Basic Brown Stock - cooking recipe

Ingredients

5 -6 lbs beef bones (veal or beef)
5 -6 quarts cold water
8 ounces onions, chopped med
4 ounces carrots, cubed medium
4 ounces celery, cubed medium
8 ounces tomato puree
Sachet
1/2 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon peppercorn
3 -4 parsley stems
1 whole clove
cheesecloth

Preparation

Bones should be cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces.
Place the bones in a roasting pan in a hot oven (400 F/200 C) and brown them well.
Remove bones from pan and place in a stock pot.
Cover with water and bring to a simmer.
Simmer, skimming impurities from top of water as they rise.
Drain and reserve the fat from the roasting pan.
Deglaze* the pan with water and add to the stockpot.
Mirepoix.
Toss the onions, carrots and celery in some of the reserved fat, add to the roasting pan and brown well in the oven.
(Browning may be done on top of the stove if desired) Add the browned mirepoix and the tomato puree to the stock pot.
Continue to simmer.
Prepare the sachet by placing the bay leaf, thyme, peppercons, parsley stems and whole clove in a square of cheese cloth.
Tie with a string, leaving one end of the string long enough to tie to the stockpot handle.
Add the sachet to the stockpot.
Tie the string to the stockpot handle.
Continue to simmer the stock for a total cooking time of 5-6 hours, skimming the surface as necessary.
Add water as needed to keep bones covered.
Strain through a china cap lined with several layers of cheesecloth.
Cool the stock, vented, in a cold water bath and then refrigerate.
*Todeglaze the pan, carefully add a little water to the warm pan, stirring to loosen the bits of meat and bone left in the pan.