Beef & Vegetable Stock for Soup or Stew

Soups, stews and chowders are some of my favorite things to make. To make a good soup or stew you need good soup stock. Soup stock is easy to make in large quantities and can be frozen for later use. This recipe shows how to make a sodium free (salt free) beef stock.

Beef stock requires just a few basic ingredients:

• Beef with bone preferably, this example used a beef shank that is approximately 1lb
• Root vegetables that you have at hand. This recipe has:
  • Three (3) carrots, peeled and sliced
  • One (1) parsnip, peeled and sliced
  • Three (3) whole boiling onions, peeled
  • Three (3) small kohlrabi, peeled and sliced
• 3-5 quarts of water

In a large pot (4-6 quarts) combine the meat and chopped up root vegetables. Fill the pot with water and simmer on low to moderate heat for about 3-4 hours. Add water to the pot every 45-60 minutes and continue cooking. Longer cooking of the soup will allow for the flavors to blend. When the soup is done, it will have a nice golden color.

When the soup stock is done you can do one of the following:

• Strain the soup completely, setting aside the stock without any meat or veggies
• Take out the meat an onions and set aside the stock with just veggies, leaving the meat and onions for a Beef Salad spread
• Or clean the meat of bone and connective tissue, chop it up and put back in the stock with veggies

Keep in mind that the soup stock was made without salt or pepper, letting you season it later depending on what meal you are making.

Once you have your soup stock made, you can either season it and make beef noodle soup or add it as stock to another dish or freeze it for later use. Enjoy!