Making Vegetable Stock

A good vegetable stock is useful in a huge variety of dishes.

Vegetable stock is not only an excellent substitute for chicken stock, but is ideal used in all vegetarian fare. To make 4 cups of vegetable stock we used 2 large onions, 2 medium carrots, 3 stalks of celery, 1 whole bulb of garlic, 10 peppercorns, and a bay leaf.

1. In order for the stock to take on all of the flavors of the vegetables in it, it will need to simmer for a full hour. Because of the long simmering time, it is in the stock's best interest the vegetables be chopped into large chunks rather than small dice. Cut a peeled and halved onion into large chunks.

2. Celery leaves, especially those on the outside of the bunch, are extremely bitter and should not be added to the stock. Remove and discard these leaves from the celery stalks.

3. Slice the celery into large pieces.

4. Peel and chop the carrots into large pieces. If you would like to preserve more of the carrot's natural nutrients, do not peel it as the nutrients are in the carrot's skin. Instead, scrub the carrot under cold running water, then chop the carrot into large pieces.

5. Break up the whole bulb of garlic into individual cloves. Peel the garlic using the method outlined in the Peeling Garlic step-by-step. There is no need to chop the garlic. A full bulb of garlic is used because garlic is the base flavor in vegetable stock.

* Peeling Garlic

6. Once all of your ingredients have been prepared, combine them in a stockpot large enough to contain all of the ingredients (including enough water to cover all of the vegetables).

7. Add aromatics to the vegetable medley. We used peppercorns and a bay leaf. Often people also add herbs or scraps leftover from other dishes. Potato scraps can be added as the starch will help thicken the stock a little. Other common additions are stems from herbs like parsley, thyme, or rosemary. If you are planning on using this stock in an Asian recipe, adding fresh, peeled ginger would be appropriate.

8. Pour water into the stockpot. The vegetables should be immersed in water.

9. Turn the stove to a high temperature, and bring the stock to a quick simmer. Once the water has begun to boil, turn the stove down to low. Allow the vegetables to simmer for an hour. Any longer than an hour and the vegetables will begin to turn mushy and begin to lose all their flavorful vibrance, lending a wilted taste to the stock.

10. Strain your stock while the stock is at its peak (about an hour after it was placed on the stove). Strain your stock through a fine mesh straining device. Cheesecloth placed in a colander would also work well.

11. The stock should be light in color, sweet, and translucent. If you want a darker colored stock, caramelize the onions and carrots (see the Caramelizing Onions step-by-step) before placing them in the stockpot. Alternately, roast the vegetables until caramelized, then add them to the stockpot. Another interesting trick to making a delicious and thick vegetable stock is to use potato water that was strained from mashed potatoes in addition to (or instead of) water.

* Caramelizing Onions

Recipe by: Allrecipes Staff