Homemade Vegetable Stock
"That's not how it works." Mordella wined.
"They thought they were being clever." Mordreama added.
"I'm going back. I'll show them how clever they were."
"No. I would rather not. Let's go exploring. They're not fun any more."
"We do have an entire world of mirrors waiting for us."
And they did.
They decided to leave the townsfolk behind and move on.
They had never traveled past the town's mirrors. They weren't sure what to expect. Would their journey's end with even more nothing-ness or would something, anything pop up.
Hand in hand through the nothing mist, up nothing hills and hallways, through nothing walls and landscapes they traveled together. A faint glow beckoned in the nothing ahead. It was finally a something. And a something in the midst of nothing was greatly exciting, indeed. They ran as fast as their longish toes would carry them, to the glow. Mordella's cloudy eyes sparkled while Mordreama excitedly flipped.
"Do you smell it?"
"Yes! Soup!!! Vegetables!!!"
The twins jumped close to the back side of the mirror. A loud WHACK of a sound shattered the silence, throwing the two back into the nothing mist.
Their already freakishly large eyes grew and they crawled closer once again.
WHACK
and
WHACK..
and a voice
It was an odd voice that came from the back of one's throat.
It was almost high pitched but not quite...
it echoed into the nothin-ness and into their ears...
"In the pot!!!!"
WHACK...
"IN THE POT"
an octave higher and a glint of a knife
WHACK
"IN THE POT"
and louder, higher and very throaty.
Some green-ness flew through the mirror almost hitting the twins.
The lovely smell of simmering soup, was it enough to tempt them closer?
"STOCKBOY!!!! Get those IN THE POT!!!!"
A tiny hand reached into the nothingness., feeling around.
Giggling, realizing the hand was searching for the green stuff, the twins placed their hands into his and pulled. He screamed. They laughed.
Wicked little twins...
Two more hands appeared much larger than the boys and before another breath of the nothingness was taken, the girls were pulled out of the mirror and plunged deep into a large vessel of warm broth.
"I SAID, INTO THE POT!!!!"
the voice now cracked and broke.
Drifting downward, bumping into onion boulders and celery trees, they grabbed some greenery before hitting bottom. Things were quite warm in the pot. They watched as all of the magic crept out of the veggies, swimming in the broth around them. A ballet of vegetable magic ensued until the music ended and the magic floated about....entwined and blissfully resting.
Waves and splashes, the twins swam to the top.
Splash splash and soon a tidal wave.
The tiny stock boy finished turning their pot over and turned to get another.
"I almost forgot.."Mordreama started.
"....that we were in a pot." finished Mordella.
They watched Stockboy run endlessly around a very large cavern. Pots and and fires ....boiling, steaming, draining, vegetables chopping...
"into the pot....into the pot..." hummed the big brutish stock maker.
The knife chopped and more veggies flew.
"Perhaps we should find a different mirror, Dreama..."
"But not before we take some stock, Della. I'm hungry."
Quietly grabbing a bowl full of peppercorns and filling a bag with some jars of stock, they sneakily snuck to the mirror.
Stockboy started a full stock saving sprint arms out and soon flat on the cavern floor. Peppercorns surrounding him.
The glint of the knife and a look from the Brute..
"Quick!"
A jump in the mirror and a shatter of glass.
"Are we okay?"
"Yes, and we have the stock!"
They grinned their little impish grins, grabbed their bag of stock and headed into the nothingness.
I had the unlucky advantage of tasting a very poorly made store-bought vegetable stock. It lent its unsavory flavor to the dish I was happily anticipating. I thought there must be something better. Looking in the fridge, I was treated a pile of unused vegetables just waiting for their turn to be made into something special and waiting and waiting. It took a short trip to the store to add a few other items but once the veggies were washed, the process was quite easy. A few chops and a pot filled with water began to day that ended in the most amazing aroma filling the air. It was the scent of childhood, of grandma's kitchen...of every good meal she made all wrapped up into one pot of broth. It needed a little salt and once the vegetables were removed, I reduced the stock a bit more to concentrate the flavor.
It knew this stock could now be used for any dish from risotto to a base for a soup. It had so many uses. It was fresh. It was light. It was the perfect base. I froze it in quart sized freezer bags and even ice cube trays.
The wonderful thing about it....it really isn't a set recipe. I could use whatever I had on hand.
I just chopped and tossed it all..... IN THE POT
1 Large Onion
1 8 oz Pkg Mushrooms
Celery, with leaves
Parsley Root, with its parsley greens
Leeks
Carrots, along with its greens
3 or 4 Garlic Cloves, skins removed
3 or 4 Bay Leaves
1 Tbsp Peppercorns
about 1 tbsp Kosher Salt
6 Quart Stockpot
Wash all of your root vegetables and mushrooms, removing any dirt.
Chop the leeks and soak in a little water to remove any residual dirt.
Roughly chop the vegetables, placing in a 6 quart stockpot.
Add the bay leaves and peppercorns.
Fill the pot with water, covering all of your vegetables.
Simmer for an hour to an hour and a half.
Taste, adding salt as needed.
Let cool and strain out all of the solids, gently pushing down on the simmered veggies, making sure you get all of their veggie goodness.
For a clearer broth, strain through a cheesecloth.
Portion into one quart freezer bags or/and ice cube trays.
I froze 4 one quart bags and a couple ice trays full.
When small amounts of stock are needed, little veggie ice cubes come in handy.
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