Hello Everyone
My father and I are very close and together we share and exploit our love for food and everything epicurean. And not only does my father love food, he also loves wine and has made it a hobby, to say the least. It is always fun to visit Pittsburgh and spend Saturdays with my dad and mom talking about food, shopping for food, eating food, etc. So when I decided to come home for a visit, I also decided that it was time to learn how to make a traditional Volpatt weekend food staple.
My father is good at many things -- at least that is what he will tell you -- but he is a master at making beef broth. Usually a weekend event, the making of the broth, commonly referred to as "brodo" by many Italians, started on Saturday afternoon and continued through Sunday morning and into lunch when we would sit and taste his weekly creation. This recipe is great because it makes quite a bit and can be frozen and used for all kinds of beef based soups and sauces or just eating it as is, which is actually my favorite way to enjoy this flavorful stock.
Thanks dad, for teaching me the secret to making a wonderfully delicious and versatile beef broth. I hope that you enjoy this week‚s edition of RecipePhile. And remember, if you have any ideas, recipes or opinions, please send them my way.
Have a great week.
Michael
"Always remember that food is about more than eating...it is about thinking, buying, preparing, enjoying and most importantly... sharing."
Dad's Beef Broth
My father says that the basics of this recipe never change, but he adds a little more of this or a little more of that depending on the flavor and his mood. Use the ingredients and amounts below as a guide and add more or less of each depending on your own personal taste buds.
3 1/2 lbs of beef short ribs
3 1/2 lbs of oxtails
1 medium yellow onion with skin on (1)
3 stalks celery
3 carrots (peeled)
2 leeks (2)
1/2 head of cabbage
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 handful of fresh Italian parsley
Several dashes of Worcestershire
3 tbsp beef base
3 tbsp chicken base
3 tbsp Heinz Ketchup (3)
Kosher salt to taste
Place the ribs and oxtails in a 12-quart stockpot. Cover with water. Turn on high and bring to a boil. Remove the fastou (4) or the skim from the top of the pot and reduce heat to a barely bubbling simmer. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the salt) and cook for about 3 hours. Taste and add salt as needed. Remove from the top of the stove and strain the soup through a sieve. Remove fat, let cool (5) and place the broth in a storage container. Take vegetables and meat (remove the bones) from the sieve that you want to retain and transfer into a storage container. When you are ready to eat place the broth into a soup pan, add some pasta (6), let cook until al dente and spoon in leftover vegetables and meat. Serve with Parmaggiano Reggiano cheese.
FoodNoteworthies
(1) - Dad says the onionskin should be a little brown as it helps to give the broth a nice color.
(2) - Make sure you clean the leeks thoroughly. Cut it in half and clean each section separately as you will find quite a bit of dirt throughout the skins of the leek.
(3) As a Pittsburgh native, we always grew up using Heinz Ketchup. It is really the only way to go. This is also my father's "secret ingredient" -- so shhhhhh... don't tell anyone.
(4) - In my family the word „fastou‰ means the sludge that rises to the top of a pot when making stock. It is totally made up but if you ask anyone in my family what it means everyone will likely tell you the same thing.
(5) - The best way to get the fat off the broth is to let it completely cool in the refrigerator overnight. The fat will cool and coagulate at the top of the container.
(6) - We use a DeCecco pasta called Farfalline. It looks like little mini bow ties.
Comments