Christmas is the feast commemorating the birth of Christ. It is fixed in the liturgical year as December 25th and is preceded by four week of fasting called Advent.Beef Stock
- 5 lbs. bare beef rendering bones, sawed in 2 inch pieces
- 1 bunch of carrots, unpeeled and chopped
- 1 bunch of celery, chopped
- 3 yellow onions, unpeeled and chopped
Tell your butcher that you need bare rendering bones. They should not have any meat on them at all, so they should be cheap. Have him saw them into 2 inch pieces.
Roast the bones in an uncovered pan at 400 degrees for 2 hours. Be careful with this because your own oven may be a bit too hot. Watch the bones, which you want to be toasty brown, not black.
Place the roasted bones, along with the fat, in a soup pot and add 1 quart of water for each pound of bones. For 5 pounds of bones, add 1 bunch of carrots, chopped; 1 bunch of celery, chopped; 3 yellow onions, chopped with peel and all. (The peel will give a lovely color to the stock.)
Bring to a simmer, uncovered, and cook for 12 hours. You may need to add water to keep the soup up to the same level. Do not salt the stock.
Strain the stock, and store in the fridge. Allow the fat to stay on the top of the stock when you refrigerate it; the fat will seal the stock and allow you to keep it for several days.
