![It’s better when you make your own beef stock at home](https://lakevillejournal.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=48211254&width=980&quality=90)
Photo by Cynthia Hochswender
About five years ago the world decided that bone broth was a magical elixir that could help cure our most serious afflictions (which at that time mostly seemed to amount to wrinkles and joint pain).
Well, the world is a different place now and we have different health priorities, but of course wrinkles and joint pain continue to plague many of the world’s inhabitants.
The sad truth is that bone broth doesn’t actually help with those superficial but still annoying ills, at least according to the Harvard Health website. And oddly, there doesn’t seem to be any research that supports bone broth as a healthy part of your diet; and yet, it seems impossible that it wouldn’t be good for you.
If nothing else, there is at minimum something to be said for having hot, satisfying homemade food in the cold winter months.
Holiday kitchen wish list
In a sense, this is also a last-minute holiday shopping story, because making bone broth (or beef stock, as it is also known) involves my four most beloved kitchen tools, all available in a range of price points both online and at area big box stores. Any chef who doesn’t have these yet will deeply appreciate a small digital scale (the Escali Primo is reliable and easy to operate) at about $25; a digital thermometer (the Lavatools Javelin used to be cheaper but is now $26 and extraordinarily helpful); a really good knife (for Christmas I received and am already using a Victorinox bread knife, which I use on everything including meat); and a large Instantpot, which I scoffed at originally but which I now use almost daily. Since you’re probably reading this on Christmas Day or after, think about obtaining these if you end up making an exchange somewhere and have credits to use up.
Why bother?
If you’re going to go to the trouble to make beef stew or short ribs or a thick enriching winter soup, you need a good stock at the base, to make it richer and tastier and more unctuous — and healthier — even if for no other reason than that it will have no preservatives and probably less salt than packaged stock.
Stock is expensive and takes a long time, but it’s worth the effort. And if you have an Instantpot, the time is much shorter and your stock will be much richer. The two basic reasons are that steam doesn’t escape an Instantpot; and supposedly the broth doesn’t boil as hard and get agitated and cloudy.
The best bones to buy
The recipe for this stock is online at www.kitchn.com, and it also provides directions on how to make stock without an Instantpot. I made three versions of this stock and found that I like to use much less water for a richer, more concentrated broth (which will take less room in my freezer and which has a delightful solid jelly texture).
The basic recipe calls for 2 pounds of beef bones, but I bought about 7 pounds, for $115. I could have been fine with 3 pounds, but you do want to get a good variety. LaBonne’s market in Salisbury had for sale the trifecta of essential stock bones: ox tail, short rib and osso bucco or shank. Sharon Farm Market in Sharon, Conn., also has a large freezer case full of these essential broth bones.
Because I bought twice as many bones as I needed, I now have enough broth to last me for two years. I wanted the mix of different bone types, though; if you want to get all the bones but don’t think you’ll need as much broth, maybe share with a friend.
Roast & boil
Rinse off 3 pounds of bones, pat them dry with a paper towel and then roast them on a foil-lined baking sheet for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees. You can do this a day or two before you make the stock. You can weigh the bones on your handy Escali scale if you can’t figure out the weights from the label on the meat package.
I left the bone on the meat when I roasted it, and after it was done, I sliced off the delicious short rib and osso bucco meat after roasting and before the next step.
Put the bones in the Instantpot with 6 cups of water (use filtered water if your tap water has a mineral or bleach-y or sour taste; your broth is only as good as your water). Add three tablespoons of cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar is fine; it’ll cook off).
Put the Instantpot on “saute” and “high” for 30 minutes. Skim off any foam from the top and wipe it on a paper towel and dispose of it as it cooks. You want a super clear broth with no impurities in it.
Pressure cook for hours
Next, put the lid on and close the steam vent. Set the cooker to pressure cook/high/2 hours. It will take about an hour to reach high pressure, so add that to your 2-hour timetable.
While you’re waiting for the broth to cook and cool, peel two carrots and cut them in half; and peel and quarter one and a half modest-sized onions.
After it completes its two hours, you’ll want to let it come down to pressure naturally; do not try to release the steam or you could end up with a geyser of hot liquid shooting out of the pot at you.
When the pressure release valve drops, add the vegetables, then close up the cooker and set it again to pressure cook/high/2 hours (be sure as always that the vent is closed). When it’s done, again, let the pressure release naturally.
