Tag: basics

  • 0016. Sauce Espagnole, Spanish Sauce

     

    Escoffier recipe for making sauce espagnole, Spanish sauce, at home (Escoffier, 16).

    Sauce Espagnole, or Spanish Sauce, is a rich brown sauce — one of Auguste Escoffier’s mother sauces — and the basis for many others. Why is it called Spanish sauce? One of those things that’s lost to history for sure, but there are several theories.

    “Spanish cooks of Louis XIII’s bride, Anne, helped to prepare their wedding feast, and insisted upon improving the rich brown sauce of France with Spanish tomatoes. This new sauce was an instant success, and was gratefully named in honor of its creators.” — Louis Diat.

    “When the Bourbons made their way to the Spanish throne under Louis XV, and when Spanish fashions came back to Paris, the French cooks took a hint from the Spanish pot-au-feu — the olla podrida — and produced a variation of their brown sauce which they called Spanish.” — Auguste Kettner, 1877

    “Espagnole sauce was imported as a celebratory salute to honor Louis XIV’s son, Philip V, in 1700 when he was placed on the Spanish throne.” — Glenn Gary Gamboa, 2011

    You’ll find that most modern recipes (even Lagasse’s) for sauce espagnole start out with a brown stock, then add a mirepoix of carrots, onions, celery — rather than carrots, onions and mushrooms — and omit the meat. What the…

    To heck with that! We’re doin’ it up right.

    Caveat: this is shortened to six hours from Escoffier’s two-day recipe.

    Classic Sauce Espagnole
    brown stock + brown roux + mirepoix + bouquet garni + salt pork + butter + wine + tomato
    Modern Sauce Espagnole
    brown stock + brown roux
    Classic Sauce Espagnole Maigre
    fish stock + brown roux + mirepoix + bouquet garni + mushrooms + butter + wine + tomato

     

    Sauce Espagnole

    In a large stockpot, sauté the meat until browned. Add carrots, onion and mushrooms, and sauté in the butter until translucent. Then add the tomato paste and let all brown. Deglaze the pot with the white wine and reduce until almost dry.

    Add the estouffade (brown stock), thyme and bay leaf. Gently simmer, skimming off any foam from the surface, for about 5 hours.

    Strain and add the roux brun (brown roux) to the reduced stock.

    Simmer gently for another hour, stirring so it does not stick. Brown roux can sometimes have a pronounced flavor. Try the sauce, and if it has a floury flavor, simmer some more.

    Remove from heat, strain, and stir occasionally until the sauce has cooled to room temp. Use immediately, or place in plastic containers and reserve in the freezer.

    Ingredients
    225g (1/2 lb) diced salt pork, pork belly, smoked hamhock or bacon
    65g (1/2 cup) diced carrots
    40g (1/4 cup) diced onions
    65g (3/4 cup) diced button or brown mushrooms
    35g (7 1/2 teaspoons) unsalted butter
    100g (1/2 cup) white wine
    33g (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
    1000g (4 cups) estouffade (brown stock)
    2 sprigs fresh thyme
    1 bay leaf
    125g (about 1 cup) roux brun (brown roux)

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring bowls
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Large stock pots
    Wooden spoon
    Chinois, strainer or sieve
    Spoon or small strainer for skimming
    Small bowl
    Plastic containers

    Total time: Prep: 15 minutes, Cook: 6-8 hours

    Yields: 2-4 quarts of stock, depending on how long you simmer it.

    From the Book:

    16. Sauce Espagnole

    Ingredients:
    625g (1 lb 6oz) brown roux – using 285g clarified butter and 340g sifted flour
    12 litres (2 5/8 gal or 3 1/4 U.S. gal) estouffade, brown stock
    150g (5oz) roughly diced salt belly of pork
    250g (9oz) roughly diced carrots
    150g (5oz) roughly diced onions
    2 sprigs thyme
    2 small bay leaves
    500g (l lb 2oz) tomato purée or 2000g (4.5 lb) fresh tomatoes
    2 dl (7 fl oz or 7/8 U.S. cup) white wine

    Preparation:
    Place 8 litres (1 3/4 gal or 2 1/4 U.S. gal) of the stock in a heavy pan and bring to the boil; add the Roux, previously softened in the oven. Mix well with a wooden spoon or whisk and bring to the boil mixing continuously. Draw the pan to the side of the stove and allow to simmer slowly and evenly.

