Slow Cooked Beef Stock

It is raining, cold and windy here today. There are whitecaps out on the water and raindrops on the windows. It’s the perfect weather for making a nice soup. Homemade stock makes all the difference with soup. Sure, it’s easy to open up a carton of beef or chicken stock, but it’s just as easy to make a good stock at home, it just takes a little while longer.

A few simple ingredients arranged in the slow cooker, covered with water, and voila! 12 hours later, you have a rich, flavorful stock and a house filled with the aroma of homemade soup. What’s great about using the slow cooker for stock is that you don’t have to keep an eye on it or worry about it boiling over. Even set to high, the water content of the stock keeps it just under a simmer. Marrow lends sweet undertones to the stock and the veggies keep the beat.

Note: After a chat with our friendly butcher, I learned that marrow is sadly under appreciated these days and because it is, it’s always a good idea to ask the butcher for a fresh cut of marrow or soup bone if you’re buying it in a supermarket, because (horrors!) due to low demand, they often don’t replace the bones that are out in the refrigerator case and they could be a few days old.

Slow Cooker Beef Stock – Makes 4 cups

1.5 lb beef marrow bone
1 large potato, peeled
2 carrots
1 onion
1 celery
3 sprigs parsley
2 quarts water

Loosely chop vegetables and arrange the bones, vegetables, parsley and peppercorns in slow cooker.

Cover with 2 quarts water and cook on high for 12 hours.

Using a slotted spoon, remove bones and large vegetables from stock to prevent splatters. Pour the rest through a mesh strainer and into a stockpot or heat proof bowl (or whatever… it’s your kitchen). Discard bones and vegetables.

Allow the stock to cool in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Remove solidified fat with a slotted spoon.

Use the stock to make a tasty homemade soup, sauce or gravy.

Ingredient origins: Beef marrow bone – unknown; Organic potato – Maine; Organic Carrots – unknown; Organic onion – Washington; Organic celery – unknown; Organic parsley – Massachusetts; Peppercorns – India. As you can probably guess, a lot of these ingredients were purchased at a conventional supermarket, which is an unfortunate fact of life in winter in New England. Sometimes the best we can do is purchase as thoughtfully as possible, given the circumstances, so in this case I tried to keep to organic produce. Oftentimes though, even if an item is raised organically, the location of origin is not disclosed because the distributor buys from many different suppliers. I think it may be time though to consider signing up for a meat share

Slow Cooked Chipotle Country Ribs

Nope. This is not a traditional New Englandy-type dish, but what can I say? We’re living in a global society and this is the world wide interweb, after all.

Start with ribs that have good marbling. As the fats melt away, the ribs transform into tender nuggets of falling-apart goodness. Chipotle peppers and cider stew together with the ribs, creating a smoky, piquant and mildly sweet sauce. Browning the ribs after slow cooking forms a nice crisp crust.

Since country ribs are not the leanest source of protein, I decided to even out the decadence by serving it with nutrient-rich roasted carrots and simple steamed quinoa.

Slow Cooked Chipotle Country Ribs - serves 4 – 6

2.5 – 3 lbs boneless pork country ribs
2 T canola oil
1 dried chipotle pepper, seeds removed and diced
1 t granulated garlic
1/4 C tomato paste
3 T brown sugar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 C apple cider

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium. Add garlic and chipotles and allow to soften for 1 minute. Add the vinegar, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce, and stir until combined, forming a paste. Stir in the brown sugar and cider. Allow to simmer lightly for 5 minutes.

Arrange country ribs in the slow cooker. Pour sauce over the ribs, adjusting to be sure they are all coated and covered.

Set the slow cooker to low and cook 6 hours.

Spoon off any excess fat. Using tongs, remove the ribs from the slow cooker, allowing excess sauce to drip off. Set the ribs aside. Increase slow cooker temperature to high and allow the sauce to cook an additional 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a griddle to medium high. Arrange the ribs on the griddle and brown on both sides to form a crisp crust, about 5 minutes each side.

Serve with the sauce on the side or drizzled over the top.

Ingredient origins: Hormone Free Country Ribs – These guys came from the supermarket, so I know not where they came from. Shopping in a hurry before the storm. But they are hormone free, vegetarian fed (which means cornfed, but you can’t win ‘em all); Canola oil – California; Dried Chipotle pepper – New Mexico; Granulated garlic – California; Tomato Paste – Italy; Brown Sugar – Florida; Worcestershire sauce – California; Apple cider vinegar – Vermont; Apple Cider – Maine.

Slow Cooked Short Rib

This holiday season, I was given the greatest gift of all. A slow cooker! Yay! I decided to christen it with short ribs.

The meat melts down over the course of hours, turning into rich, tender bits of falling-off-the-bone loveliness. I like to use vegetables that hold their shape well, like mushrooms and onions for dishes that cook more than two hours and I avoid ones that turn to mush, like carrots. The onions add a subtle sweetness and the mushrooms lend additional heft. Served over mashed potatoes, this dish becomes a serious winter warmer.

One last note is that I like to remove the meat from the bone before serving just to make it a little easier to eat and slightly more presentable.

Slow Cooked Short Rib – serves 2 – 4

2 lb beef short rib
1 T olive oil
16 oz whole button mushrooms
2 leeks, cleaned and loosely chopped
1 yellow onion, quartered
1 C dry red wine
2 C beef stock
1/3 C brown sugar

Prepare vegetables and arrange the first layer of leeks and smaller mushrooms in the slow cooker.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high. Sear the short ribs on all sides. Remove ribs from skillet and arrange on top of the vegetables in the slow cooker. De-glaze the skillet with red wine, scraping up any small bits. Stir the beef stock and brown sugar into the wine.

Arrange the larger mushrooms and quartered onions over and around the ribs. Pour the wine mixture over the short ribs. Cover and set the slow cooker to low. Cook for 8 hours.

Slide the meat off of the bone and serve with vegetables over mashed potatoes.

Ingredient origins: Short rib – can’t be sure (I know it’s terrible! I bought it at a store whose name rhymes with stop and flop, which means the cow was probably raised on a brown, hideous feedlot somewhere in the Midwest, consuming corn and other things that cows should not eat, like hormones and antibiotics. I know, I know! I’m sorry! The natural foods store was out of local short rib. Sigh. I’ve lost all cred now, haven’t I?); Olive Oil – Italy; Mushrooms – Pennsylvania; Leeks – New Hampshire, Onion – New Hampshire; Red wine – California; Beef stock – Colorado; Brown sugar – Florida