Kitchen

[Poodlepet2]

Housecat has yet another great topic going on wholesome vs. convenience. A few people brought up the subject of making their own broth.

Years and years ago I made a beef demiglace that was to die for. (It literally took me a couple of days to make and involved getting up a couple of times during the night to add water). DH can't eat red meat and I have thought about doing this with chicken, but I am not sure how. Has anybody ever tried this?

Thanks,

Poodlepet

[HonnyBrown]

Poodle, I don't think it will work with chicken. If you make your demiglace like I do, you roast the bones. That just doesn't work with chicken or turkey.

What about roasting your stock veggies instead?

[Poodlepet2]

Honey, I have entertained that thought as well. I have never done that and I am not sure what to expect. I will begin doing some research on it. I love demiglace because the flavor is so concentrated and it doesn't take up much space. I think I will check out Williams and Sonoma for starters. It's been awhile since I've shipped there, but they used to carry a brand called "Forgotten Traditions":if they have a chicken demiglace, that might be a launching point. That's for your input,

Poodlepet

[Poodlepet2]

Ok-I just checked Amazon and they have it in chicken and in vegetable. I ordered one of each: they will not go to waste. I'm going to start stockpiling bones in the freezer: with Rosh Hashanah just around the corner, a Jewish home can never have too much of chicken anything!

Poodlepet

[adoreqvc]

I always made my own demiglace and it was time consuming but delicious.

Tasted awful and had an off taste.

I also tried the gold label from amazon and i threw it out.

Nothing beats home made.

[Poodlepet2]

Adoreqvc, did you ever try making chicken or vegetable demiglace? Making beef was not a problem, and I will never forget it. We were living in Ohio at the time and had a blizzard followed by more snow. I used to be like a little kid when it snowed: I would wake up just to see the accumulation and enjoy the beauty. I thought that since I was waking up so frequently, it would be easy enough for me to nurse a pot of demiglace cooked low and slow!

Poodlepet

[wagirl]

So what do you use a demi glace for? I make my stocks/broths in my pressure cooker. I imagine by cooking on slow and low to reduce it, it would work for a demi glace, maybe?

[adoreqvc]

I make it and freeze it in portions then add it to soups, stews, risottos, and different sauces and gravies.

You do not even have to thaw it out and I freeze it in ice cube trays which have very tight covers, and then just pop out the amount I need.

On 8/7/2014 wagirl said:

So what do you use a demi glace for? I make my stocks/broths in my pressure cooker. I imagine by cooking on slow and low to reduce it, it would work for a demi glace, maybe?

[Poodlepet2]

Wagirl, demiglace-particularly beef, has an incredibly rich, intense flavor. Many high end restaurants use it. It is basically, an extreme reduction of broth, and a good one can take a day or two to make. I would look for a recipe before taking this project on, but it is worth it. My guess is that this probably comes from the time when people maintained fireplaces-complete with a soup pot that you would add to it everyday. This is where you put onion skins-or any other vegetable skin-into the soup pot instead of the compost bucket. In the end, it is strained, but cheesecloth can make the job easier. It has a wow factor and if you like to serve prime rib-this is a "must try".

Poodlepet

[adoreqvc]

Hi Poodlepet,

Yes I make vegetable, veal, beef, and chicken demi glace.

Here is a site which gives the recipe and helpful hints in case you have never tried to make it.

From the Kitchen Garden: Making Your Own Chicken Demi-glace

http://michaelweishan.com/gardenblog/?p=1840
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Demi-Glace from the Plaza Hotel

http://www.food.com/recipe/demi-glace-from-the-plaza-hotel-403522

Ingredients:
Serves: 12
Yield: 1 Quart
Units: US | Metric
• 1/2 lb mushroom
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 2 cups brown sauce
• 1 tablespoon glace de viande (French for "meat glaze," glace de viande is made by boiling meat juices until they are reduced to a thick syrup. Used to add flavor and color to sauces).
• 1/2 cup beef fat
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 quarts brown stock
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 stalks celery
• 4 sprigs parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup tomato puree
• 4 quarts veal broth for glace de viande

Directions:
1. Chop mushroom stems and peelings.
2. Simmer with sherry until reduced by one-half.
3. Stir in brown sauce and glace de viande.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes.
6. Strain.
7. Makes 1-1/2 cups.
8. To make brown sauce/sauce espagnole:.
9. Melt the fat in a heavy saucepan and cook the carrot and onions until lightly browned. Stir in the flour and continue cooking until the flour is browned, stirring continuously.
10.Add 3 cups boiling stock [can substitute Better Than Bouillon beef base], the garlic and the garlic, celery, parsley and bay leaf tied in a bundle.
11.Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Add 3 more cups of hot beef stock.
12. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Skim off the fat as it floats to the surface.
13. Stir in the tomato puree and cook 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve.
14. Add the remaining 2 cups of hot stock and cook slowly over low heat for 1 hour. Skim as needed. At this point, the sauce should be reduced to about 4 cups. Strain and cool again.
15. Store, covered in the refrigerator. Use within 8-9 days
16. Can substitute pork fat for beef fat.
17. For glace de viande: bring 4 quarts veal broth [can substitute chicken broth] into a heavy pot or Dutch oven and bring to boil over a low heat and then simmer for 2 hours until only about 1 quart of broth remains. Strain broth into a small saucepan and continue to simmer over low heat until the liquid remaining in the saucepan is brown in color and of a syrupy consistency. Strain into a bowl or jar and refrigerate to use as needed.

Here is another one you may enjoy:

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Demi-Glace

About the demi glaces I reduce slowly and love the aroma which waifs through the house as it reduces, and I make large quantities to always have in the freezers in ice cube trays with covers. Great for portion control, and wonderful to add to gravies, various sauces, risotto's, soup, stews and other foods. It really enhances the flavor and I love that I can control the salt.
Those ready made demi glace prepackaged mixes I bought were awful tasting......so much for trying to use short cuts. Nothing beats real homemade.
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I also can relate to what you said...I have traveled during Ohio and their snowstorms, ice storms, and really rough blizzards. The white outs I encountered were really mind blowing.

I have property in Westlake, and recall whenever Lake Erie froze I knew I would be in for an extremely long wait at the airport. Getting there was a long road filled with deer crossings, and an occasional bear or two. Many times the driving was slow and treacherous and the wait to fly out of Cleveland was 8 hours or more.....de-icing the planes, etc. I recall a few times being on the runway with planes ahead and the de-icing was repeated many times, we remained there for hours until it was safe to fly out. Not a pleasant experience at all, but am glad all the safety protocols were adhered to.

After one too many of those encounters I learned to stay put after experiencing those hard winter Ohio blizzards.....but it really is beautiful there......snow, blizzards, and everything. (Gorgeous especially at Christmas time with everything so festive).

Spring, Summer and Fall is also really lovely and I miss the fish freshly caught and sold like the Lake Erie walleye, and bluegill fish, white Perch and Northern Pike fish.

Have a lovely day Poodlepet, and it was really nice cyber chatting with you again...Happy Cooking!