    Meanwhile, place the salt pork in a pan and fry to extract the fat, add the vegetables and flavourings and fry until light brown in colour. Carefully drain off the fat and put the ingredients into the sauce; deglaze the pan with the wine, reduce it by half and also add to the sauce. Allow to simmer gently for 1 hour skimming frequently.

    Pass the sauce through a conical strainer into another pan, pressing lightly. Add another 2 litres (3/4 pt or 9 U.S. cups) stock, bring to the boil and allow to simmer gently for a further 2 hours. Pass the sauce through a fine strainer and stir occasionally until completely cold.

    The next day, add the remainder of the stock and the tomato purée; bring the sauce to the boil stirring continuously with a wooden spatula or whisk, then allow to simmer gently and evenly for 1 hour skimming carefully.

    Pass through a fine strainer or tammy cloth and stir occasionally until the sauce is completely cold.

    Notes
    1) The time required for the preparation and refining of this sauce cannot be indicated exactly as it depends to a large extent on the quality of the stock used in its making. The refining of this sauce will be quicker if the stock is of very good quality in which case an excellent Espagnole can be prepared in five hours.
    2) Before adding tomato purée to this sauce it is advisable to spread the required quantity on a tray and to cook it in the oven until it turns a light brown colour. This will destroy most of the excess acidity found in tomato purées, and when prepared in this way, the purée assists in clarifying the sauce and at the same time gives it a smoother taste and a more agreeable colour.

    A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire, 1921

  • 0202. Sauce Mayonnaise

    0202. Sauce Mayonnaise

     

    Easy, 30-second recipe for making your own mayo, sauce mayonnaise, at home (Escoffier 202).

    Escoffier’s traditional recipe for Sauce Mayonnaise takes a little time and elbow grease to complete. He tells us to whisk, whisk, whisk. That’s fine and dandy… but with an immersion blender you can do it in 30 seconds.

    I use a Cuisinart SmartStick brand immersion blender to emulsify the mayo.

    Cuisinart SmartStick immersion blender

    You can use a light oil like canola, or a heavy oil like olive. You can use vinegar or lemon juice, or a combination of both. Just as long as you have enough acid for the emulsion to work. Some people add pepper, dijon mustard or sugar to taste (personally, I don’t like sweet mayos like Miracle Whip). But it doesn’t matter. Whatever suits your own taste. It’s up to you!

    Mise en place for mayonnaise:
    Mise-en-place for mayonnaise

     

    Sauce Mayonnaise, Mayo

    Add the egg yolks, lemon juice or distilled white vinegar, and salt into a tall, narrow container. Pour in the oil and allow to settle.

    Position the immersion blender head in the oil at the bottom of the container. Pulse gently several times to get the emulsion going, then longer until all the oil is blended. It will be very thick.

    If you let ’er rip too fast at the beginning, the emulsion will break, and you’ll get nothing usable.

    Here’s a video of how easy it is:

    Store in a sealed container or squeeze bottle in the fridge, just as you would for store-bought mayo.

    30-Second Mayonnaise Recipe

    Ingredients
    2 egg yolks
    200g (1 cup) canola or olive oil
    16g (1 tablespoon) distilled white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
    2g (1/8 teaspoon) salt

    Equipment
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring cup
    Cuisinart SmartStick immersion blender
    Rubber spatula
    Plastic container

    From the Book:

    202 Sauce Mayonnaise
    Many composed cold sauces are derived from Mayonnaise and it is therefore classified as a basic sauce in the same way as Espagnole and Velouté.
            Its preparation is very simple provide note is taken of the principles outlined in the following recipe:

    Ingredients:
    6 egg yolks (these must be unblemished)
    1 litre oil
    10g fine salt
    pinch ground white pepper
    1 1/2 tbs vinegar (or its equivalent in lemon juice if the sauce is required to be very white)

    Method:
    1) Whisk the yolks of egg in a basin with the salt, pepper and a little of the vinegar or a few drops of lemon juice.
    2) Add and whisk in the oil, drop by drop to begin with, then faster in a thread as the sauce begins to thicken.
    3) Adjust the consistency occasionally by adding the vinegar or lemon juice.
    4) Lastly add boiling water which is added to ensure that the emulsification holds if the sauce is to be reserved for later use.

