tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419052457833782540.post1160788657553184208..comments2011-09-07T20:37:04.836-05:00Comments on Eat Local Mississippi Market!: Is It Over, Yet? [stock, post 2]Darci Alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15814562515880637894noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419052457833782540.post-15954531633374816442008-08-24T00:58:00.000-05:002008-08-24T00:58:00.000-05:00Oh, my. I DO run on, don't I?Oh, my. I DO run on, don't I?nanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641719775570575829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419052457833782540.post-56084966259024230262008-08-24T00:57:00.000-05:002008-08-24T00:57:00.000-05:00Sure!Veggie broth is a more subtle & somewhat ...Sure!<BR/><BR/>Veggie broth is a more subtle & somewhat shorter process, actually.<BR/><BR/>You just need basic aromatics (or if you want to get all frenchy, "mirepoix"). This is usually onions, carrots & celery or celeriac, in a ratio of 2:1:1, with the addition of other flavorful vegetables & herbs to suit your ends. Garlic, thyme, parsley & bay leaves are pretty standard, but other herbs can add some nifty complexity too, like tarragon or maybe sage in small amounts.<BR/><BR/>You could simply bring the veggies & water to a simmer, but I'd think sauteing them at least a bit would be better, although really caramelizing them might be going a bit far. The more delicately flavored herbs & such should be added towards the last hour of the gentle simmering. & I mean GENTLE, & I mean HOURS, but not maybe as many as I was describing (5+).<BR/><BR/>You'd want to avoid vegetables that absorb surrounding flavors, like potatoes & zucchini-type characters.<BR/><BR/>As for your tomato scraps, I wouldn't think the skins would do much but add bitterness, but the pulp could be strained for additional juice & combined with the stock either during the simmering or at the time the stock was actually utilized. If it's fresh tomato squeezins, this is called "tomato-water" & it adds an incredibly pure tomato taste to dishes (it's how I did that tomato veloute back in June). I guess what I'm getting at here is that you don't want to get too heavy handed with the tomatoes, else you end up with tomato sauce instead of veggie stock.<BR/><BR/>I don't want to claim knowledge of any hard & fast rule, but by the time your stock has reduced by roughly 1/4, you should be about done. Then a final mild salting & skimming, straining & cooling is all that remains.nanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641719775570575829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419052457833782540.post-27852231994090568442008-08-23T21:12:00.000-05:002008-08-23T21:12:00.000-05:00I must confess to never having made my own stock b...I must confess to never having made my own stock before...but I have bag of veggie scraps in the freezer that I save for this purpose. After canning about 25 pounds of tomatoes today, I have quite a few tomato peels and juice/seeds left. I saved them, thinking I could make a tomato-veggie broth. Does that sound like it would work?Lizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13349114493228966220noreply@blogger.com