A great soup base is a blessing. Keep some on hand and you can have a wonderful, tasty, nourishing meal in just a few minutes.

This is a meat-based stock. If at all possible, use grass-fed beef. If that is not available to you, then use the best quality organic beef you can get.

The most flavorful stocks begin with bones and various bits of meat. Tough meat is fine, as it will be cooked until it almost disintegrates. The bones will give off gelatin, which will add a rich, smooth texture and flavor. If some of the bones are marrow bones, this will give even more flavor and nutrition to the resulting stock.

Basic Beef Stock

1 gallon water
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 lbs meaty soup bones
3 lbs assorted meat chunks
8 - 12 low-sodium beef bouillon cubes (or powder)
Salt
Pepper

Put water in a large soup pot.
Bring to a boil.
Add onions, garlic, celery, and carrots.
Bring to boil again.
Add bones and meat.
NOTE: Be sure to use a pot large enough to hold all the ingredients comfortably, with several inches headroom, to cut down on the occurrence of boil-overs.
Bring to boil again.
When it boils, turn heat to medium (some bubbling).
Cover, and cook for 1 & 1/2 - 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Add bouillon cubes/powder for the last hour of cooking.
Let soup cool.
Strain.
Season with salt and pepper.
Remove meat from bones.

IMPORTANT: If you add raw meat, be sure to cook the soup until the meat is thoroughly cooked.

Now you have a wonderful soup stock to use in many ways:

• You can freeze it in 1 - 2 cup portions, to use when needed as a base for many kinds of soups, sauces, and gravies.
• You can simmer a batch and add barley, rice, or noodles, and add some of the reserved cooked meat, or any cooked meat.

VARIATION: Chicken Stock

Use chicken parts in place of beef bones and meat, and chicken bouillon cubes in place of beef bouillon cubes.