I get asked sometimes why I go through the bother of making my own vegetable stock, but the way that Jim taught me is actually almost easier than going to the store and buying it, and it easier on the earth than putting all the leftover un-usables from your veggies into the trash. I do this about once per month and it’s as easy as 1…2…3…4…
During the simmering process
1. Save almost all the scraps from your veggies that you create to make dinner for about one month. These can include onion peels and ends, cores from lettuces, stalks of greens, the unsavory parts of the celery, mushroom caps and stems, stems and seeds form all kinds of peppers, tomato cores and seeds, carrot tops and peels, etc. This process is also a great way to use up the veggies that you buy too much of and don’t end up using. For instance, I like to use fresh herbs but often I don’t use the whole bunch because my recipe doesn’t require it and I don’t get the opportunity to cook again before the herbs start to rot. Simply save the leftovers before the start to go bad, stems and all, and put it with the rest of the scraps. Above I say to save almost all of your scraps…DO NOT include starchy veggies such as any kind of potato and some types of squash. This will cause your stock to be very cloudy.
2. Place all these scraps, as you create them, into plastic bags or some other container in the freezer. After you empty your bags (when you make stock) keep the same empty bags in the freezer to use them over again.
3. Once you have about 2 gallon-sized freezer bags or more full of scraps, make stock. Simply get a big stock pot (8 quart will do) and it is helpful if it has a strainer insert. Fill with about 4 quarts of water, add frozen scraps and heat to simmering/almost boil over medium heat. Add in about 2-4 TBSP chopped garlic. You will need to occasionally stir and turn the scraps. If you have a lot of scraps, you can start with half of them, simmer down the scraps until they are a brownish, mushy consistency and then strain the first half, squeezing out the stock, dump these in your compactor, composter or trash and return the strainer to the pot, adding the rest of your scraps, returning to a simmer and let go for about 20 minutes.
Cooked scraps
The more scraps you have and the more times you do the dump and re-simmer with new scraps, the richer and darker your stock will be. When you are finally done with the scraps and have drained off all the pieces, you will have a brown stock remaining.
4. Wait til the stock cools completely and then pour it into a large, gallon-size pitcher with a lid and spout pourer, (like the one you made Kool-Aid in as a kid), and store in the fridge, using it in place of water when cooking rices and grains, and in place of chicken stock in soup recipes. This will keep for about one month, just in time to make more!
P.S. You will note that I do not add salt or pepper to my stock. This is so that I can season the recipe that I am making and not have to take into consideration how much seasoning I may already have used in the prep of the stock.
