The noble art of making stock—and a bonus vegan recipe!
For many, stock is an unappetising concoction cooked up from kitchen offcuts in a haphazard fashion only to languish in the freezer, or failing that, is something that comes in dry cubes from the supermarket. Stock making in France, however, is something of an art—never is the stock pot used as a waste bin, instead stocks are made according to precise recipes—the secrets of which are closely guarded by chefs. The heart of French cuisine is really good sauces, the basis of almost all good sauces is a good stock.
This week at school was stock week, brown veal stock, white veal stock, marmite (not the yeasty stuff in jar, but a close neighbour of pot au feu) and jus, a technique pioneered by Alain Ducasse and Joel Robouchon to create and intense, un-thickened gravy alternative.
Perhaps the most famous stock preparation is demi-glaze, a gelatinous highly flavoured meaty stock made by reducing a brown veal stock. First the bones are roasted until well caramelised all over, then a selection of vegetables (onions, carrots, celery etc.) is caramelised and the pan is deglazed with wine. All of this is then combined, together with garlic and a tightly bound bundle of fragrant herbs (parsley stalks, thyme, bay leaf, green of leeks) called a ‘bouquet garni’. Water is added and then the stock is simmered gently overnight or for at least 6 hours. The remaining liquid is then filtered and boiled hard until it reaches a syrupy consistency. It can be further reduced and then cooled to a solid jelly called glaçe.
Admittedly, that process is beyond the patience of most domestic cooks but making a good stock with the carcass of a roasted chicken for example is simple and you can find the recipe on the blog.
All of this meaty liquid has got me thinking about how to enhance sauces for vegans and vegetarians, for that you’ll a really good vegetable stock. Of course, vegetable broths (or a ‘court bouillon’) are easy to make, but a vegan demi-glaze? “Impossible!” I hear you cry! Not so, this recipe will give you a dark rick syrupy stock that will even satisfy the palette of a meat-eater.
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Recipe: Vegan demi-glaze, to make sauces for everything from cauliflower steak to nut roast!
Ingredients:
1/2 head of cauliflower A large branch of celery 3 large carrots 2 beetroots 3 onions 6 cloves of garlic 1/2 celeriac 1/2 aubergine 250g mushrooms (any type with do, but a firm portobello or filed mushroom is desirable) 1 tbsp tomato puree 1 sprig of thyme A handful of parsley stalks 1 bay leaf The green head of a leek 2 glasses vegan red wine 3 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tsp instant coffee 1/2 tsp pectin
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to a lowish temperature, 150C or so.
2. In a food processor pulse all of the veg (except the tomato puree) until it is divided into small chunks.
3. Spread this over the bottom of a large roasting tray and toss through with the tomato puree and vegetable oil. Season with a pinch of salt (but just a pinch).
4. Roast in the oven for an hour or so, until everything is very dark and caramelised, stirring half way through. You want it to be really quite dark, almost burnt.
5. Remove from the oven and scrap all of the solids into a large cooking pot.
6. Place the roasting tray over a high heat on the hob, add 2 glasses of vegan red wine (yes, a lot of wines are not suitable for vegans) and scrap vigorously to deglaze all of the lovely bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Tip this into the pot to join your roasted veg.
7. Fill the pan until it is two thirds full of cold water. Add the herbs and slowly bring to a gently simmer. Leave all afternoon, about 4 hours simmering should do it.
8. Now pass everything through a sieve to remove all of the solids. Put the liquid back in the pan and add the pectin (or vegan gelatine substitute) and instant coffee. The pectin or gelatine substitute will give you the same lip smacking sensation that you get from a meaty demi-glaze and the instant coffee (I know it sounds weird) will pack your demi-glaze with lovely dark, umami notes; a tip I picked up from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
9. Boil this hard until it has reduced by at least half. At this point it should coat the back of a clean spoon and it’s ready to be used. It can be stored in the freezer or the fridge.
Dinner: vegetable soup, enriched with a homemade chicken stock cube!