Brown stock, demi-glace and glace

Prep: 30 minutes Cook: 9 to 12 hours total Makes: about 2 – 4 cups

To make glace, first we make brown stock. Demi-glace is brown stock reduced by half; glace is brown stock reduced by about 80 percent.

10 to 12 pounds beef and/or veal bones

1 cup tomato paste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound onion, cut into large dice

½ pound carrot, cut into large dice

½ pound celery, cut into large dice

6 to 8 ounces dry red wine or water

1 bunch parsley

3 bay leaves

½ tablespoon dried thyme

8 peppercorns

1. Roast bones in a single layer in a 450-degree oven until dark brown, 50 to 60 minutes. When nearly done (at about the 45-minute mark), remove the pan from the oven and smear bones with tomato paste. Continue roasting until tomato paste starts to color, another 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place a large skillet over high heat. When hot (30 to 60 seconds), add oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Add vegetables; saute until they start to brown, 4 to 8 minutes.

3. When bones are roasted, transfer them to a stock pot and cover completely with cold water by 2 to 3 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. As water heats, skim any impurities that rise to the surface and discard.

4. While water heats, pour fat from roasting pan and discard. Place pan over high heat. Add wine or water and deglaze pan by scraping up brown bits. Add liquid and bits to stock pot.

5. When water comes to a boil, add vegetables. Bring back to the boil, lower the heat and simmer the liquid, uncovered, 8 to 10 hours. Add water as needed to ensure bones remain completely submerged. During last hour of simmering, add parsley, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns.

6. Remove stock from heat and strain into a clean pot. This is brown stock. Discard solids. To remove fat, refrigerate cooled broth overnight; scrap fat from the top and discard.

7. To make demi-glace, simmer brown stock over medium low heat until reduced by half, 1 ½ hours. To make glace, continue reducing until you’ve got about 10 to 20 percent of what you started with, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

8. Pour liquid glace into clean ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen, remove from trays and store in a freezer bag up to a year. Alternately, you can pour liquid glace into a square cake pan. Chill until solid, then cut into 2-inch squares and store in freezer as above.