Brown Stock
Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, 1998

Brown stock, French: Fonds brun or Estouffade, is one of the basic stocks (fonds) in French cuisine. Auguste Escoffier gives a recipe in Le Guide Culinaire which contains marrow bones, beef, poultry carcasses, carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, parsnips and onion and is simmered and skimmed for several hours producing a dark brown liquid which is the basis for many other sauces, soups and stews. It is the basis of Sauce espagnole and demi-glace.

7 pounds beef marrow bones sawed into 2-inch pieces
8 ounces tomato paste
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups dry red wine
1 bouquet garni
Salt and pepper
8 quarts of water

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the bones in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour. Remove the bones from the oven and brush with the tomato paste.

In a mixing bowl, combine the onions, carrots, and celery together. Lay the vegetables over the bones and return to the oven. Roast for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and drain off any fat. Place the roasting pan over the stove and deglaze the pan with the red wine, using a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan for browned particles.

Put everything into a large stockpot. Add the bouquet garni and season with salt. Add the water. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the stock for 4 hours, skimming regularly. Remove from the heat and strain through a China cap.

Yield: about 1 gallon