  • 0282. Flour Panada

    Recipe for making Flour Panada for all meat and fish forcemeats, les farces (Escoffier, 282).

    Flour Panada

    Used as a general base to thicken all meat and fish forcemeats, les farces in French cooking, this simple mixture of bread and milk is called a panada, (not to be confused with the Italian bread soup of the same name). There are five types of panada described by Escoffier, each suitable for thickening different types of forcemeats: bread panada, flour panada, Frangipane panada, rice panada and potato panada. They are generally used in a 1:2 ratio with the ingredient they are thickening, sometimes with eggs and butter added.

    In a small saucepan, bring the water, salt and butter to a simmer over medium heat.

    Turn down the heat, whisk in the flour, return to medium heat and stir.

    Turn out onto a prepared flat surface (buttered cookie sheet, Silpat mat, or cutting board) to cool.

    Store the panada in a covered plastic container in the refrigerator.

    Ingredients
    305g water
    50g Challenge unsalted butter
    salt, to taste if you like
    150g Gold Medal all-purpose flour, sifted

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring bowls
    Kitchen knife and cutting board
    Small saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Rubber spatula
    Cookie sheet or Silpat mat
    Plastic container

    From the Book

    282 Flour Panada
    Suitable for all fish and meat forcemeats.

    Ingredients:
    3dl (1 1/4c) water
    pinch of salt
    50g (3oz) butter
    150g (5oz) sifted flour

    Method:
    Place the water, salt and butter in a pan and bring to the boil; add and mix in the flour away from the fire, then return to a good heat and mix with a wooden spoon as for Chou Paste. Turn out onto a buttered tray or dish to allow to cool.

    A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire: the complete guide to modern cookery, H.L. Cracknell & R.J.Kaufmann, transl.

  • 0281. Bread Panada

     

    Escoffier recipe for making Bread Panada for les farces de poisson, fish forcemeats (Escoffier, 281).

    Used as a base to thicken firm-textured fish forcemeats, farces de poisson in French cooking, this simple mixture of bread and milk is called a panada, (not to be confused with the Italian bread soup of the same name). There are five types of panada described by Escoffier, each suitable for thickening different types of forcemeats: bread panada, flour panada, Frangipane panada, rice panada and potato panada. They are generally used in a 1:2 ratio with the ingredient they are thickening, sometimes with eggs and butter added.

     

    Bread Panada

    In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Remove their crusts and then cube the bread slices.

    Soak the cubed bread in boiled milk until very soft.

    Process the soaked bread in a food processor to form a smooth paste.

    Store the bread panada in a covered plastic container in the refrigerator.

    Ingredients
    270g stale white bread, cubed
    305g Strauss Family Creamery whole milk

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring bowls
    Kitchen knife and cutting board
    Small saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Food processor
    Rubber spatula
    Mixing bowl
    Plastic container

    From the Book

    281 Bread Panada
    Specially suitable for forcemeats of firm textured fish.

    Ingredients:
    3dl (1 1/4c) boiling milk
    250g (9oz) stale white breadcrumbs
    5g (1/6oz) salt

    Method:
    Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until the milk is completely absorbed, add the salt, then mix with a wooden spoon over a good heat so as to dry it out and leave the sides of the pan clean. Turn out onto a buttered tray or dish to allow to cool.

    A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire: the complete guide to modern cookery, H.L. Cracknell & R.J.Kaufmann, transl.

  • 0022. Velouté de Poisson, Fish Velouté

    0022. Velouté de Poisson, Fish Velouté

     

    Escoffier recipe for making velouté de poisson, fish velouté sauce, at home (Escoffier, 22).

    Velouté (“veh-looh-TAY”) is one of the five ‘mother sauces’ of classical French cuisine. Fish velouté, or velouté de poisson (“veh-looh-TAY day PWAH-sohn”) is used in making lighter-colored and compound sauces such as Sauce Bercy, Sauce Normandie, and others. Fish veloute is a white sauce lightly flavored with fish stock, or fumét, and thickened with a blond roux.

