How To Make Vegetable Stock Recipes

Steps:

• Chop scrubbed vegetables into 1-inch chunks. Remember, the greater the surface area, the more quickly vegetables will yield their flavor.
• Heat oil in a soup pot. Add onion, celery, carrots, scallions, garlic, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. Cook over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add salt and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Strain. Discard vegetables.
• Other ingredients to consider: mushrooms, eggplant, asparagus (butt ends), corn cobs, fennel (stalks and trimmings), bell peppers, pea pods, chard (stems and leaves), celery root parings, marjoram (stems and leaves), basil, potato parings . . . Get the idea?

Steps:

• Tip everything into a large saucepan with a pinch of salt then cover with 2 litres of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 hours. Pass through a sieve and use for your intended recipe. Will keep in the fridge for a week and for six months in the freezer.

Steps:

• In a large pot place the roughly chopped vegetables. Pour in the water ( or enough to cover) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and skim and discard any impurities from the top. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, 2 hours. Strain and store in the refrigerator up to a week or freeze.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl toss the oil with onions, carrots, garlic, leeks and arrange them in a roasting pan.
• Place pan in oven and roast, stirring once, for 45 minutes or until golden brown and tender.
• In a large saucepan or stock pot combine the roasted vegetables with carrot tops, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, peppercorns, clove and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 hour or until the broth is reduced to about 8 cups. Strain.
• Additions for Summer Stock: summer squash, tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, bell peppers, corn cobs, marjoram, oregano, basil.
• Instead of first roasting vegetables, saute them over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables begin to brown. Complete recipe as above.
• Additions for Winter Stock: celery root, parsley root, dried sage, mushrooms (both dried or 1 pound fresh).

Steps:

• I have no idea how much your veggie trimmings will weigh, but I thought it best to put some sort of approximate amount in the list of ingredients. Basically, I just fill a gallon baggie and use that and the weight of the baggie just depends on what kinds of trimmings I've put in during the week.
• I keep a gallon freezer baggie in the freezer and dump my veggie trimmings in it after each meal I cook. In no time at all, maybe a week or two, the bag is full and ready to use for making stock.
• Empty the gallon baggie of veggie trimmings into a large stew pot or stock pot, along with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Add 8 cups of water and see where your water level is. Remember it. This is the point where you will refill after reducing. Go ahead and add the other 4 cups of water and the salt. Resist the urge to stir!
• Bring to a nice simmer over high heat, then reduce heat to maintain the simmer.
• Never ever stir! You can use the back of a wooden spoon to gently push the veggies down into the liquid every now and then, but don't stir. If you do, your stock will come out cloudy. By resisting the urge to stir, your stock will be crystal clear and beautiful. If it does cloud up, it's still good, just not nearly as pretty.
• When the liquid has reduced by 4 cups, add another 4 cups of water and continue to simmer. Do this 2 more times, for a total of 3 times. You are essentially reducing the water 100% by reducing by a third three times.
• After the final reduction, remove from heat and strain through a colander. Squeeze all of the stock out of the veggies, then discard the veggies.
• Strain the stock through a sieve, and then strain again through a fine mesh. I use a permanent coffee filter for this step.
• At this point, I pour the stock off into plastic cups in 8 ounce portions. Let cool completely at room temperature, then freeze. Cooling your stock off too quickly results in clouding.
• When the stock is frozen, I pop each stock "cube" out of its cup, wrap it in parchment or wax paper, and put all the stock into a big gallon freezer bag.
• To reconstitute, melt an 8 ounce portion of the frozen stock, add an equal amount of water and a teaspoon of salt. Stir well to dissolve the salt. The stock will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
• I use this stock for rice, soups, sauces, etc. If the recipe calls for water and it's a savory dish, I use stock instead. It can also be substituted for chicken stock in most cases.
• This recipe makes 8 cups of stock and dilutes to 16 cups.
• Don't worry if you're not a big veggie eater. I live alone and cook for 1, and I don't eat as many veggies as I should, and still I have enough trimmings to make stock every 7 to 14 days. My bags are usually full of onion and garlic skins, onion ends, pepper ends and seeds and membranes, celery ends, cucumber ends and peels, salad trimmings, and herb stems. The stock is fantastic! If you throw in some red onion skin, your stock will be a lovely mahogany color.

Steps:

• Remove the tops/bottoms/skins/stems from any vegetables you are preparing (avoid vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or cauliflower as they will add a bitter taste to your stock) and place them in a ziplock bag - they can stay frozen up to 6 months.
• Note: You can add many other vegetable scraps (think sweet!) - i.e. corn cobs, winter squash, zucchini, and other squash, beet greens, fennel, chard, lettuce, parsnips, green beans, pea pods, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, asparagus, and herbs like dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro, and basil.
• Continue like this until bag is full.
• Dump bag into pot and fill ¾ of the pot (or until scraps just start to float) with water.
• Bring water to a boil and then let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.
• Strain water out of stock.
• Refrigerate stock up to 4 days, or freeze up to 3 months.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Reserve any parts that you are trimming off or peeling away (including tops, bottoms, skins, and stems) from the vegetables and herbs suggested above. (Avoid scraps from vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or cauliflower, as their strong flavors can overpower your stock.) Place the scraps in a one-gallon airtight storage container, and keep them in the freezer for up to six months. You can add many other vegetable and herb scraps, including corn cobs, winter squash, zucchini, summer squash, beet greens, fennel fronds, chard stems, lettuce, parsnips, green beans, pea pods, bell peppers, eggplant, asparagus, and herbs like dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro, and basil.
• Keep adding scraps until the storage container is full.
• Transfer the contents of the container into a large pot and fill three-quarters of the pot (or until the scraps just start to float) with water.
• Bring water to a boil and then let it simmer for 30 minutes.
• Using a sieve, strain the stock to remove the solids. Let stock cool completely.
• Stock can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
• Enjoy!