1 package of oxtail
Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tsp vegetable oil

3 small (or 2 large) turnips, peeled and large diced
1 large rutabaga, peeled and large diced
1 large yam or sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 cup carrots, peeled and large diced
3 medium onions, peeled and large diced
1-2 cup celery, large diced
3 whole shallots, peeled and large diced
3 bulbs (not cloves, but actual whole bulbs) of garlic, all individual cloves peeled
Optional:  any other root vegetable you have hanging around that you want to throw in the pot
Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Seasoning
Mrs. Dash's tomato herb medley
4-6 large finger size sprigs of fresh rosemary
1-2 pinches dried sage (optional)
1-3 finger size sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
1 tbsp oil (optional)
kosher salt (optional)
cracked black pepper (optional)

saved stock OR
canned low sodium beef stock, chicken stock

Still need to write method.  Add pictures, using iron skillet = iron plus low oil

This is in reference to the previous post linking an article on broth

As I was reading it over, I found myself nodding my head at the description of the stock making process - something we used to do daily in the restaurants I worked in.  Veal glace in particular took days to make - rinsing the bones, roasting them in huge pans for hours before adding stock vegetables, herbs and smearing on tomato paste.  Back in the oven again and roasting some more until the paste was somewhat caramelized with the edges drying and turning dark.  Dumping all the paste smeared bones and vegetables into a large stockpot, covering with water and letting sit over a low flame all night. 

We would come in the next morning and drain the stock through the spigot in buckets, pour water over the bones again just to cover and make veal wash with that.  The stock itself would be cooled overnight.  When we came in the third day, the fat would have congealed.  We removed it and began reducing the stock slowly, never boiling it.  Toward the end we would pour in red wine and let the two flavors simmer and reduce together... heavenly!  It went from gallons of stock to mere quarts.

These days, I rarely have time for such a long and involved process, no matter how easy the actual steps are.  For the most part, here is how I get my stock:  Whenever I roast any type of meat - chicken, pork, beef - after removing the meat from the pan, I pour all the pan juices into a clear 2 cup measuring cup OR I pour it into a simple clear plastic container (like Glad for example) and refrigerate overnight.  In the morning, the fat from the pan juices will have risen to the top and congealed.  I take that fat off the top, throw it in the trash, and keep what's left.  I either keep it in my fridge if I think I might use it during the week, or I save it in the freezer.  Depending on how much space I have or how ambitious I am feeling, I either freeze it in the same container I used to cool it OR I dump it into a larger container with similar stock.  Beef with beef, chicken with chicken, pork with pork, etc.  I don't normally remelt it if I am dumping it into a larger container, I just chop it up a bit and put it in. 

Here is an example of some stock I made this way, then using to make a braise of oxtail and vegetables.

As you can see, the stock I saved from a previous roast is extremely gelatinous to start off with. 

The oxtails have a lot of cartilage and bone, and with a long braise the cartilage seems to 'melt' and become velvety in texture.  It is absolutely one of the most delicious pieces of meat. 

After the braise, I strain the liquid off from the vegetables and cool overnight once again.  The fat has rendered off the bones after many hours of slow cooking in the oven (I do almost all my braises on the oven and not on the stove top) and rises to the top as the liquid cools.  The next day I skim the fat, reheat the ingredients with the stock and voila!  Tasty dinner.  When you are eating oxtail for the first time (after skimming the fat), you might be a bit confused when coming across pieces that aren't directly "meat".  That is the cartilage, broken down into tender pieces that have the velvety texture and delicious taste of seasoned fat in your mouth but are not. 

After reading the article on broth, I made this braise for Olivia and she loved it.  She still needs her food to be soft solids, but this meat was SO tender that we just shredded it into small pieces and she was able to eat it.  I fork mashed the vegetables and she really loved her dinner.  She can't feed herself yet, so we spooned it into her mouth. 

She is currently 19 months old.

The article I am linking to was written by Sally Fallon.

About the Author...

Sally Fallon is founding president of the Weston A Price Foundation, a non-profit nutrition education foundation with over 400 local chapters and 9000 members. She is also the founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, which has as its goal universal access to clean raw milk from pasture-fed animals. Author of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions and also of Eat Fat Lose Fat (Penguin), both with Mary G. Enig, Phd, Sally has a encyclopedic knowledge of modern nutritional science as well as ancient food ways. Her grasp on the work of Weston Price is breath taking and her passion for health freedom, inspiring. In each edition of Nourished Magazine Sally answers your questions about nutrition, health, food and medical politics


The article, "Beautiful Broth",  is excellent with a lot of useful information.  What I found most interesting and applicable to PWS was the following:

Properly prepared, meat stocks are extremely nutritious, containing the minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes, a form that is easy to assimilate....

...stock is also of great value because it supplies hydrophilic colloids to the diet. Raw food compounds are colloidal and tend to be hydrophilic, meaning that they attract liquids. Thus when we eat a salad or some other raw food, the hydrophilic colloids attract digestive juices for rapid and effective digestion. Colloids that have been heated are generally hydrophobic - they repel liquids, making cooked foods harder to digest. However, the proteinaceous getlatin in meat broths has the unusual property of attracting liquids - it is hydrophilic - even after it has been heated. The same property by which gelatin attracts water to form desserts, like Jello, allows it to attract digestive juices to the surface of cooked food particles....

Gelatin acts first and foremost as an aid to digestion and has been used successfully in the treatment of many intestinal disorders, including hyperacidity, colitis and Crohn’s disease. Although gelatin is by no means a complete protein, containing only the amino acids arginine and glycine in large amounts, it acts as a protein sparer, allowing the body to more fully utilize the complete proteins that are taken in. Thus, gelatin-rich broths are a must for those who cannot afford large amounts of meat in their diets....

Part 2 coming shortly...

My daughter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a genetic disorder that will eventually leave her feeling perpetually hungry but with the cruel irony of also having a low metabolism, among other issues.  She will need about half the calories as an adult that you or I would. 

I used to work as a professional Chef and have a fairly good knowledge of food, cuisines, flavor profiles and some basic health and nutrition information.  However, it's a whole new world with Olivia's food.  Not only will she be hungry, but her body lacks/needs a lot of other essentials that certain types of food or supplements might help with.   No one is completely sure yet how it works, and this blog is not meant to be taken as medical or nutritional advice.  Use the information at your own risk and be discerning about your own child's needs - they are all different.

I am giving myself a crash course in nutritionally dense and calorically light foods.  After searching and bookmarking and then trying to remember again where I found what piece of information, I decided there had to be a better way.  This blog is mainly my own attempt to keep better track of the information I need, the food I create and the recipes/supplements I try for her syndrome. 

I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts - I hope this eventually becomes a useful resource for not just myself but other parents struggling with the same issues.  Please keep in mind I am not a medical or nutritional authority and I am still learning as I go.