date. Once the stocks are frozen they look exactly the same. With all the stock ready in the freezer, my weekly dinner meals are much easier to prepare.
If you are interested to know what other prep food I freeze you can read about it here in the article: Once a Month Freezer Meal Prep
Homemade Brown Stock
Ingredients
- 1 Bouquet Garni : leek leaf wrapped around rosemary, laurel and thyme
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large onion
- 1 large celery stalk
- 1 tbsp coarse salt
- 5 seeds pepper
- 3 large bone marrow with or without meat
- water
Instructions
- To make that nice brown colour the bone marrow has to roast in a very hot oven for 45 minutes at 220 °C .
- Halfway through add the onion, carrot and the celery.
- Once the ingredients are roasted, transfer them to the pressure cooker and add the Bouquet Garni, and some salt and pepper.
- Before adding the water into the pressure cooker, deglaze the roasting pan to make sure all the roasting flavours are added to the stock.
- Let the stock cook in the pressure pan for 35 minutes. Once done, remove the ingredients and let it cool completely.
- The stock’s temperature has to drop in order for the fat to solidify. If it is winter you can leave the pressure cooker(still sealed) outside, otherwise just keep it in the fridge until is cold enough.
- Filter the stock with a percolated coffee filter or a kitchen paper towel, and the stock is ready to be put into their freezing containers or use immediately.
- To defrost, microwave the container for 5 minutes, and then use as instructed in your recipe.
- Don’t miss out, you can eat the marrow on a toasted slice of sourdough bread
I make stock whenever I have a few leftover bones, but yours sounds so, so much better! I’m not really into it, but my boyfriend loves eating bone marrow, too. I bet it tastes so much better after it’s been simmering away like this!
Thanks, I love it. I could eat them all
Such a great idea with freezing it! My other half is obsessed with brown stock, so he’s going to love that!
Thanks, he is going to love it
I’m really not a fan of eating the actual bone marrow but it does taste fantastic in a homemade stock. Brings so much flavor, I love it!
Oh, I wish I could come to your house then so I could eat it
I would love to try this. Using the leek leaf as the bouquet garni wrap is genius.
Thanks, it does add to the flavour
This reminds me of one my grandmother makes – so flavourful and so simple to make! What’s not to love!
Cozy brown stock !