Veggie Stock

It's been a while since I have written. My sister is currently in Belize (I think) and my mother has not yet posted (though hopefully this will change soon).

I was making carrot soup yesterday, planning on posting about it but then I realized that there is an important first step for addressing soups, and that is stock! Old bones or carcasses make great meat stocks, but since we are pretty much vegetarian cooks here I will just address veggie stock.

Veggie Stock - soup is always better with home-made stock. It's not very difficult to make and saves lots of money with a few little tips, as well as letting you control the amount of salt you use if someone in your house has high blood pressure. Also, if you have a very special soup you are making you can make stock that will go especially well with those particular flavors.

Planning for stock:

Whenever you chop up veggies, consider freezing the ends: carrot peelings, sweet potato and potato skins, the green part of leeks, the greens off of carrots, the hearts of celery, onion skins. If you wash the veggies carefully before prepping them for other dishes all of these usual candidates for cast offs can be saved and used in home-made stock. Much to the consternation of my husband I have a very large bag of ends that I keep in the freezer till I have a chance to make stock.

When I finally get around to making the stock I will usually add an additional handful of garlic cloves, onion, carrot or celery or any other veggie that is languishing in my fridge right at the edge of usefulness.

a typical list for my stock:
two gallon bags of peelings, and leek ends
yam or potato
yellow or red onion
carrots
celery
fresh italian parsley
thyme
basil
(I use whatever is sitting around unused, but this is a typical list for me)
must haves:
a few cloves of garlic
a few cups of aging red wine
bay leaves
black pepper

You put all of the veg and herb matter that you will be using in a large pot (stock pot) just cover the veg in cool water (preferably filtered if you care) and cook uncovered on low for at least an hour, maybe more if you have time. I usually add a little salt to the mix, but not much.

Continue adding water to keep the veg covered over the next hour-plus of cooking, so that the veg is always covered just a bit. Feel free to stir around and taste to make sure you don't need more garlic or more herbs. You will need to occasionally skim the top of the stock. The scum doesn't taste good so just keep an eye out for build up and remove; it comes right up with a paper towel or kitchen towel and isn't that much of a hassle (unlike the greasy scum of meat stocks it's not a big deal).

You can add dried herbs if you don't have fresh, and don't worry if it doesn't taste like soup, it's just supposed to have a pleasant veggie flavor and be a good starting point for soups.

Once you feel the stock is done, you will have to strain the liquid and let it cool before putting it into containers for keeping.

Things to watch out for: the roots of onions (gritty stock from the dirt), bell pepper stems and seeds (they make the stock too bitter)

Things that make stock yummier: beets make the color dark and rich and sweet, the last portions of wine from a bottle you would drink (red or white), the more fresh herbs the better, bay leaf

I then portion the stock into 2 or 4 cup containers and freeze them till I need them.

Any other ideas re:stock? Any good pointers?