Meadow Maid Foods Recipes

Broth from Pot Roast: add an extra cup of water to your crock pot or roasting pan when you start your pot roast. When the roast is done cooking, the resulting broth makes a fine vegetable soup base, and you might also have some leftover roast beef and vegetables to add to your soup. Use broth as a stock for any soup recipe, See Easy Beef Vegetable Soup, below.

Beef Soup Stock:

Prep Time: 30-45 Minutes

Cooking Time: 4-12 Hours

Ingredients:

Several pounds of Bones - the more bones you use, the more stock you make.

Flavor Ingredients (optional) - onion, garlic, carrots, celery, trimmings from vegetables, salt, pepper, rosemary, bay, thyme, other seasonings

The best stock utilizes several different types of bones cooked together, but good results may also be obtained using only one type of bone. Suggestions for bones include: meaty ribs, oxtail, shank cuts, and "marrow" bones. The oxtail, shank cut, and "marrow" bones are all good sources of marrow and gelatin. Meaty ribs and oxtail also supply flavor. (Neck bones and calf feet are also desirable, but not easy to obtain).

Directions:

Start with several pounds of bones. Place the bones in a large pot (preferably stainless or non-reactive) and cover with water. Make sure that you have a couple of inches between the top of the water and the top of the pot.

Bring water to a boil, and skim off foam.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer. At this point, you may add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, vegetable trimmings, salt, pepper, rosemary, bay, thyme, or other seasonings to taste.

Simmer stock for at least a couple of hours, preferably all day.

When you are finished cooking, remove the bones with tongs and set aside to cool. When bones are cool, you may wish to remove meat from the bones and dice the meat to add back to the stock. Marrow may be removed from the bones as a nutritional treat for you or for your dogs (do not add marrow back to the stock).

Meanwhile, the contents of your stock pot may not look very appealing to you. The liquid will contain floating globs of grey material and gelatin, and possibly chunks of vegetable trimmings and seasonings. But, you are only one step from lovely, clear stock. Strain the contents of your pan into a large bowl or stainless pan, and allow it to cool. (You may, if you wish, cool the stock in the refrigerator, and remove all fat that congeals at the top. I do not remove the fat - it adds flavor, and fat from grassfed beef is nutritious, containing Vitamin E and CLA.)

Transfer the stock to smaller containers for the refrigerator and freezer, portioning the meat as desired between the containers. (You may also preserve stock using a pressure canner - follow canning instructions carefully).

Stock may be kept in the freezer for several months, or refrigerated for several days before using. If freezer space is limited, the strained stock may be cooked down further to a concentrated broth before freezing.

Use this nutritional, flavorful stock as a base for many soups and stews. See Easy Beef Vegetable Soup, below.

VARIATIONS:

You may also make stock from lamb, pork, or venison following this method. Sally Fallon recommends adding deer feet and a section of antler if making venison stock.

I also make chicken stock by the same method. Starting with a whole, cleaned chicken, I cut off the legs and wings, and filet the breasts to use in other recipes, then cook the remaining carcass and neck as described above (cover with water; boil; skim; simmer for hours; remove bones; cool; strain; return meat to broth).

Notes on Bones: due to USDA processing requirements concerning BSE, beef neck bones are now unavailable unless you do your own processing. Meadow Maid Foods is not able to obtain feet, either. We do supply meaty ribs, oxtail, and meaty shank cut bones, and we can obtain marrow bones during harvest season by special order.

Easy Beef Vegetable Soup

1 quart beef stock

2-3 cups diced vegetables:

carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, green beans, corn

1 cup of potatoes, or grain:

diced potatoes, pearled barley, pasta, rice

1 cup cooked beans (optional):

pinto, kidney, soup beans, split-peas, lentil

Seasonings:

bay leaf; 1/2 tsp. of chopped rosemary, thyme, marjoram; chopped garlic or garlic powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Note: Vegetables and grains may be used raw or pre-cooked. Soup is an excellent use for leftover steamed or sauteed vegetables, pasta, and rice.

Heat your stock in a large pan.

Add a selection of chopped vegetables. Stir well, and simmer for a few minutes.

Add the grain ingredient. Add seasonings according to taste. Simmer until vegetables and grains are tender. If necessary, add water to keep the soup brothy. When grains and vegetables are tender, add beans, if desired, and any pre-cooked ingredients. Adjust seasonings, if necessary, and simmer until all is heated through. Serve soup with fresh, warm bread or salad.

This recipe can be made in as little as 30 minutes, especially if you use pre-cooked grains or pasta.