Roasted Bones

Now that it is a LITTLE cooler, we feel better about firing up the oven.  First thing on the agenda is to make a little room in the freezer.  We still have the last remaining beef bones from the last bull that we took to the slaughterhouse.  As we discussed a month ago, when we bring a bull to the slaughterhouse, we ask for most everything.  One of the things you get is several bagfuls of bones.

What can you do with bones?  Well, the first thing is use them to make some beef broth.  In past years, we've simply put them on the stove top in a pot full of water and slowly cook for up to two days.  This results in a real nice beef broth.  This time, we are going to kick the broth up a notch or two and ROAST the bones in the oven prior to boiling.

Tricia preheat the oven to 425 and put the bones on a stoneware tray.  She roasted for about 40 minutes. 

Here is a shot of the bones coming out of the oven all roasted.

She put the roasted bones in a dutch oven and covered with water and brought the water to a boil.  Once it came to a boil, Tricia turned down the heat and simmered all day long.

In fact, it is 10 pm and the broth is still simmering.  She'll cook all day tomorrow as well.  The flavors will deepen and intensify.

After another full day of cooking, Tricia will run the beef broth through a strainer.  We'll give the dogs the bones.  As far as the broth, we'll use it in soups, we'll substitute the beef broth for water when cooking rice.  It always makes the rice taste richer, more flavorful.  Tricia mentioned using this broth to make a French Onion Soup in a few days.  Delicious!  That hits the spot on a cool day.

We do have some beef broth in the pantry that we canned in years' past.  However, we have a lot of bones in the freezer, so we'll be making fresh beef broth as often as we need it.  I'm anxious to taste the broth to determine how roasting the bones makes the broth better.