Stock - espagnole - demi-glace - fond - foundation

• Traditional All Purpose Stock
• Veal Stock
• Espagnole Sauce
• Demi-Glace

Traditional All Purpose Stock

Ingredients:

• 3 large carrots.
• 2 good size onions
• 4 cloves fresh garlic
• fresh parsley
• 1 box mushrooms
• bay leaves
• 10 pounds soup bones, the meatier the better. Use a combination of beef and veal bones.
• Total Ingredients to yield about 10 quarts

Directions:

1• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse, peel and chop the carrots, onions and garlic. Distribute the vegetables on a oven pan and lay the bones on top. Roast 2 hours until browned, turning over a few times.

2• Take out of oven and and fill a pot half full of water and drop everything and let simmer over low heat at least two hours.

3• Strain the stock through a fine strainer and then refrigerate. Throw away remnants or make a soup that evening and strain for broth.

4• After the stock has chilled for a few hours, peel off the fat and you have pure stock for adding to all meats when cooking.

With an adequate supply of traditional stock we can turn our attention to using some of the stock to produce an Espagnole sauce. It is also a key step in the production of demi-glace, which is the last stop on the bases of reduction. Even though the name "Espagnole" seems at first glance to be Spanish by origin, it is a fundamental building block of French cuisine. Hundreds of years ago France and Spain were at war with each other. During this time some culinary fusion occurred and the French sauce named Espagnole was one of the results. By adding wines, herbs, spices and cream to this mother sauce many specialized sauces are easily be made - such as a Robert sauce, Bordelaise sauce, Chateau sauce, Mushroom sauce. Another advantage is that you can quickly produce a rich sauce with no additional thickeners or added fat.

Courtesy - Permission La Lama Mountain Ovens - January 7, 2011

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Veal Stock

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds veal bones
• 1 large carrot, peeled and quartered
• 1 large onion, unpeeled, quartered
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 rib celery, cut in half
• 1 cup hot water
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Homemade stocks can be the building blocks of flavor for so many dishes. For rich veal stock, keep a supply of inexpensive veal shoulder bones in the freezer. Veal stock provides a light flavor for mushroom- and pasta-based dishes such as Pappardelle con Vitello.

Directions:

1• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Generously oil a roasting pan. Add all the ingredients except the water and salt and pepper and roast for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally, until the veal bones are nicely browned. Transfer all of the ingredients to a large soup pot.

2• Pour the hot water into the roasting pan and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned bits remaining in the pan. Add this liquid to the soup pot along with enough water to just cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and let simmer for 30 minutes.

3• Remove the bones and strain the stock through a cheesecloth-lined colander set over a bowl. Press hard on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract all the juices. Discard the solids. Season the stock with salt and pepper. The stock is ready to use. It can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

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Espagnole Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 qt. boiling all purpose stock
• ½ lb. coarsely chopped onion
• ¼ lb. coarsely chopped celery
• ¼ lb. coarsely chopped carrots
• 5 oz. butter
• 5 oz. flour
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ cup dry Madeira Wine
• 3 oz. tomato puree
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 5 oz. butter

Directions:

1• Over medium/low heat melt butter in sauce pan. Add onions, celery and carrots. Cook until onions soften, then add flour and mix into a roux. Cook the roux for about five minutes or until it begins to brown. Begin adding hot stock, 1 cup at a time. Stir thoroughly until each cup of stock is absorbed by the roux and becomes smooth. When all the stock has been incorporated, add the remaining ingredients and adjust to taste for salt and pepper. Cook at a medium simmer for 1 ½ hours. Remove from heat and pour immediately through a fine strainer.

2• The Espagnole sauce is complete and ready for use. It will keep for about a week under refrigeration and it also freezes quite well. When defrosting frozen Espagnole, or after several days under refrigeration, you may have to thin it with a little stock to reach the consistency you desire.

3• We are now ready to do a final reduction and produce the classic demi-glace. You can choose to make a plain demi-glace, or you may infuse an herb or combination of herbs to make a flavored demi-glace. This decision must be made while assembling the ingredients in the sauce pot, before the reduction process begins. I find the plain version is more useful as you can always infuse the herb flavors later when you use the demi-glace to make a pan sauce.

Courtesy - Permission La Lama Mountain Ovens - January 7, 2011

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Demi-Glace

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups Espagnole sauce
• 4 cups Traditional All Purpose Stock
• 2¼ cup dry Madeira Wine
• Herb or combination of herbs if you choose

Directions:

1• Over medium/low heat combine the Espagnole Sauce and the Traditional All Purpose Stock. If you choose to infuse a flavor into the demi-glaze, add the herb or herbs at this time. Bring to a medium simmer and cook until reduced by about half, add the Madiera wine and continue reducing until you have reached 1/3 of the original volume. Stir mixture frequently through entire reduction. When finished, pour through a fine strainer.

2• When making a demi-glace, the amount of reduction is more critical than the time of cooking. You can slightly speed up the process by bringing the mixture to a faster simmer or slow it down by reducing the simmer. The 2/3 reduction is the important thing to accomplish. Bear in mind that the faster the simmer the more attention you will have to pay to avoid burning the sauce. When using herbs to infuse a flavor into the demi-glace use fresh herbs that are not cut up. This will permit you to remove them from the finished sauce with a pair of tongs rather than passing the finished sauce through a fine strainer.

Madeira wine is actually a family of wines that originate in the Madeira Islands of Portugal. The various wines that are created using the methods that have been in common use for centuries can be utilized in a number of different ways. Some types of Madeira wine are ideal for cooking, while others are more suited for use with desserts or as an aperitif.

Courtesy - Permission La Lama Mountain Ovens - January 7, 2011

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