    Mise en place for fish velouté:
    Fish Veloute

     

    Fish Velouté

    Heat the fish fumét up in a medium saucepan, and gradually stir in the cold (or room temp) blond roux. Colder roux works best when it is mixed with a hot liquid. A couple general rules about roux: The darker the roux, the more flavorful it will be; and the lighter the roux, the less you’ll need to thicken a sauce. This is because the longer you cook your roux, the quicker the starch in the flour breaks down. A blond roux does well to both flavor and thicken a velouté de poisson, while keeping the velouté light in color.

    Veloute de Poisson

    Simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid a skin forming on the surface, and voila! There you have it.

    Veloute de Poisson

    Ingredients
    1000g (4 cups) fish fumét
    155g (1 1/4 cups) blond roux

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring bowls
    Medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Rubber spatula
    Plastic containers

  • 0013. Roux Brun, Brown Roux

    0013. Roux Brun, Brown Roux

     

    Escoffier recipe for making roux brun, brown roux, at home (Escoffier, 13).

    What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux brun (“roo BROWN”), is made the same way as roux blanc and roux blond. The only difference is it’s cooked longer, until the flour turns a strong brown color. Its taste is described as very toasty or nutty.

     

    Mise en place for brown roux:
    Mise-en-place for making roux

     

    Roux Brun, Brown Roux

    Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

    Make clarified butter

    Clarified Butter

    Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 30-35 minutes — or until the flour turns a strong brown color.

    Brown Roux

    This dark roux may used to thicken up many types of gravies and heavy, darker sauces. When you cook the roux for this length of time, the clarified butter separates from the flour. Escoffier even suggests the butter may be saved for another use. I just stir it up to re-incorporate the oil a bit before using.

    When mixing a roux into sauce, be careful to either a: mix cold roux into a hot sauce, or b: mix hot roux into a cold sauce. This activates the starch so it will thicken your sauce.

    Clarified butter will separate from the brown roux

    White roux and blond roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for shorter lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

    White, Blond, and Brown Roux

    Ingredients
    225g clarified butter, unsalted
    275g sifted, all-purpose flour

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Plastic container

  • 0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

    0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

     

    Escoffier recipe for making roux blond, blond roux, at home (Escoffier, 14).

    What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blond (“roo BLON”), is made the same way as roux blanc. The only difference is it’s cooked few minutes more, until the flour starts turning a golden blonde color. Keep cooking it and you get roux brun.

    Mise en place for blond roux:
    Mise-en-place for making roux

     

    Blond Roux

    Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

    Make clarified butter

    Clarified Butter

    Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 15-20 minutes — or until the flour smells nutty and begins to turn a golden color. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

    blonde roux

    This roux is used to thicken up lighter-colored sauces, like fish velouté.

    White roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for different lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

    White, Blond, and Brown Roux

    Ingredients
    225g clarified unsalted butter
    275g sifted, all-purpose flour

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Plastic container

  • 0015. Roux Blanc, White Roux

    0015. Roux Blanc, White Roux

     

    Escoffier recipe for making roux blanc, white roux, at home (Escoffier, 15).

    What is roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blanc (“roo BLONK”), is cooked much shorter than roux blond and roux brun. This can be made in just a few minutes.

    Mise en place for white roux:
    Mise-en-place for making roux

     

    Roux Blanc, White Roux

    Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

    Make clarified butter

    Clarified Butter

    Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for 5-10 minutes — or until the flour smells a little nutty and takes on a sheen. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

    whisk flour and butter together

    Remember, you want to cook it just long enough to cook out the real floury taste.

    roux blanc

    This roux may used to thicken up white sauces.

    white roux

    Blond roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked longer until the flour browns more. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

    White, Blond, and Brown Roux

    Ingredients
    225g clarified unsalted butter
    275g sifted, all-purpose flour

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Plastic container

  • 0001. Estouffade, Brown Stock

     

    Recipe for making estouffade, a simple brown stock, at home (Escoffier, 1).

