Economical Stock for thick Soups, Purées, etc.
An excellent although not very clear stock can be made from odds and ends of cooked meat and bones. For this purpose there should be an enamelled pot with a lightly fitting lid, and it should practically be kept in use continually.
Spread the bottom of the pot with butter, or marrow. Pack in pieces of meat, bone, gristle, the carcases of birds, two or three vegetables cut up in small pieces, two cloves, and a bouquet of herbs.
Cover the meat, etc., with cold water. Put on the lid. Heat slowly, and when it boils set back to simmer for four or five hours.
In preparing meat for this stock, look it over carefully; reject any piece which is not perfectly good, also all stuffing, skin, smoked or burnt pieces. A little beef fat can always be retained, but mutton fat should not be used as it is rank in flavour. Scrape the meat off the bones, and break the bones in small pieces.
A slice or two of lean ham, the gravy saved from any kind of roast, a little fresh meat finely chopped will greatly improve this stock.