Straining the broth
You’ll want to have a lot of ice ready; and if you have a cold porch, this is the time to use it as a kitchen annex. It’s essential for you to cool off the broth as quickly as possible. You can’t put it in the fridge until the broth is down to about 60 degrees, though, or it will just heat up your refrigerator (yes, this really happens).
Take a large bowl and put in about 2 inches of ice and cold water. Put a large bowl in the ice. Put a mesh strainer in the bowl and add some cheesecloth on top of that (yes, we are fighting hard against impurities).
Do not pour your broth into the bowl. First, gently lift out the bones and veggies and put them in a separate bowl.
Then, gently ladle the stock into your bowl/strainer/cheese cloth. Do not pour it; the weight of the liquid will force impurities through your cheesecloth and your mesh. It’s tedious but, if you’ve come this far already why ruin it in the last steps?
Gently lift the strainer and cheesecloth out of the broth bowl and throw them away. Then stir the thick brown liquid in your bowl. If you can, take the broth bowl and its partner ice bowl and put them in your cold porch. It will now take two or three hours for the broth to come down to about 60 degrees.
Stir the broth every 20 minutes or so. You’ll know it’s ready when you’re able to easily scoop the fat off the top. You can also dip your digital thermometer in the liquid and get an instant readout on the temperature.
Storing it for the winter
Gently pour your broth into a large rectangular storage container or a large bowl that you can cover, and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
In just a few hours, your broth should set to a nice solid wobbly gelatin.
Spoon your gelatin into several small storage containers that you can keep in the freezer until you need them. If it’s really nice and solid, as it should be, you can gently turn your container over onto a cutting board.
If you used a rectangular container you will find it’s easy to cut this broth up into individual slices that you can put in containers and freeze. A 3-inch slice is a good amount for stew for two or three people.
Once the bones have cooled, you can pick the tender beef off the oxtails and make sandwiches with it.
You can also marinate your short ribs and cook them with your new broth — in your Instantpot, if you have one, or in whatever cooking vessel traditionally works best for you.
Abstract art display in Wassaic for Upstate Art Weekend, July 18-21.
WASSAIC — Art enthusiasts from all over the country flocked to the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley to participate in Upstate Art Weekend, which ran from July 18 to July 21.
The event, which “celebrates the cultural vibrancy of Upstate New York”, included 145 different locations where visitors could enjoy and interact with art.
On Saturday, July 20, The Wassaic Project hosted numerous community events. Will Hutnick, the director of artistic programming, said “We’ve been a part of it since the beginning, this is the fifth year of UPAW.”
Most of the action was based at Maxon Mills, the seven-floor grain mill located in the heart of Wassaic. On exhibit was work from 30 artists, 18 of whom were past residents of The Wassaic Project. “Artists can come and do a residency here, meaning they live and work with one another for a couple months at a time,” Hutnick stated.
The first floor held work by Petra Szilagyi, who uses dirt and linseed oil to construct images of paranormal concepts, most of which include bats. They reflected that a recent trip to a fifth sense competition in Vietnam was the influence behind the exhibit.
Across the floor was Tiffany Smith’s interactive installation which incorporated plants and wicker chairs, all of which were objects associated with her Carribean upbringing. “The room being filled with plants is symbolic of hurricane prep which often included bringing the plants from outside into the house,” Smith said.
As visitors made their way up the narrow wooden stairs, music could be heard from behind the walls. The echoing music was Daniel Shieh’s installation, entitled Mother’s Anthem, which played a recording of the American Anthem in 30 languages. The languages ranged from Spanish and Italian to Navajo and Bengali.
Each floor was filled with artwork of all mediums, including painting, fibers, collage and photography. Rachel Bussières, who switched her concentration after watching the 2017 solar eclipse, uses varying light sources to produce lumen prints. During the wildfires, she recounted that she “made a new exposure each day to capture the changing air quality”.
Luciana Abait also incorporates the natural world into her pieces, instead using maps. An environmental activist originally from Argentina, Abait’s work highlights “environmental fragility, specifically the impacts it has on immigrants.” Her installation that is currently on display at Maxon Mills, takes the form of a mountain range built solely from maps of the US and Argentina.
