Fresh vegetable stock

Flicking through old diaries and old scraps of recipes is always one of the things that I find most enjoyable on a lazy day.  Sometimes, it can be very frustrating though, as my notes have not always been complete.  My recent rediscovery of some notes about the differences between Spring and Winter stocks has made me scratch my head about some of the origins of my diary entries.

 

However, one thing I do regularly, sad as it may seem, is brew Spring stock.  It tends to be light and vegetable based as I find I can add a chicken carcass or fish bones to it for meatier recipes as required.

 

However, a good light, herby, vegetable stock is always my base.  This recipe makes approximately 600 mls of stock.

 

• Three medium sized leeks, cleaned, topped and tailed and cut in half
• Three medium carrots, cleaned, topped and tailed and cut in half
• Four or five large cabbage or kale stalks
• Some mushroom stalks or a small handful of dried mushrooms
• A bunch (approximately one and a half cms diameter worth of stalks) of "woody" herbs.  Amongst these I would include oregano, marjoram, parsley, borage, lovage, thyme
• A dozen black pepper corns and a couple of bay leaves
• Two litres of cold water

If you want a little more punch (perhaps its early spring so you'd like a little more heat, add a stick of ginger and a dozen or so, cracked, coriander seeds).

 

Put all in a pot. Bring to a rolling boil. Turn down the heat to simmer and reduce the quantity of liquid by half.  Strain the vegetables and then reduce the liquid further to taste.  I normally reduce it again, by just under half (hence the 600 mls).  Allow to cool and then divide into either 150 ml or 200 ml and freeze.