Master Recipe for Basic Stock (Julia Child)

Submitted by jenpalombi

"After roasting or poaching a chicken a la Julia Child, I always complete the process by making chicken stock a la Julia Child! Here is her master recipe for basic meat stock from volume 1 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

 

• Ready In: 5hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 2-3 quarts

ingredients

• 3 quarts meat, and bones chopped into 3 inch pieces (or poultry carcass, scrapings and giblets)
• cold water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 medium carrots, peeled
• 2 medium onions, peeled
• 2 medium celery ribs
• 1⁄4 teaspoon thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 parsley sprigs
• 2 unpeeled garlic cloves
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 washed leeks

directions

1. Place the meat and bones in a stockpot and add cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Set over moderate heat. As the liquid comes slowly to a simmer, scum wills tart to rise. Remove it with a spoon or ladle for 5 minutes or so, until it almost ceases to accumulate.
2. Add all the ingredients to the left, tying the herbs up in an herb bouquet with cheesecloth. Add more water if the liquid does not cover the ingredients by a full inch. When the liquid is simmering again, skim as necessary. Partially cover the kettle, leaving a space of about 1 inch for steam to escape.Maintain at a very quiet simmer for 4-5 hours. Skim occasionally.
3. To degrease, set the pot in the refrigerator until the fat has hardened on the surface and can be scraped off.

Reviews

[cbennett018]

I've used this recipe from Julia Child's volume 1 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking for many years now. I've used beef neck bones, beef ox tails, and chicken carcasses successfully. For beef, ox tails work better than neck bones. For chicken I use all of the leftover chicken parts from the carcass to the leftover bones. I always start the stock in a high-pressure-cooker for two hours then I transfer to a 2-gallon pot for cooking an additional 8-12 hours at a bare simmer. Then I strain the stock using a colander and put it into the fridge overnight so that the fat solidifies on top and is easy to scrape off. Finally, I take the resulting gelled and degreased stock and put it into 1-quart plastic containers for freezing. This stock is much better than store bought for all recipes calling for stock. I highly recommend it!