Homemade Vegetable Broth For Freezer Recipes

WORLD'S GREATEST VEGETABLE BROTH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Remove leaves and tender inner parts of celery and set aside.
• Toss onions, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers and turnips with olive oil. Place vegetables in a roasting pan and place them in the 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) oven. Stir the vegetable every 15 minutes. Cook until all of the vegetables have browned and the onions start to caramelize, this will take over one hour.
• Put the browned vegetables, celery, garlic, cloves, bay leaf, pepper corns, Italian parsley and water into a large stock pot. Bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered until liquid is reduced by half.
• Pour the broth through a colander, catching the broth in a large bowl or pot. The liquid caught in the bowl or pot is your vegetable broth it can be used immediately or stored for later use. Although the vegetables are no longer necessary for your broth they are delicious to eat hot or cold, don't waste them!

BASIC VEGETABLE BROTH

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Add celery, potato, carrot, onion, mushrooms (if using), garlic, water, soy sauce, bay leaves, salt, and pepper in a large pot and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and let the vegetable broth simmer for at least an hour, covered with a lid.
• Strain out the vegetables and garlic and remove the bay leaves once the broth is done cooking.

HOMEMADE VEGETABLE BROTH FROM SCRAPS

Steps:

• After you've amassed a gallon-sized freezer bag full of veggies from days of diligent scrap-gathering, dump the frozen contents of the bag into a large stock pot.
• Fill the pot with water about 3 inches from the top - I end up adding around 12 cups of water initially.
• Add the bay leaves and peppercorns.
• Lightly push the vegetables down with a wooden spoon. Avoid stirring at any time during the process - that can make the broth cloudy.
• Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low, keeping at a steady, simmer.
• Simmer until the liquid has reduced by just about half - this takes about an hour.
• Add enough water to return the liquid to its former level. Push the veggies down every once in awhile.
• Bring to a simmer again, and again continue to simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about another hour.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Strain the broth concentrate by first pouring it through a colander and then pouring it through a fine-mesh sieve.
• Pour the broth concentrate into containers in 1/2 cup, 1 cup, or 2 cup increments. A standard muffin tin is 1/2 cup, and works well here.
• When the broth concentrate has frozen completely, remove from the freezer and place the chunks in a labeled freezer bag.
• When you're ready to use the broth, bring out a broth concentrate cube and place it in a bowl. Pour an equal amount of hot water over the broth cube (if the broth cube is 1/2 cup, add 1/2 cup water) and and, if desired, add 1 teaspoon of salt per 1 cup of finished broth.
• You may need to microwave the frozen broth concentrate to thaw it completely, or let it sit on the counter for a bit until it thaws. Depending on the recipe, I'll just add it frozen and adjust the recipe times accordingly.

HOMEMADE VEGETABLE BROTH FOR FREEZER

Steps:

• Cover and cook on low heat for about 1 hour.
• Take off heat and cool.
• Put a large pot under a colander and drain vegetables.
• Put vegetables in a blender and bend and pour back into broth.
• Pour into ice trays or cubes. Freeze.
• Note: This broth can be used for instant mashed potatoes, cooking rice, barley, orzo, couscous.
• For Italian Dishes, add crushed tomatoes and more Italian seasoning and tomato paste.
• For chowders, add potatoes, sausage, fish or meat of your choice.
• For Soups, add broccoli, spinach, cheese or other vegetable chunks and simmer.

VEGETABLE BROTH BASE

Steps:

• Process everything, except tomato paste and soy sauce, in food processor, scraping down sides of bowl frequently, until paste is as fine as possible, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add tomato paste and process for one minute, scraping down sides of bowl every 20 seconds.
• Add soy sauce and continue to process one minute longer.
• Transfer mixture to airtight container and tap firmly on counter to remove any air bubbles. Press small piece of parchment paper against surface of mixture and cover.
• Freeze up to 6 months.
• Use 1 tbl to one cup boiling water to make broth. Strain if you desire a particle-free broth. The salt content of the mixture will keep it from freezing so that you can scoop it straight from the container.