Stock and Broth
This weekend, I'm making a big batch of demi-glâce. This is terrific stuff to freeze in ice cube portions for the long winter of stews and braises and rich, warm sauces.
It's a lot of trouble, Mrs. Pedicaris. You start with veal bones, which are hard to get, and roast them slowly. You chop onion and carrot and celery, and you roast them, too. Then you simmer them all day, and all evening. And you filter it twice through cheesecloth.
And then in the morning you simmer it some more, with lots of red wine and shallots. And simmer. And then you simmer it. All very gently, so it doesn't boil.
You start with a big pot full of cold water. At the end, you have a few ice cube trays of demi-glâce.
But it could be worse: Moishe Lettvin describes how he was the developer responsible for the Windows Vista shutdown user experience, along with a program manager, an assistant, 3 testers, a UI designer, and a UX expert -- plus input from the kernel team, the shell team, and many, many layers of management. It's a lot of cooks.