November 13, 2008

Vegetable Stock

So, its Tuesday night, I look in the fridge and all I see are vegetables about to go "bad". How am I going to possibly eat all those vegetables by myself? Then it dawns on me... now's my chance to finally make stock. About 2 hours later I have a rich, flavorful stock perfect for soups, stews or anything else requiring a stock. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:
Any vegetables that you have. I used...
1 large onion
4 carrots
1 bunch of celery
1 red pepper
1 bunch of leeks
1 whole head of garlic
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of basil
1 small bunch thyme
small handful of peppercorns
1 bay leaf
12 cups water
1/2 cup white wine (optional)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and coarsely chop all your vegetables, removing the seeds from the peppers and peeling the garlic cloves, but not chopping them. Toss the vegetables with a little oil and roast them in a shallow baking pan for 45 minutes, turning them every 15 minutes.

In the meantime, remove the stems from the herbs and place them in the pot. I used two pots because I don't have one huge pot.

When the vegetables are done roasting (its okay if the edges are dark) put them into the pot (or pots) with the 12 cups of water, cover and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, place the baking pan over two burners and heat over medium-high heat. Pour in the white wine and using a whisk, deglaze the pan. When all the alcohol has burned off and most of the delicious roasted vegetable bits have mixed in with the wine, pour it in with the water.

After the water has come to a boil, take the top off and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finally, strain the mixture using a large colander over a bowl. If you desire a thinner, clearer stock, strain again to remove the little bits of herbs and any vegetable pulp. For extra flavor, squeeze any juice from the vegetable mixture.

Now, how should I store all this stock, you ask. Simply pour into ice cube trays and freeze for use at a later date

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