Yum Dem Bones
Good for your heart; good for your teeth; good for your complexion
Whatever. It might be.
OK, if you don’t know what this is all about, it comes down to these 3 things:
- primarily, dissolving the fat, marrow, and bones themselves (if done long enough) for the resulting rich, soothingly viscous texture
- softening (if not melting) the meat into meaty dollops of meaty delight and
- ooohhhhh, smelling up the house like only some sultry slow stewing can…
At $.89/lbs., its probably the ooo-mommiest secret ingredient you can slip into a dish (get it? “ooo mommy”? no? umami? really? fuck dude. read a cookbook…)
So here’s the trick. Sear them real good first; char them real hot-like. Get those good burnt, leathery bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Don’t use any oil. You’re looking for the char flavor to ride through to the end but you don’t want to actually cook much of the meat so keep it hot-hot to start but only for a short bit. If the meat cooks now, it’ll be strings in the end. You want the meat to slowly dissolve away to oblivion.
Next, add some water and do the rest adding more water as needed. Keep it really low barely boiling at all if you can keep it there. Keep it lidded but askew so it won’t evaporate quickly but doesn’t do more than simmer. Do it for hours. It’ll be fine. Pour a few glasses of wine. Don’t fret.
Making a pasta sauce? In the last couple hours or so, add a couple cans of stewed tomatoes. Diced, whole, whatever. I don’t care. I’m not eating your batch. It’ll mostly dissolve into the most velvety rich sauce – though you might need to adjust salt or tomato paste to thicken. At that point, you’re just adjusting to taste. The real work is done.
Just making some stew or soup? Toss in what you want. Carrots. A whole onion. Whatever. As I said. I don’t care.
Just doing a stock? Whatever. Stick it in the fridge but don’t forget to pick out the bones if they haven’t completely dissolved.
Toodles and happy meating,
Jeff
