Ingredients
- Vegetable stock
- 4 onions including skins, roughly chopped
- 4 ribs of celery, roughly chopped, adding leaves nearer the end
- 4 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- half dozen garlic cloves, cracked open but unpeeled
- cold water to cover
- Herbs to taste:
- bay leaves
- peppercorns
- thyme stalks
- rosemary stalks
- parsley stalks
Vegetable stock
Method
- Bring everything to the boil together, except celery leaves
- If using celery leaves add after 30min Boil for no more than 45min in total and remove from heat
- For safety sake allow to cool for an hour or so before passing the stock through a colander and then a fine mesh sieve
- If you want a super clear stock make a third pass through muslin or a paper coffee filter
Comments
Contrary to practice, vegetable stock does not benefit from several hours on the stove top; the flavour tends to muddy, and even go bitter. If using celery leaves add these 10 min from the end to preserve their herbaceous grassy notes. Use a good amount of fresh vegetables and boil for only 40-45 min; you may be surprised just how sweet the result is. Further, leave the lid off your stock pot to ensure the cleanest stock possible. I avoid adding to many woody herbs such as rosemary or thyme unless I know all the stock will be going in to something with a similar flavour profile. If want to make an Asian inspired chicken noodle soup in which case I’ll be looking to add cloves and star anise to an otherwise unperfumed stock.
Make stock in the largest quantity you can manage and freeze it down in a range of useful sized containers for soups and sauces.
