Veggie Broth

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5 from 1 vote

How-to guide on making a good veggie broth.

Servings:

Calories: 125kcal

Author: Patty

Equipment

Slow Cooker
Parchment lined baking sheet
Tongs
Ladle for serving

Ingredients

Broth

8 C Water use as much as will fit in your slow cooker

Prep Veggies

3 quartered yellow onions Quartered + roasted (peel and all)
2 carrots Chopped + include any carrot tops
4 chopped stalks celery or unused celery bottoms
4 halved garlic cloves Halved and roasted (peel and all)
1 C dried Mushroom stems
1 C chopped cauliflower cores

Prep Herbs and Spice

8 sprigs fresh parsley leaves only
8 sprigs fresh thyme leaves only
2 dried bay leaves
1 chopped leek green + white parts
1 t whole peppercorns
2 T fat of your choice butter, olive or coconut oil
1 C chopped parmesan cheese rinds

Instructions

Mise en Place

Put half the water into your slow cooker and set to high. Put on the lid. (Only after all the ingredients are added will to top off the water to fill up the pot. )
Put the oven on 400F and prepare and parchment lined baking sheet to roast veggies.
Gather all the ingredients and wash, slice, and measure.

Veggies first

Place the onions and garlic on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle a little with salt and pepper. Put in the oven for ~30 minutes, until a little charred. Then take out of the oven and using tongs place each item into the slow cooker.
Put in all the rest of the veggies into the slow cooker.
Cook for ~4 hours, Do not stir for the veggies will slowly turn to mush, just leave in the pot. This is not to boil, just simmer.

Add herbs, spices, and sauces

Add all the herbs listed above.
Cook for another 4 hours.
Then strain through a fine mesh strainer or one with cheesecloth and you will be left with the broth. Rinse the soup pot and put the clean broth back in.

Finish

Now you taste the clean broth and add salt, pepper and some hot sauce or hot pepper flakes per your taste.
If it still does not taste they way you want, consider adding fish, tamari, or worcestershire sauce for increasing its umami.

Notes

Storage: Let the broth cool then put in a container and freeze. (The mash left over should be added to compost or disposed, because of the onions and garlic do not give to pets.)

Do not add: What not to add for clear broth: broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, rutabagas, and turnips. Artichokes, corn, potatoes, dried powdered herbs. These things are avoided because they can cloud up a clear broth. I also do not add salt, as I do not know what the broth will be cooked with so I leave that out. Some of the veggies have sodium already.

Strong flavors that you can add to this broth to create specific dishes:

1) Cauliflower is great for a soup when you let it cook long enough to disintegrate into the broth as part of a stew. But I do not use it to make a veggie broth.

2) Potato or skins can be added as you make a soup to leach its nutrients into the broth, it will "fog" up the broth but that is ok for a soup.

3) Kale, chard spines can be added again to leach nutrients into a soup.

4) I do not add too many carrots to a broth as it can make the broth too sweet, however if I am making soup or a particular stew go ahead.

Nutrition