Throughout the day, visitors could “Arm Wrestle 4 A Popsicle”. Winners had the choice of 3 playfully flavored trout-inspired popsicles - Nightcrawler, Power Bait, and Salmon Roe. Artist Katie Peck, who spent the day in costume as a rainbow trout, encouraged guests to step up and try their hand at an arm wrestle.
Shibori Indigo dyeing, group meditation, and dance workshops were open for community members of all ages as well.
While the daytime activities fostered appreciation of fixed art, a dance party until midnight at The Lantern Inn offered guests a space for performative art.
When describing the environment of The Wassaic Project, Smith emphasized, “It’s all community, it’s all love.”
A serene scene from the Amenia garden tour.
AMENIA — The much-anticipated annual Amenia Garden Tour drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 13, each one demonstrative of what a green thumb can do. An added advantage was the sense of community as neighbors and friends met along the way.
Each garden selected for the tour presented a different garden vibe. Phantom’s Rock, the garden of Wendy Goidel, offered a rocky terrain and a deep rock pool offering peaceful seclusion and anytime swims. Goidel graciously welcomed visitors and answered questions about the breathtaking setting.
Amenia Finance Director Charlie Miller welcomed visitors to his Bog Hollow Road garden in Wassaic, a manicured expansive yard with well-placed garden beds framing a far-reaching view. He said he plans carefully each winter for the next spring’s improvement.
The organic, environmentally responsible Maitri Farm was next, a lesson in coordinating agriculture with natural balance. The farm stand and a walk among the greenhouses brought visitors together.
Near the center of Amenia was the garden of Polly Pitts-Garvin, offering a chance to visit a robust vegetable garden with raised beds to be envious of and a remarkable absence of any insects or usual vegetable garden problems.
At Chez Cheese, the vast garden acreage surrounding the 1850s historic home of Joan Feeney and Bruce Phillips in Millerton, visitors could begin at refreshment stations where walking tour maps of the 15-acre property were available. There were streams and ponds with docks, and a dozen bridges arranged around the landscape. In the 19th-century, the property had been the home of the Wilson Cheese Factory, inspiring the name of the estate.
The Amenia Garden Tour was supported this year by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
Gary Dodson working a tricky pool on the Schoharie Creek, hoping to lure something other than a rock bass from the depths.
PRATTSVILLE, N.Y. — The Schoharie Creek, a fabled Catskill trout stream, has suffered mightily in recent decades.
Between pressure from human development around the busy and popular Hunter Mountain ski area, serious flooding, and the fact that the stream’s east-west configuration means it gets the maximum amount of sunlight, the cool water required for trout habitat is simply not as available as in the old days.
This is not a new phenomenon. It does seem to be getting worse, though.
Gary Dodson and I convened where the creek makes its final run into the Schoharie reservoir, part of the New York City water supply system, on a semi-broiling Thursday afternoon, July 11.
The goal was simple. Catch smallmouth bass, which abound in the lower section of the river.
This was hot stuff — as in an 80-degree water temperature.
The air temperature was actually slightly less at 77.
After negotiating the intensely slippery rocks, festooned with treacherous algae, the first major pool presented several difficulties, with a back eddy competing with a main flow and several large trees draped about the whole thing.
I hit on the simplest strategy, which was to flip a weighted attractor fly called a Tequilley into the start of the eddy so it would proceed slowly but steadily into the maelstrom, sinking all the while.
This worked. A proper adult smallmouth, with bronze coloring and vertical stripes, took the thing.
The point-and-shoot camera finally died, however, and I was not going to try to fumble my phone out for a nice but routine fish photo.
Why not?
Because I guarantee the fish would have made a sudden, last-moment bolt for freedom, causing me to drop the device into the drink.
Gary moved downstream while I continued trying to annoy the residents of the pool, succeeding a couple of times with different colored Wooly Buggers.
Then we all got bored and I moved off, where Gary was catching rock bass and cussing them out for not being something else.
I have to admit, they are not the most compelling critters. Something about the red eyes.
This latest trip was dominated by extremely tedious and distasteful Harry Homeowner activities, but on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings I prowled Woodland Valley Creek. By “morning” I mean “dawn,” because that was when the water temps were down to a barely acceptable 64.
I made the acquaintance of several stocked browns and of a handful of their wild cousins. The wild fish are smaller and nimbler.
The successful ploy was an Adams wet fly, size 16, drifted behind something big, like a Parachute Adams or Stimulator.