Jeri, I found the following unusual recipe (which I have adapted) on the "way to his heart" blog. It makes copious amounts of delicious Au Jus which I freeze for later beef gravy or beef soup base after feeding the family the beef dip for which it is intended. So easy and you can add any prime rib beef drippings to it while reheating.

DRIP BEEF

Ingredients

. 1 whole 2.5 to 4 pound chuck roast
. 1/4 cup butter
. 1 large onion, sliced thick
. 3 cloves garlic, peeled
. 1/2 cup regular soy sauce
. 1 cup sherry
. 4 cups water
. No salt or pepper
. Toasted and buttered rolls

Heat butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Saute the onions for several minutes, or until starting to brown.

Set chuck roast on top of onions. No need to brown the meat. Add all remaining ingredients. Cover pot and simmer (very low heat) on the stove for 6 hours, or until the beef is fork tender and falling apart. Shred meat with two forks until all large chunks are gone.

Serve on toasted, buttered rolls. Top with cheese and place under broiler until melted if desired.

Strain onions out for a clear Au Jus. Pour some of the juice into small dishes for an Au Jus to dip sandwiches in.

Remaining Au Jus freezes well. Any unused shredded beef can be used for beef pot pies or beef soup. A very adaptable recipe with a number of uses.

I think your recipe sounds good....with the beef ribs and shank meat...I would toss a couple of whole cloves of garlic into the mix when I cook it and a couple of bay leaves. then I would season the resultant stock, with a generous amount of worchestershire, a less then generous amount of soy sauce....and check to see if it needs more salt.
And instead of the 4 cups of water, I would boil the bones in boxed beef broth....you are looking for a big beefy flavor for your au jus.
Linda C

OK - I incorporated all of the suggestions from this and the other thread. Nandina - your recipe sure is sounding easy and good! :-)

Do you think this is Over Kill???

Make-Ahead Au Jus

8 pounds soup bones
4 pounds shank beef
2 onions, chopped coarse
1 head garlic - halved

2 cups red wine

2 rib celery, chopped coarse
2 peeled carrot, chopped coarse
2 bay leaves
1/4 Soy Sauce
1/4 C Worcestershire
10 cups low-sodium beef stock
4 sprigs Thyme

Roast in 350 deg. oven soup bones, shank beef, garlic, and onion. Roast till brown. Transfer to Slow-Cooker.

Deglaze roasting pan with red wine and cook over high heat until reduced. Add to Slow-Cooker.

Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours.

Strain the Au Jus. Separate the fat but reserve for Yorkshire Pudding.

Jeri, this sounds heavenly! I am going to follow this recipe, leaving out the soy sauce, and perhaps adding some mushrooms at the end. Being able to prepare this ahead of time is such a stress-reducer. Bon appetit!

Just wanted to report that I made a version of this (a takeoff on Woodie's Make Ahead Turkey Gravy) for our prime rib Christmas dinner and it was absolutely fabulous!

I roasted about 6 pounds of beef shanks and marrow bones along with 2 large chopped onions, 3 chopped stalks of celery, 3 chopped carrots, kosher salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil at 400 degrees for 1 1/4 hours, stirring a couple of times.

I deglazed the roasting pan with a cup of dry white wine.

All contents of the roasting pan then went into the stockpot along with 4 cups of boxed low-sodium beef broth and 4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth and 2 bay leaves. Simmered that for a full hour or longer, stirring occasionally.

Strained it through a sieve, pressing juices through the solids and refrigerated overnight.

Next day, took beef fat from top of stock (there was very little), supplemented with butter in a saucepan and whisked in flour to make a roux. Heated stock to steaming hot, then gradually incorporated it starting with small dribbles into the roux with continuous whisking. This produced a very dark, moderately thick, intensely flavored gravy. (I could have skipped the prime rib entirely and just eaten this gravy for dinner.)

It was my DH's birthday and he requested mushrooms in the gravy so I sauteed a combination of sliced portobello, shiitake and oyster mushrooms in butter and then added them to the gravy.

I am grateful to Woodie for making gravy a no-stress, make ahead, delicious accompaniment to special dinners.