Et voila: steak with pepper sauce
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Proper stock is one of those things that leaves me in awe. Who first came up with the idea to simmer vegetables and bone joints for hours to extract the goodness? And who had the patience? Whoever it was, I am grateful. Home made veal stock is such a thing of beauty, and making it is a wonderful process too.
For this Sunday dinner, we planned to have steaks from our local butcher, and I wanted to serve them with a pepper sauce. Trying to stay away from wheat flour, I didn't want to make it with the traditional roux but I did want to use proper stock.
Cooking the sauce itself takes about ten minutes, but leading up to that is a day spent making veal stock... Why go to those lengths when you can buy Knorr? Well, for one thing, home made stock doesn't just taste of salt. It has a deep, meaty flavour which is just... better. Since you don't season the stock while making it, you get a flavoursome base to work from when making your sauce (or soup, or risotto) to which you add as much or little other seasoning as you like.
The stars of the show: veal and marrow bones
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Mirepoix, the stock vegetables. Anything made from this must be good for you.
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Besides, while making your own stock takes time, it is neither a lot of work nor very difficult. The pot can simmer away on the stove for the better part of your day while you do other things around the house.
So Saturday was spent fuzzing over the veal stock. Browning the veal bones, charring the onions on the gas cooker, skimming away the foam that forms on the top of the pot, constantly adjusting the temperature making sure it doesn't start to boil... Good fun. And making your house smell so homely.
Charring onions is fun!
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Rather than repeating an age old recipe here, I found a great starting point for veal stock at the Chef Sandwich blog, which I cross referenced with The Cook's Book and Fergus Henderson's Nose to Tail Eating. Quite straight forward, but a few variations:
Time. From three hours to over eight. I opted for a middle way and simmered my browned veal bones for about six (and then reduced it after straining for another two to concentrate it). Doesn't really seem to matter how long you simmer it for, it is much more important to not burn the bones in the oven while browning them, or the vegetables while frying as it may ad a bitter taste.
Ingredients. Tomato puree or not? Parsley or not? Garlic or not? Red wine? Charring the onions or not? Doesn't seem very important, as long as nothing is used that makes the stock cloudy or taste muddy, like starchy vegetables.
As for ingredients, my butcher gave me what I think was great advice. Rather than 4 kilos of veal bones, use 3 kilos of veal bones to 1 kilo of marrow bones. Since the flavour and body of the stock comes from the cartilage, connective tissue and the marrow in the bones, adding a higher ratio of marrow means more of the meaty goodness. From the connective tissue and marrow comes collagen, which is what gives the stock its jelly like quality after it has cooled down. It is like extracting the essence of meat and dissolving it in the simmering water.
Essence of meat
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Also, if you have a marrow addict in your vicinity, they get the joy of spooning out the marrow from the bones once the simmering is over...
Beautiful strained stock and silky smooth bone marrow
Originally uploaded by Manne.
When making meat stock, there are two temperature considerations that seem to be key to the whole process:
1) Always start from cold water, never try to cut any corners by pouring boiling water over the bones and veg in your stock pot. If you do that, you may lock the precious marrow and collagen in, which means less meaty goodness is extracted.
2) Never let it come to a roiling boil. Just simmer it gently, a bubble here and there now and then. As long as the stock doesn't boil impurities and fat collect on the still surface, making it a breeze to skim them off (I got this great fine mesh skimmer which I love).
What better company when making stock than a Bloody Mary? Or three...
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Once the stock has been strained and reduced, freeze it in portion sized bags so you can take out as much as you need when a recipe calls for it. Like this, pepper sauce to go with a great steak:
Ingredients
75 grams of butter
1 tbsp black peppercorns, roughly crushed
1 shallot or small red onion, finely chopped
100 ml red wine (do use a nice one, drink the rest with the steak)
200 ml veal stock, very concentrated
Method
Starting with the stock I made before, I used a small sauce pan to reduce 300 ml down to 200 ml to concentrate it further. The pepper sauce recipes I found online all used variations of a demi glace (which is veal stock mixed with a roux or sauce espagnole to thicken it) which contains lots of wheat flour so I didn't want to do it that way.
When the veal stock has reduced, melt the butter in another sauce pan and saute the onions on high heat until translucent, 2-3 minutes.
Add the crushed peppercorns. I crushed mine using a mortar and pestle, but using a peppercorn mill probably works fine. As long as the pepper is freshly crushed.
Bring down the heat a bit and add the red wine. Now let the mixture simmer away until almost all the red wine is gone, leaving a thick mixture in the pan. This takes a few minutes.
Another knob of butter can't hurt
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Then add the veal stock slowly while whisking, to make sure it mixes properly. Let it simmer and thicken further, stirring now and then, about 5-8 minutes.
Serve as is on your delicious steak, or first strain into a sauce boat for a smoother look. If you are so inclined, add a handful of chopped parsley to the sauce for some added flair.
