Home made vegetable stock / microwave vegetable stock
Every kitchen has a lot of scrap that can be put to good use. Sample a few mentioned below and let me know whether you disagree
- Scrapings of cucumber, carrots
- Stems of cauliflower, broccoli, spinach
- Veins of cabbage
- Edges of leeks, spring onions, onions
Most of this is good source of nutrition and taste. You can collect them in a freezer bag over the period of few days. Stash it in the freezer until they make up a sizable chunk.
On a day with some leisure, you can throw them in a pot of water along with some other staples. Bring it to boil and let it stand for an hour
For those of you who have microwave at home ,life is lot simpler.
Ingredients (for about 400 ml stock)
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 large potato skinned , roughly chopped
1 leek (stem and greens) roughly chopped
Any other vegetable leftovers
1 inch ginger (optional) I didnt add
few cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 inch cinnamon (optional)
few pepper corns
salt to taste
1 tspn oil
Method
1) In a large microwave safe bowl, pour the oil, bay leaves, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and garlic and mw for 30-40 seconds.
2) Add all the other ingredients along with water(3 times the total quantities).
3) MW on high for 4 min. Watch every 2 min. If water is overflowing, reduce the quantity and add in every run.
4)Let it stand for 5 min.
5) Strain the water, mash the vegetables and extract as much juices as possible.
6)Take the strained juices and water in a sterilized glass.
7)Use as required or refrigerate.
This lasts well for a month. The stock does not go bad even after that but it may become sour due to the fermentation. It is still good to be used.
If I had ever asked you to use water in place of stock, then realize that I was asking you to eat a bread when you had asked for a cake.
Remember when you could use it in Risotto or pot pie
Ingredients (for about 400 ml stock)
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 large potato skinned , roughly chopped
1 leek (stem and greens) roughly chopped
Any other vegetable leftovers
1 inch ginger (optional) I didnt add
few cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 inch cinnamon (optional)
few pepper corns
salt to taste
1 tspn oil
Method
1) In a large microwave safe bowl, pour the oil, bay leaves, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and garlic and mw for 30-40 seconds.
2) Add all the other ingredients along with water(3 times the total quantities).
3) MW on high for 4 min. Watch every 2 min. If water is overflowing, reduce the quantity and add in every run.
4)Let it stand for 5 min.
5) Strain the water, mash the vegetables and extract as much juices as possible.
6)Take the strained juices and water in a sterilized glass.
7)Use as required or refrigerate.
This lasts well for a month. The stock does not go bad even after that but it may become sour due to the fermentation. It is still good to be used.
If I had ever asked you to use water in place of stock, then realize that I was asking you to eat a bread when you had asked for a cake.
Remember when you could use it in Risotto or pot pie
Comments