    This brown beef stock is the basis for pretty much all other dark sauces in French cooking. It is used as the base stock in sauce espagnole, one of Escoffier’s five mother sauces…

     

    Estouffade

    Ingredients
    6000g shin of beef on the bone
    6000g knuckle of veal (or lean veal trimmings)
    1 knuckle of raw ham, blanched
    650g fresh pork rind, blanched
    650g carrots, roughly chopped
    650g onion, roughly chopped
    100g fresh parsley
    10g fresh thyme sprigs
    5g whole, fresh bay leaves
    1 clove garlic
    14 litres water

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring bowls
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Large stock pots
    Wooden spoon
    Chinois, strainer or sieve
    Spoon or small strainer for skimming
    Small bowl
    Plastic containers

    Total time: Prep: 15 minutes, Cook: 12-15 hours

    Yields: 2-4 quarts of stock, depending on how long you simmer it.

    From the Book:
    1 Estouffade — Brown Stock

    Preparation:
    Bone out the meats. Break the bones small and lightly brown them in the oven. Fry the carrot and onion brown in a little fat. Prepare the stock by placing these bones, vegetables, ham, pork rind and Bouquet garni into a stockpot, add the cold water, bring to the boil, skim and simmer very gently for at least 12 hours keeping the liquid at the same level throughout this time by adding boiling water as required. Cut the meat into very large dice, fry brown in hot fat and place in a pan. Cover with some of the prepared stock and boil until it is reduced to a glaze; repeat this process two or three times. Add the remainder of the stock, bring to the boil, skim to remove all fat and allow to simmer gently until all the flavour has been extracted from the meat. Pass through a strainer and reserve for use.

    Note: When preparing brown stock which includes bones, especially those from beef, it is recommended that the procedure should be in accordance with the above recipe by first preparing a stock from the bones, simmering it gently for 12-15 hours and using it as the liquid for moistening the meat.

    It is incorrect to place all the ingredients in the stockpot and fry them together in fat before adding the water as there will be a danger of over-colouring the ingredients thus spoiling the flavour of the stock. In practice the principle of diffusion is sufficient in itself to colour the stock; this is the most natural and suitable method of obtaining the required colour.

    A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire: the complete guide to modern cookery, 1921.

  • 0004. Fond Brun de Veau, Brown Veal Stock

    0004. Fond Brun de Veau, Brown Veal Stock

    Recipe for making fond brun de veau, brown veal stock, at home (Escoffier, 4).

    About Veal Stock

    Since 1903, when accomplished chef and successful restaurateur Georges Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) published Le Guide Culinaire, French cooking has never been the same. Important enough to Escoffier, he listed the recipe for fond brun de veau (“fawn-BROWN-deh-voo”), or brown veal stock, as one of the first recipes in his book. It is le fond, the “foundation,” on which many of his other sauces are based.

    His was the first published, simplified version of much older French recipes, based presumably on those of original star chef Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833) and others. I wonder what the oldest, first published reference is to fonds de veau. Anyone out there know? More research must be done!

    This versatile stock can be used in many dishes, and imparts a much richer taste that when using simply plain beef stock. It’s neither sweet, salty, bitter, nor sour — it’s umami. It’s the “very quintessence of veal.”

    What are the basic steps in making your own veal stock?

    1. For a white veal stock, fond blanc de veau (“fawn-BLONK-deh-voo”), simmer the bones, then rinse in cold water to clean. Or, for a brown veal stock, fond brun de veau, roast the bones first.
    2. Barely simmer the bones the first time for many hours (depending on recipe, from 180°F-200°F, never boiling). Strain the bones and save the first stock.
    3. Simmer a second time, making a second weaker stock. Called the remouillage (reh-moo-YAZH), or ‘remi’ for short, in French means “re-wetting.” Strain.
    4. Combine the two.

    Now that doesn’t sound too difficult, does it? You can do it — and it makes your house smell warm and comforting! (That is— if you’re not vegetarian, evangelical vegan, an animal activist,  or juvenile bovine…)

    I’ve made veal stock from Thomas Keller’s multi-day, multi-complicated (but highly detailed) recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook. Then a couple of years later, I made Anthony Bourdain’s recipe from Les Halles Cookbook, and Grant Achatz’s recipe from his Alinea Cookbook. So Escoffier’s is the fourth! Next on the list is Michael Ruhlman’s simplified veal stock recipe from Elements of Cooking, which looks good too. And he is certainly passionate enough about it, writing that “veal stock is the essential. If you could have only one preparation in a book of essentials, veal stock would have to be it.”

