Vegetable Stock

Home cooks need on hand ingredients. They cut down on your cook time and expand the possibilities of what you can make with that time. Stock, is one of the most important ingredients to have and one of the most accessible to make for yourself. You use it as a base for soup, a quick pan dripping sauce to go over steak, fish or chicken, to braise greens, and steam grains. All you really need is a large pot, strainer and a knife.

Stock isn't limited to just vegetable stock, but I want to include all diets so we'll start here. But just to inform and educate you there is white chicken stock, brown chicken stock, beef stock, shrimp stock, fish stock, lamb stock, you name it. Stock draws its flavors from bones and vegetables, while broth uses the meat and skin, along with vegetables. The key difference between the two. For my vegetable stock you don't need much, and you'll notice we use veggies and herbs that typically spoil in the fridge from lack of use.

Ingridients:
3 medium carrots
2 stalks celery
2 medium onions (peeled)
2 leeks (whites only)
1 green bell pepper
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
4 cloves garlic (smashed)
4 sprigs of thyme
3 bay leaves (dried or fresh)
16 cups of water
1 tsp cooking oil (vegetable, olive, peanut, or canola)
Large stock pot

Recipe:
1. The first step is to get your vegetables ready for stock. Wash off your bell pepper, carrots, leeks and celery removing all dirt and debris. Peel your carrots with either a knife or vegetable peeler. Remove the seeds and membrane from your green bell pepper.
2. Next roughly chop the celery, carrots, bell pepper, leeks, and onion. The pieces should be about 2" big so they won't get mushy while the stock simmers and renders their flavors. 
3. Heat the cooking oil in your large stock pot over medium high heat. Once the oil slides easily across the pot add your onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. If the pot is too crowded work in batches. Brown each side for 5 minutes, or until you see visible caramelization (browning) on the vegetables. 
4. Add 16 cups of water to the pot, along with the bell pepper, leeks, peppercorns, and thyme. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hr at least, covered. 
5. Strain the contents from the stock and store in airtight containers, including mason jars. If you have immediate use for the stock, store in the fridge, if not freeze it for up to 3 months for maximum freshness.