Rich Lamb Stock

Total Time: 7 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 6 hrs

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs lean bone-in lamb shoulder (fresh, not smoked) or 2 1/2 lbs lamb shank, cut into 3 inch chunks (fresh, not smoked)
• 1/2 small pig's foot, split (about 1 pound)
• 4 cups cold chicken stock (enough to barely cover the meat and bones)
• 4 cups cold water, enough to cover the meat and bones by about 1 inch, plus a little to deglaze the pan and stockpot
• 1 large yellow onion, halved (12 ounces)
• 2 stalks celery, leaves trimmed off (2 ounces)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 -5 whole black peppercorns

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 450 degrees f.
• 2 crowd, but without piling them up, the lamb and pig’s foot in a shallow roasting pan or in a 10- to 12-inch ovenproof skillet.
• 3 (if you briefly preheat the pan over a low flame before you add the lamb, it will sear on contact and be less likely to stick later on.) you should barely see the bottom of the pan; otherwise, the drippings will tend to burn in the exposed spots.
• 4 roast until golden, 30 to 40 minutes.
• 5 check the progress after about 25 minutes, and rearrange the lamb, or turn it over, as needed, to promote even coloring.
• 6 you may need to rotate the pan.
• 7 transfer the lamb and foot, still warm, to a deep 8- to 10-quart stockpot.
• 8 pour off all of the fat from the pan, then add about 1/4 cup cold water to it, set over low heat, and scrape and stir to melt any gold or chestnut-colored drippings; don’t work on any black ones.
• 9 taste.
• 10 if they are nice and lamby, pour these reconstituted drippings into the stockpot; if the liquid tastes all scorched – like over-browned bacon – discard it.
• 11 add the cold chicken stock, then add water to cover by about an inch.
• 12 (if using unsalted chicken stock, add a few pinches of salt.) bring to a simmer and skim the foam.
• 13 poke under any exposed chunks of meat, then skim any new foam that rises to the surface.
• 14 add the onion, celery, bay leaf, and peppercorns and stir them under.
• 15 simmer uncovered, without skimming or further stirring but tasting regularly, for 4 to 5 hours, until the stock is richly flavored and the color is of maple syrup, and has some body; check for this last by chilling a few drops of stock on a plate.
• 16 you may need to adjust the heat to control the simmer, and you may need to poke the bones or add a few ounces of water to keep the meat and bones submerged during the long extraction.
• 17 strain the stock promptly; leave the meat and vegetable chunks in the strainer to continue dripping.
• 18 immediately pour about 1/4 cup water into the stockpot and swirl it briefly, to liquefy and capture the syrupy stock that is clinging to the pan.
• 19 pour this over the meat and vegetables, to rinse some of the rich syrup from their surfaces into the strained stock below.
• 20 leave the stock to cool completely.
• 21 if not using right away, cover and refrigerate with the layer of fat intact – it will help preserve the stock until needed.