Ad Hoc at Home Beef Stock

Yes, it's Summer. 92 degrees on the day I decided to make Beef Stock, in preparation for that other Summertime favorite Braised beef Short Ribs. Most sensible people are outside grilling, but I saw this one in the Ad Hoc cookbook and thought it looked good, so here goes. I practically never claim to be sensible anyway. At least it's not one of my strongest suits. 
Beef Stock
Canola Oil
meaty bones (or in my case meat+bones)
onions
water, salt
carrots, leeks
thyme, parsley
bay leaves, peppercorns
1/2 head garlic split across the equator

Roast the bones in some oil in a 475 oven, turning a few times so that they brown all over.

Meanwhile cut an onion in half crosswise and place one half in a pan over medium high heat, cut side down for 30 min!  Char the crap out of it!  Seems to fit with the "less than sensible" theme.

When the bones are done, drain the fat and deglaze the pan with water, scraping up and saving the brown bits. (I had skimpy meat on the bones so I browned some beef pieces on the stove and deglazed that pan). Place the bones and enough water to cover them in a stockpot. Over medium heat bring to a simmer and skim! skim! skim! For 5 hours.

Meanwhile roast your leeks and onions and carrots until carmelized: 20 minutes at 400, stir around then another 20 minutes.

As you very astute people will notice I made some substitutions because of what I had on hand. After all, it's STOCK  people! Add them to your stock along with the charred onion half and allow the stock to simmer another hour.  Every picture tells a story and in the following story, Sally didn't read the recipe the required 3 times before starting. Therefore I added my roasted veggies and charred onion at the beginning of the 5 hours. This resulted in far more skimming, and a less distinct beef flavor but only marginally so. Remember this is one ingredient in the next recipe which has about 30 ingredients. Not a major disaster.

When all is simmered and skimmed, and strained, then strained again. Here's the result: Beef Stock. I let it rest in the fridge and removed any remaining fat from the surface in the morning.

Up next: Braised Beef Short Ribs from Ad Hoc at Home
See you soon