Vegetable Stock | Imamother

Amarante

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:36 am

Many recipes call for chicken stock and if they are dairy or parve, vegetable stock needs to be used. Commercial vegetable stock is generally terrible and one can easily prepare vegetable stock. It freezes well and also is a wonderful way to use wilted veggies or veggies on their last legs. You can create a bag in the freezer and then make the stock when you have accumulated enough.

This is a template for veggies although one doesn't want to use strongly flavored vegetables as that would overpower the taste of the stock. See

Vegetable Stock

Excerpt From: Gil Marks. - Olive Trees and Honey.

About 21⁄2 quarts

Vegetable stock has a delicate flavor, which will vary slightly from batch to batch even if you always use the same vegetables. You can add other vegetables than those listed, but do not overdo strongly flavored ones, particularly members of the cabbage family, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, and kohlrabi. Avoid adding bell peppers, which impart an off flavor. For a more delicate taste, do not sauté or roast the vegetables. If you don’t have time to make stock, use vegetable bouillon cubes, but beware of the extra sodium and MSG in some brands.

Use vegetable stock as a base for other soups, or serve it by itself with noodles, matza balls, or rice.

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 onions, coarsely chopped (for a darker stock, do not skin)
3 carrots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery with leaves, coarsely chopped
2 leeks (white and light green parts only), washed and coarsely chopped
3 quarts water
1 to 2 parsnips or turnips, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 cup peelings from well-scrubbed potatoes, or 1⁄4 cup brown lentils, or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered (optional)
5 to 6 cloves garlic
10 to 12 sprigs fresh parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
About 2 teaspoons table salt or 1 tablespoon kosher salt (optional)
6 to 8 whole black peppercorns

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and leeks and sauté until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Or, combine those ingredients in a roasting pan and bake, uncovered, in a preheated 450°F oven for 1 hour, then transfer to a large pot.

2. Add all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, partially cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and let stand for 30 minutes.

3. Strain the stock through a colander, pressing out any liquid, then discard the solids. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

NOTES For extra richness, save the water after cooking vegetables and use it as part or all of your vegetable stock’s cooking liquid. You can also save vegetable scraps and trimmings (onion skins, carrot tops and peels, potato skins, celery leaves, and so on) in the freezer and add them to enhance your stock. In fact, some restaurants use only scraps to make stock, about 2 cups for every 4 cups of water—but at a loss of flavor.

A general rule of thumb when seasoning stock is, for every 4 cups of water, use 2 tablespoons fresh herbs or 2 teaspoons dried herbs, and 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 teaspoon table salt (1⁄2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt), 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or 3 tablespoons miso (fermented soy paste). Stock reduces as it simmers, intensifying its flavors, so it is best not to add too much salt at the beginning of cooking. If you use stock as the base for a soup, be careful about adding additional salt called for in the soup recipe. If the soup tastes too salty, try adding a peeled raw potato and cook until enough excess salt is absorbed, then discard the potato.