    The Escoffier recipe for veal stock is varies from both Keller’s and Achatz’s. Escoffier uses no tomato paste to color his stock, nor pepper, and adds salt! It is a recipe that takes a half day to make. You basically boil the hell out some bones and herbs for six to eight hours.

    Why do you simmer a stock for so long?

    Because bones contain collagen, which when simmered in water forms gelatin. The more gelatin there is in the stock, the more body it will have as the water evaporates, thus the long simmering times. Not only is the flavor extracted and concentrated — so is the gelatin, which gives the stock a natural thickness.

    “Types of bones that are naturally high in cartilage include so-called ‘knuckle bones’ found in the large joints” says Danilo Alfaro in The Basics of Making Stock: Bones, Vegetables & More. This is why bones of younger animals such as veal are so desirable for stocks.

    For a full discourse on making stock, especially veal stock, I highly recommend Michael Ruhlman’s The Elements of Cooking.

    Veal Stock

    I went to Iowa Meat Farms (6041 Mission Gorge Road, San Diego, CA 92120, 619-281-5766) and bought some veal shoulder and bones.

    Veal bones for stock

    The first step in making this stock is to brown the meat and bones in an oven. Roasting them will help give the stock natural color. Add enough canola oil to coat the bottom of a roasting pan, and heat on the stove. Sear the meat until it’s a nice brown, then add the bones. Put the whole thing in a 400ºF oven for 30 minutes, or until the meat and bones have a nice brown color.

    In the bottom of a large stockpot, layer the slices of carrots and onion. Top this with the meat, bones and any remaining roasting juices. Cover and sweat for 15 minutes over low heat.

    Uncover and increase the heat to high. Add a cup of water and reduce to a glaze (until most of the water has evaporated). Add a second cup of water and reduce to a glaze, stirring. Add a third cup of water and reduce to a glaze once more, stirring. As it reduces, make sure to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Everything in the pan should get a darker brown color during this reduction process.

    Add the remainder of the water to cover the bones by at least six inches, and bring to a gentle simmer. If you boil it hard, the stock will go cloudy. This is a NO-NO. Any chef would belittle you for months on end for a transgression like that.

    Simmer for at least six hours. Check it regularly, and skim the foam from its surface. Personally, I like to simmmer my stock for 8-12 hours.

    Veal stock simmering for hours

    Then strain the first stock through a chinois, saving the bones for the second stock, or remouillage..

    Straining the veal stock through a chinois

    Add the bones to a clean stockpot and fill with water, add some more tomato paste, bring to a boil, then simmer for another eight hours. Check it regularly, and skim the top. Strain this second stock through a chinois, and discard the bones.

    First stock:
    Brown Veal Stock

    Second stock:
    Veal Remi

    The third stage is where you combine the two and reduce the sauce until it concentrates into a beautiful brown meaty goodness. Or should that be a beautiful brown saucy goodness?

    First and second stocks are noticeably different in both color and taste…
    Veal stock and remi

    Reserve the stock in plastic containers. Veal stock may be frozen for later use.

    Veal stock substitutions
    If you just don’t want to go to the trouble or expense of making your own from scratch, you can substitute a strong, low-sodium beef stock. Take a beef stock and reduce it down so it’s richer than normal, but make sure to use one with little salt, or this will intensify along with the beef flavor.

    Or, if they have it, buy a box of Wolfgang Puck veal stock from your local butcher, Whole Foods or specialty grocer.

    WARNING: If you substitute, you may incur the wrath of some veal stock purists.

     

    Escoffier Fond de Veau

    Ingredients
    3000g veal shoulder or shin, deboned and tied
    2500g veal bones, cut into 2-inch chunks
    canola oil
    300g sliced carrots
    200g sliced onions
    2 fresh bay leaves
    2 fresh thyme sprigs
    100g parsley
    6000g (1.5 gallons) water
    20g sea salt

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring bowls
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Large stock pots
    Wooden spoon
    Chinois, strainer or sieve
    Spoon or small strainer for skimming
    Small bowl
    Plastic containers

    Total time: 16 hours

    Yields: 2-4 quarts of veal stock, depending on how much you reduce it.