• Place the beef, onion, carrots, celery, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a large pot.

  Add just enough water to barely cover the ingredients. During cooking, add only enough additional water to keep everything just covered if needed.

  Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for about 3 hours, or until the beef is fork tender and the vegetables are completely soft.

  Remove and discard the bay leaf.

  Strain the mixture, reserving all of the cooking liquid.

  Transfer the cooked beef and vegetables to a blender.

  Add only enough of the reserved cooking liquid to blend the mixture into a smooth, thick puree. The goal is a concentrated puree, so you may not need all of the cooking liquid.

  Spoon the puree into silicone freezer molds.

  Freeze until solid, then transfer the cubes to a freezer-safe bag or airtight container.

Notes

• Cutting the vegetables into a small dice helps them become completely tender during the three-hour simmer.

  Using only enough water to barely cover the ingredients creates a much richer, more concentrated bouillon.

  The number of cubes this recipe makes will vary depending on the size of your freezer molds.

  Use one or more cubes in soups, stews, gravies, sauces, rice, or dissolve them in hot water to make homemade beef broth.