Beef Stock

Cook Time 3 hours (+ overnight refrigeration)

Servings 2L

Ingredients

3 tbsp vegetable oil
2kg beef bones
500g oxtail, each piece cut in half
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, cut in 4
3 stalks of celery, cut in 4
1 bulb of garlic, cut in half horizontally
1 tbsp tomato paste
¾ cup of red wine
1 star anise
Bouquet garnish (a few sprigs each of thyme and parsley)
1 tsp peppercorns

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

In two large separate baking trays, add the bones to one and the vegetables to the other. Drizzle both with a little oil. Bake the bones for 1 hour, turning every 20 minutes to ensure they are deep golden colour. Bake the vegetables for 30 minutes until they are also golden brown.

Place the vegetables and bones in a large stockpot, draining excess fat from the tray of bones. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat all of the bones and then add the wine to deglaze the pan. With a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan. Cover completely in about 5-6L of cold water. Add the star anise, peppercorns and bouquet garnish.

Bring to the boil slowly and skim off any impurities that come to the surface. Once the stock is clear, turn the heat down and cook very gently uncovered for 3 hours.

Leave to cool slightly and then strain in batches. Place in the fridge overnight. A thin film of fat will come to the surface once chilled. Skim the fat off and then the stock is ready to be used for soups, gravies and risottos. Freeze the rest in separate containers.