Take Stock in Vegetables

Nom de plume of Francine Wolfe Schwartz

To some people, vegetable scraps and very ripe vegetables are meant for the compost pile, but to smart people they are gold.

Combine bits and pieces of vegetables, and you can create an amazing stock the flavor basis for soups, stews and sauces.   Use stock in place of water to prepare rice or cous cous and you add a rich depth of flavor.  Sure, buying a box, can or cube of “stock” is faster, and I confess I have a few boxes of organic, low sodium stocks in my pantry closet “just in case.” But hands down I’d rather make my own stock.  Economical, but more important, I can control exactly what ingredients are used.

I keep a zip-top bag in the freezer or refrigerator and fill with chopped scraps of onions, leeks, celery, celery leaves, not so fresh carrots and parsley stems.  I may add fennel, chard, lettuce, potatoes, green beans, squash and corn cobs to deepen the flavor of the stock.  After collecting vegetables scraps, I add a 1 or 2 bay leaves, peppercorns and if the mood strikes me a few crushed cloves of garlic to season the potful of vegetable scraps before adding water. Depending on your recipe vision, you may want to add lemon grass, ginger or other herbs.

Your frozen stock “bag” can build in the freezer until you have sufficient quantity to prepare a pot of stock.  A stock bag stored in the refrigerator should be used weekly.

Because during farm season I may have an abundance of onion or celery scraps, I freeze these vegetables separately  in zip-top bags so I can add to several batches of stock.

No need to follow rigid recipes in making a good pot of vegetable stock, but a flavorful stock is dependent upon these four vital factors:

1. Use a tall, narrow pot
2. Start with cold water to extract the most flavor
3. Simmer only – do not permit stocks to boil
4. Cool properly for food safety

Fill a tall narrow stockpot with your frozen or fresh cache. A good ration is about 1 1/2 parts water to the amount of vegetables make sure to cover with about 2-inches of water.  Bring to just boil and simmer for about 1 hour and no longer.  Strain your stock through a fine- mesh strainer pushing the solids to release maximum flavor or line strainer with cheesecloth and squeeze the solids releasing more stock.

It is very important to cool stocks quickly especially meat or fish based stocks.  Improvise a cold water bath.  Place two bricks, boards or other sturdy material able to support the pot several inches apart in a deep sink.  Place the stockpot on this support to allow water to freely flow under the pot.  Fill the sink with cold water and allow to flow slowly in a constant cold stream.  Adding ice cubes to cold water further reduces the water temperature.  This is especially important in hot climates where the temperature of cold water is tepid.

Refrigerate immediately, following the 4-inch rule.  Hot food should not be refrigerated in containers any deeper than 4-inch depth or even better 3 1/2-inch depth.

source: Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher

Stock Making Tips: Freeze stock in ice cube trays.  When frozen pop trays and store cubes in zip-top plastic bags.  Be cautious adding broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower as their strong flavors dominate.  Do not add bell peppers or eggplant to avoid bitterness.

 

My Pot of Gold courtesy francine wolfe schwartz

Made-from-Scratch Roasted Vegetable Stock

A bit more time consuming, but yields a flavorful stock.

2 medium onions, halved and cut into 1-inch wedges

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch thick pieces

2 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, halved and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch pieces (leaves reserved)

4 plum tomatoes, quartered and seeded

4 ounces mushrooms, halved

6 garlic cloves, peel and smashed

1/3 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons sea salt, divided

6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place vegetables on a large, rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle thyme and 1 teaspoon salt.  Roast for 35 minutes. (Some vegetables will be quite browned; that’s fine.)

NOTE: You may want to the add salt after tasting the finished stock

Transfer vegetables to a tall narrow pot.  Add 8 cups of water, celery leaves, parsley sprigs, bay leaves and remaining teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook for 45 minutes.

Remove pot from the heat and strain stock, pressing down firmly on the vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible. Cool immediately, cover and refrigerate up to two days or freeze up to 3 months.

source: Sunday Soup, Betty Rosbottom