Making Homemade Soup Stock
By Nikki Willhite
www.allthingsfrugal.com
We talked last week about leftovers and how saving
vegetables and freezing them, and then eating soup once a week saves money.
It's not hard to keep a container in your freezer and just add leftover
vegetables. It's just a matter of planning and habit.
What might be a little harder is putting the soup together
into a delicious brew! All soup starts with the stock, or liquid, so I
thought an article on making soup stock would be appropriate for this issue.
Making soup stock is economical, nutritious, and delicious.
The aroma that fills your house is wonderful. Can there be anything more
satisfying than a hot bowl of soup and fresh homemade bread on a cold winter
day? (Made very easy with a bread machine) Many people make their stock
using ham shanks or the bones from other meats. However, you can make a good
vegetable stock without them. It is a simple matter of adding vegetables to
water and letting them boil so that the vegetables dissolve into a flavorful
broth..
The smaller you cut, dice, or puree the vegetables, the
faster the process. However, slow simmering always intensifies the flavor.
Here is a simple recipe. If you make a large quantity ofi it, you can freeze
portions of it in sizes as small as an ice cube (remember those ice cube
trays), or you can freeze larger amounts. They say good cooks are known for
their sauces. Broth is the same.
Broth can be delicious, on it's own. Even had just plain onion soup?
The broth is wonderful! Work on it. Experiment and taste as you go. A good
broth is the foundation of a great cook.
Having said that, here are the basics of a good vegetable
broth: