vegetable stock

Basic Stock Tips
Soup

It's National Soup Month, so Stock Up on Stock

A good stock is the key ingredient which great soups are built upon.
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A good stock is the key ingredient which great soups are built upon. Whether you make your own stock at home or use store bought versions, the foundation of flavors provided by the stock is what keeps soups from being bland and uninteresting. Having stock on hand is really convenient if you're ever in a pinch for a quick meal. Grab the whatever leftover vegetables you have in your refrigerator, toss in some meat if you like, and you've got a heartwarming (and nutritious) meal in no time at all.

Homemaking stock is a simple and great way to make your leftover chicken carcass useful (and I love to find a purpose for seemingly useless items). Homemade chicken stock takes hours to make (a great weekend project idea) but the result is well worth the effort. Homemade vegetable stock takes much less time and is an important ingredient for vegetarians; it's so rewarding to make yourself. Stock freezes well and is easy to defrost making it easy to store and use.

A few basic stock-making tips include cooking the ingredients with cold water (to extract the collagen) and skimming off any scum in meat stocks. If you want to remove fat from your stock, cool it and spoon of the solidified fat that collects on top.

Do you have any stock tips that you swear by?

Source: Flickr User FotoosVanRobin

Save Vegetables Peelings to Make Low-Sodium Homemade Vegetable Broth
Eco

Smarter Eats: Save Those Scraps

You can save money and eat healthier by making your own veggie broth.
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You can save money and eat healthier by making your own veggie broth. Step it up a notch and make it by using leftover veggie scraps. Not only will your broth have a nice, rich flavor, you'll also be cutting down on waste.

Whenever I cook with vegetables, I put the scraps into a big plastic bag to make a broth with at the end of the week. Potato, parsnips, and carrot peelings, the outer layers of cabbage, and the tops of onions and celery stalks, always make an excellent base. I have a separate bowl that all my veggie scraps go into while I'm cooking, and during cleanup I just dump everything into the plastic bag. Depending on how soon I'll use the scraps, I keep them in the refrigerator or the freezer.

To find out how to make the broth, read more

Reader Tip: Inexpensive Vegetable Broth
Tips

Reader Tip: Inexpensive Vegetable Broth

While cruising around on TeamSugar, I came across member daisymae051479's post for an inexpensive vegetable broth.
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While cruising around on TeamSugar, I came across member daisymae051479's post for an inexpensive vegetable broth. They go through a lot of veggies and aromatics in her household and instead of tossing the odds and ends out, she turns them into veggie broth! I loved her clever thinking and had to share it with all of you. To find out her technique, read more