Making Your Own Stock

Soup stocks are a great thing to always have on hand. They can perk up even the dullest of recipes. You can save a lot of fat and calories by using stock for sauteeing instead of oils or fat. You can also add lots of flavour to everyday foods (such as rice) by substituting stock for water in cooking.

Stock making is not difficult and since it makes use of scraps and leftovers that might otherwise be thrown out, it is very frugal. It is handy to keep bags in the freezer for collecting ingredients such as vegetable scraps and meat bones. When you've gathered enough ingredients, you are ready to make stock.

Keep small containers of stock in your freezer, so that it's ready at a moment's notice. We like to use some old yogurt containers that happen to hold exactly one cup to freeze the stock, then pop the frozen disks into freezer bags for easier storage. Another handy tip is to freeze stock in ice cube trays, then transfer the cubes to a freezer bag. Either way, you have perfectly measured stock ready for cooking.

The four main types of stocks are vegetable, chicken, meat, and fish. You can often substitute one for another in many (but not all) recipes, with little to no ill affect to the overall recipe.

You can make any stock more intense in flavour by simply simmering it for an extended period of time until the liquid volume is reduced.

Making Vegetable Stock

The flavour of your vegetable stock will vary slightly depending on the mix of vegetables you use. You can use all kinds of vegetables, with the exception of cabbages (which include broccoli and cauliflower), which can overpower the flavour of vegetable stock. Tomatoes can also overwhelm stock flavour, so keep the amount of them small (unless, of course, you want a strong tomato flavour). Some people find that asparagus also overwhelms the stock, while others find that asparagus adds a depth and richness to vegetable stock.

While making vegetable stock is a great way to clean out the refrigerator of food that is less than fresh, don't limit your stock making ingredients to whole vegetables. Start saving peels (well washed, of course) and trimmings while you cook. Your stock will be strained before being used, and all those unattractive peels will be gone, but they will have imparted a lovely flavour to your stock. Some excellent vegetables (and vegetable scraps) to use are: onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, celery, mushrooms, peas, corn (empty corn cobs can also add lots of flavor to stock), parsley, green beans, beets, bell peppers, scallions, green onions, shallots, fresh basil or other herbs, etc.

You can also add some fruit or fruit scraps to your vegetable stock ingredient mix. Apples, pears, and even pineapple works well.

A good rule of thumb is to have about half solid ingredients to half water. Throw in a tablespoon or so of whole black peppercorns and a bay leaf or two for added flavour. Cover your ingredients with the water, bring to a boil, and let simmer for about an hour. Cool and strain to remove any scraps. That's all there is to it. You've just made vegetable stock.