From Bones to Gravy

If you bone any meat before you cook it, always save the bones, label them, and freeze them. To make a beef stock, you can use beef and veal bones together, or all veal, or all beef. For pork stock, you can use veal and pork or all pork. Most supermarkets sell bones, too. If I see them on markdown, I'll buy them and freeze them. You do want the bones to have at least a little meat on them.

Spray a large pan with Pam, put in the bones in a single layer, and roast at 400 degrees for an hour. Put the bones in a pot, be sure to get any meat juice and browned bits on the bottom of the roasting pan into the stock. Put some water in the roasting pan and scrape up the bits with a spatula.

Cover the bones with water, add a whole bay leaf, one carrot, roughly chopped, 2 stalks celery, chopped and a chopped onion. Use a little salt- a half teaspoon - and throw in a couple of whole black peppercorns. If you have some fresh parsley, throw in a small handful. If you have some fresh sage, throw in 3 leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer at least 3 hours. Check for scum on top early on, if you see any, remove it with a spoon. Roasted meast usually doesn't give this off.

Turn off the heat, let it cool, and put it in the refrigerator, in the pot, for at least a day.

When you take it out, there will be solidified fat on the top. Remove the fat with a spoon, then gently warm the stock. Once its liquid again, filter out all the solids (this is a messy job). Put the stock back in the pan and cook it down until it is flavorful. This will take a while, you'll end up with one to two cups of liquid. When it gets toward the end, and "the end" can only be determined by tasting the liquid, add 1T of tomato paste (from a tube, if you have it), and 2T of sweet wine (sherry, madiera, marsala). Adjust with salt and pepper. At this point, the stock can be frozen.

If you want a mushroom gravy, wash some sliced fresh mushrooms and toss them into the stock.

You are now ready to thicken the stock to make it gravy. Put 4T white flour into a jar, add about 3/4 cups water, put the lid on, and shake vigorously. You want the stock simmering, but take it off the heat while you slowly add the flour and water, stirring constantly. You won't use it all, stop when you have the desired thickness you want. Take your time, you can add more but you can't take any out! Bring back to a simmer, then cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The finished gravy can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Heat to boiling and serve. Lots of fuss, perhaps, but no fat.