I like to make a point of not throwing away useful stuff in my kitchen. I think we all throw away too much food. Prepared food, but also things that can be used in other dishes. For example: did you know that water in which you cook your potatoes and vegetables is also a great vegetable stock? So why not stick it in your fridge and collect until you have enough to use as a base for a great soup?
An example of using leftovers from another recipe to create something new and delicate. Remember the leftovers from the beef I used for my Limburgian Goulash?
Ingredients
500 gr of well flavored beef
500 gr of veal or beef bones - I'm using oxtail
1 large onion
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
3 tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns
Fresh herbs: rosemary, thyme, parsley
Salt
Olive oil
First step is to firmly brown your meat and veggies. In restaurant kitchens, this is done in an oven. Also much more bones are used than I do in this example. This will add more gelatin to the glace, creating a thick syrup as end result. Down side of that is that you cannot freeze it as the high concentration of gelatin and salt will not freeze in a normal fridge.
If you are using a stainless steel pan like I do, remember to not touch the meat until it is firmly browned, otherwise it will stick to the bottom.
Bring to a boil and cook for 1-2 minutes. Reduce
the heat to medium-low. A brown foamy scum will form on top. This is the protein coming from the meat.
There was some left over beef gravy sitting in my fridge.
Only the occasional bubble should come to the surface. Add water when needed.
And there we have it: two cups of excellent beef glace. A few table spoons of this will give any dark sauce an incredible boost in flavor. This glace will still freeze up nicely because of the relative low gelatin and sodium content and you can keep it in your fridge for months.
You can also use an ice-cube tray to freeze it into nice little cubes.
Just don't use the tray for anything else, or your cocktails will taste like beef :-)
Enjoy!
You can also use an ice-cube tray to freeze it into nice little cubes.
Just don't use the tray for anything else, or your cocktails will taste like beef :-)
Enjoy!
In the Netherlands and Belgium, Oxtail, other meats, fish, poultry and much more can be bought online at www.meerdanvlees.nl
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