Homemade Vegtable broth

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I am looking for a recipe or directions to make a homemade vegtable broth? Can you then freeze it in quart jars or can it? I have tons of leftover fresh vegtable trimmings in the summer and was wanting to preserve it for winter soups? What seasonings do you add, or do you wait to do that when you actually use it? What vegtable combinations are good, what do you avoid? Thank you!

-- Marie in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), February 21, 2002

Answers

I like to keep a container in freezer for dis dat and the tuther leftovers, etc. for purpose of making soup later. A Rubbermaid type plastic container works better than a plastic bag. Less apt to get freezer flavor. Keep adding to the contianer until enough to make soup. Usually freeze chicken broth from boiling chicken in containers size I will want for use later on. Liquids from vegetables are great to save and use for liquid in the soup.

Potatoes turn mushy when frozen but that is o.k. for soups, will be the thickening agent. Spinach is not the best to add to the soup pot unless you are a spinach lover.

Fresh garlic will get into the air of the freezer regardless of what you cage it in and if in frig freezer the ice will taste/smell like garlic.

Cut foods in size wanted for the soup pot before freezing.

Celery tops work great but the leaves will turn brown if not used soon. The top stalk parts work great.

-- Marie (prettyhollow@yahoo.com), February 21, 2002.


I always keep a ziplock baggie, gallon sized, in the freezer. I put all vegetable parings in them for soup stock. I also keep a bag for bones from dinner for the same purpose. So when I make something that calls for onion, in go the butts and heads, Garlic same, don't forget the skins. Celery ends, tops, and the end bulb. I wash them first and for potatoes I scrub the skin first then peel it.

If we have roast chicken, or something else for dinner with bones I'll save the bones in the other bag. Also if I am making chicken noodle soup and I don't have bones or meat, I will get chicken breasts that are split with the bones in and cook them in the water along witht he vegetable parings. After hours of simmering I'll drain the broth/stock, and pull the meat off the bones.

Susan

-- Susan in Minnesota (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), February 21, 2002.


I make a mixture of a little olive oil and couple tablespoons of tomatoe paste in a large roaster. Stir and mix the raw veggies in this mixture and sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme, basil, margoram, and sprinkle over it all a few garlic cloves (peeled) and bake until all of them are tender and cooked all the way through. Don't remove the vegetalbes from the pan when done. Just leave them there and add water to cover to come about 3-4 inches above the veggies. Bring to a boil on stove top and simmer for 45 min to an hour. When done you can either strain the mixture or if you like the veggies you used in the soup base, you can blend the broth with the veggies in batches in a blender or food processor. If you want a meat base soup mix, just add some chicken or beef boullion when you pour in the water. Cut back the salt if you use the boullion. This recipe comes out perfect every time and is an easy one pan to clean method.

-- Karen (mountains_mama@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Resident chef here.... Here is a great recipe for vegie stock ( it can be canned quarts for 35 mins @ 10# pressure..) 7 quarts water, 1 # carrots ( this can be the peelings or leftovers) 6 stalks of celery, ( again trimmings and leaves too ) 3 medium onions, 2 red or yellow or green sweet bell peppers, ( use trimmings if you want but no seeds as they get very bitter when cooked ) , 2 large tomatoes, ( no seeds on that one either) 2 meduium turnips diced, 3 cloves of garlic, 3 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon whole thyme, 8 pepercorns ( if you want it pretty, 1 tablespoon black pepper , ground if you dont care ). cook all this for about 2 hours. Now if you dont care if its pretty, you can run all this through a masher ( ricer or other) if you care about how it looks, ( like for some soups with fish ect..) then strain all this. I use a mesh stainer with 4 layers of cheese cloth myself. If im gonna use it for homeade soups or for casseroles ect... I just mush up the vegies as they have some nutritional value and flavor. BEWARE!! Remove the bay leaves either way. I also have another tip. In the summer , I always grow bell peppers. My family and I dont like them to eat ( stuffed ect..) so I only grow about 5 or 6 plants... 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 green . As they ripen, I mince them and spread them on wax paper lined cookie sheets, and place them in the freezer. After about 2 hours, I pull them out and put the frozen pieces into gallon zippy bags. and return to the freezer. I use alot of bell pepper in soups and stew and homeade lasagna sauce ect.. so this gives me a constant supply of bell pepper without the extreme price. Hope this helps.

-- Kristean Thompson in Indiana (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), February 23, 2002.

Thank you for all of your great ideas. Kristean, last summer I dried several quarts of green peppers, but have never grown the red or yellow peppers. I want to try them this year and also the freezing idea:)

-- Marie in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), February 23, 2002.


If you leave green peppers on the plant long enough, they will turn red!

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), February 24, 2002.

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