Bought a bottom round roast today

[csziggy]

Since I haven't had any beef for quite a while and they were on sale at the supermarket. I also got some baby bella mushrooms, onions, and sour cream (needed the sour cream for another recipe, but won't need all of it for that).

I like this recipe: https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/recipes/Bottom-Round-Pot-Roast-with-Mushroom-Onion-Sauce

I have all the ingredients except the beef broth. well, I do have some granulated beef bullion - but it expired six years ago so I'm a little dubious about how it will taste. I have chicken and turkey stock in the freezer, Gravy Master and wochestershire sauce in the fridge, and some red wine.

So what would you recommend I use to make a good base to substitute for beef broth?

[Enter stage left]

1. Just drink the red wine first...it won't matter what the rest tastes like.

[csziggy]

2. I don't drink alcoholic beverages. The boxed wine is solely for cooking

And yes, I know not all the alcohol evaporates out, but it adds a lot of flavor.

Thanks for the idea, though!

[Enter stage left]

3. LOL, well I seldom drink beverages without alcohol, so I guess we cancel each-other out.

[rsdsharp]

5. Do you drink?

Only to excess!

Hawkeye Pierce. 1952.

[Enter stage left]

7. My hero!

One of the greatest shows ever, both on the big screen and the tube.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Here's a link for you... Looks like you have what you need.

https://www.ashcroftfamilytable.com/substitute-for-beef-broth/

[csziggy]

10. Oh - thanks! That is a great resource.

And like you said, I seem to have what I need. I don't really want to thaw out the chicken broth, but I need to use up the red wine so that with some worcestershire sauce should do just fine and will go along with the mushroom and onion gravy. Perfect!

[Diamond_Dog]

6. Chicken broth?

Cream of mushroom soup?
V8 juice?

[Kali]

8. brown the roast well and I think it will be fine

maybe add a bay leaf and an extra half or whole onion.

you can always add the wine towards the end if you aren't getting enough flavor.

[sprinkleeninow]

9. Stroganoff?

[tishaLA]

11. Just use chicken stock and add umami bombs

Some worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, etc

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Toss out the long expired beef broth.

That stuff isn't really expensive, so buy new.

However you fix it, if there's leftover beef, make some kind of soup and freeze portions.

I live alone, and especially during the pandemic I've been making various things that I can freeze individual portions of. Fortunately, I have an extra refrigerator in the garage.

Anyway, twice so far I've beef in one form or another, and turned the leftover meat into beef with barley soup. Oh, my. Wonderful. These days I eat very little (I'm 73 years old and not terribly active) so things like this last a very long time. Shortly after the New Year I made ham (bone in, butt portion) which I ate for a couple of days. Then I made a scalloped potatoes with ham, and a large portion of ham and bean soup. I took the lazy way out with the soup and used canned beans. That made something like ten portions to freeze. I also froze hunks of the ham, one amount to be another scalloped potatoes and ham, the other to be another ham and bean soup.

Because I'm doing so much of this, making a large portion of something that I can freeze, my food costs have dropped dramatically. It helps that I live alone and I tend to prefer relatively simple meals.

I miss eating out somewhat. I used to eat out two or three times a week, and now it's maybe once every other week. The up side is that I'm saving a ton of money. Those who are in my will, will be grateful.

[csziggy]

15. Yeah, The only problem is I'm not going back into town anytime soon

We live about ten miles from any store (used to be MUCH farther but the town has moved out).

And I've done the cook big batches and frozen smaller amounts for decades. Back when I was running the farm, I'd cook on days when it was slow, then put up enough servings in batches to last 2-3 days for the two of us. Every holiday season when turkeys and hams are on sale, I got one of each, cook the turkey, and portion them out for future meals. Spiral sliced hams make this really easy, by the way. So right now I have five packs of sliced ham, two or three packs of chunked ham (from the unsliced end), and a couple of packs of turkey. some of those will later go into things that will be portion frozen for later.

We never ate out much and of course we are past delivery services.

I bought a larger size round roast just so I can freeze parts for future use. It's twice as large as needed for the recipe I linked above which serves six. So I can freeze two or three batches and still have a couple of meals out of it. I just have to scale it up.

New bouillon is on the shopping list for the next time one of us goes to the store.

[Staph]

13. I buy and frequently use Better Than Bouillon products.

Each small jar contains a concentrated paste that turns into a rich stock when mixed in boiling water. It's great when you need a small amount of stock or broth, without buying and then wasting a quart container.

You have your choice of flavors - chicken, beef, vegetable, garlic, fish, chili, ham, lobster, mushroom, turkey, and sautéed onion. I have chicken and beef in my fridge and use chicken in almost everything except beef dishes.

I buy it in my local Kroger, but you can also get it online at https://www.betterthanbouillon.com/ or on Amazon.


(Oops! I'm a bad DUer! I shop at Kroger and order stuff from Amazon from time to time.)

[csziggy]

17. Once the Better Than Bouillion is opened does it need to be refrigerated?

That's the advantage of the powdered/granulated stuff, it doesn't - but then, it gets shoved to the back of the shelf and forgotten. Maybe if it were in the refrigerator, it would get noticed and used more!

I am intrigued by the mushroom version - that would add a nice subtle flavor when I don't have mushrooms.

[Staph]

18. Yep, it does have to be refrigerated.

I stick it on a shelf in the door, next to the tube of tomato paste and jars of minced garlic and minced ginger.

[csziggy]

19. Those shelves are pretty full of condiments in my fridge

But I could find a space, I suspect. I may have to order off of Amazon - while the local stores carry the usual bouillion (chicken, beef, vegetable) they don't carry the mushroom on that has me intrigued. Plus, since my husband goes into town more often than I do, he'd be the one looking and trying to explain exactly what I want gets complicated.

Thanks!

[Phentex]

14. I doubt the bullion really expires...

It may be less concentrated. I would just make a half cup and see what it tastes and smells like.

[csziggy]

16. The dried stuff smells musty - it's in the garbage

It's just not worth risking it would ruin a large dish, especially when I have ingredients I can substitute. I need to use up the wine, anyway so that will be fine. And it will probably upgrade the dish anyway.