What would you do with beef neck bones?
We purchased a 1/4 of a cow, and I have about 2 pounds of beef neck bones that I am not sure what do with. Stock? Other suggestions?
Thanks!
Edited to add: these bones seem to have quite a bit of meat on them . . .
-
-
Brown then braise then remove the meat bits then make stock. Celery makes stocks bitter if left in the stock pot too long. Carrots and other root vegs are "flavor sponges" so unless you're leaving them in the stock don't use them but if you do only have them in the slow hours long simmering stock for half an hour or until just fork tender. Remove them and use them in something else. Use large chunks of veg.
›5 Replies-
re: Puffin3
hotoynoodle
Mar 12, 2012 10:17 AM
in culinary school and every professional kitchen in which i have worked, the veg stays in the pot the entire time. once the stock is cool enough to strain, use a chinois and press on the veg to get out all the liquid.
-
re: hotoynoodle
I'll stick to making my stocks/sauces the same as Thomas Keller. Ref. French Laundry Cook Book page 220-227. It obviously works for Mr. Keller and I can say having made all my stocks/sauces following his method/s for about twelve years I'm quite content with the results. Read page 220 re veg. being "flavor sponges".
-
re: Puffin3
-
-
re: hotoynoodle
It's useful to learn tried and true methods, but that's just a starting place for discovering your own cooking style. There is certainly no one correct authority for something as old and heterogenous as soup making. The decision to press versus remove vegetables should be based on your personal preference and demands of the dish being made, versus what one authority said at some point. Same goes with celery usage. I'm not into it myself, but if you really like the taste then throw some celery in for christ's sake. Doing everything by the book (whichever book you happen to go by) takes all the magic out of cooking.
-
-
-
-
-
This is a very old post, but this kind of stuff is always useful for future readers. I had a boyfriend who's father was Sicilian American from Brooklyn. He always made his spaghetti sauces by slow cooking neck bones in Prego sauce. I wouldn't normally buy Prego. Obviously you can make your own red sauce, but I have to tell you it was amazingly good. The neck bones imparted a meaty flavor and slightly glutinous texture. You'd throw a couple bones on each pile of spaghetti and pick at the meat (okay, suck is more like it). This is so much tastier than ground beef. Also, anytime you slow cook bones in liquid, you get all sorts of nutrients you would never get from just the meat. Give it a try!
›4 Replies-
re: rnhuber
hotoynoodle
Jan 19, 2012 12:07 PM
for whatever reason, i have more frequent access to pork neck bones and use them in red sauce.
recently just bought some beef neck bones and the meat on them was quite scant. made a terrific stock though and just a few pounds of bones made several bags of gelatinous goodness. also keep the rendered fat.
-
-
re: bear
hotoynoodle
Mar 12, 2012 10:15 AM
i prefer milder stocks, so don't ever roast the bones. i simmer for a long time though. at least 8 hours, usually more like 12.
i use carrots, onion and garlic, with some tomato. no celery. dried thyme and bay, with some pepper corns. no salt.
-
-
-
-
bushwickgirl
Jan 9, 2010 08:30 AM
I realize this is an old thread.
I went to a dinner at my very poor friend's house last year. She made bone stew, just like beef stew, with quite meaty beef neck bones. It was very good, lots of bone chewing and slurping. -
-
As others have said, stock...but if there's a fair amount of meat on the bones (as is often the case for neck bones from what is still, as of this writing, Super 88 in Allston), the meat is very nice.
So if you're making stock, you might want to remove the meat before all the flavour were leeched-out, but after it's tender (maybe 3 hours), and then continue to boil the bones for their marrows' contribution, as well as to soften connective tissue which has a great texture. I've found that just a little salt and garlic goes really well with the neck meat and cartilage; I've sometimes made a terrine of them, adding a bit of concentrated broth for gelling, then slicing it thin the next day.
This last procedure has given me mixed results: sometimes it's tasted great the next day, others, probably when the meat had boiled a bit too long, felt like it had left all its virtues behind and would have been better consumed fresh.
Note: at at least one Whole Foods, Alewife's, the butcher told me that lamb neck were available from them if one were to call a few days ahead, so they could know to keep it when they butcher a new lamb carcass; something similar might obtain for beef. The neck meat from abused, corn-fed, steers is so flavourful that I'm keen to try it from the grass-fed and healthy.
-
-
bitsubeats
Nov 28, 2007 12:47 PM
make korean gamjatang which is basically potato soup, however it's potato soup with beef neck bones....or is it pork? Either way the main ingredients are neck bones and potatos and it's very hearty and delicious
›2 Replies -
-
Will Owen
May 31, 2007 01:19 PM
If they're sufficiently meaty, I'd be tempted to treat them like short ribs in some rich, braised casserole dish, like one or two I recall from Rick Bayless's books. You could also do a slow braise with onion and peppers or whatever, pick the cooked meat off the bones, and have yourself one kick-a** batch of beef and noodles! Dang, makes my gout flare up just thinking about it...
›2 Replies -
Minestrone...a thick one with cannelloni beans, lentils, greens and aromatics. Did I mention that I've lived with a woman of Italian heritage for more than 47 years?
›2 Replies-
-
re: ChiliDude
Great to see this post ChiliDude - I sometimes see neck bones around here but not many other soup bone selection and was wondering if I could use them in soup. AND I was thinking of trying to make a Riboletta(?) which to me sounded a lot like a minestrone with beans instead of pasta - i.e. a lot like what you describe although I haven't seen a recipe using a meat bone.
-
-
-
