Basic Stock
5 pounds meaty beef bones or 21/2 pounds chicken necks, or 2 pounds meaty ham bones
2 large white onions, quartered
2 cups celery leaves
6 sprigs parsely
4 whole black pepper corns
3 bay leaves
1 cluster garlic, cloves halved
salt to taste
2 Tbls. dried basil crushed or 2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
10 cups water
In addition use pellings and left over vegetable reminents
potato pellings
carrot pellings
turnip leaves or pellings
parsnip leaves or pealings
outer cabbage leaves
onion tops
leek tops
Place chicken bones, beef bones or pork bones in a 10 quart stockpot. Add quartered onions, celery leaves, parsely, whole pepper corns, bay leaves, garlic, salt, basil, and thyme. Add cold water. Choose two or three of the vegetable peelings, leaves or tops and add them to the stockpot.
Bring contents to a boil, reduce heat; cover and simmer over low heat for a few hours. Lift out the meat bones with a slotted spoon; set aside to cool.
Strain the stock through a sieve lined with one or two layers of cheese cloth; discard vegetables and seasonings. Clarify the stock, if desired(see tip on page ?).
When the bones are cool enough to handle remove the meat from the bones and reserve the meat for another use and discard bones. Store the stock and meat in seperate containers in the refrigerator or freezer.
An easy way to remove excess fat is to chill the stock to let the fat solidify and then lift the solidified fat off the top of the stock. You shoould have approximately 8 to 10 cups of stock.
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