Vegetable Broth

Most people don't seem to realize how easy broths are to make. They take time and effort, but the commercial crap is so fucking awful that the CC wants to cry over the death of the culinary arts.

Normally, the CC's freezer is chock-full of broths, but I didn't have an appropriate broth for tomorrow's meal.

So it was off to the local farmers' market to get fresh veggies in pissing rain.

Everyone has a favorite broth recipe so you should take what's below as "generic", and feel free to muck with it.

The only caveat that I want to add is that mushroom-based broths have a unique character so be sure that's what you want before you head there.

I wanted a light summer broth, and wanted a mild citrusy flavor so I added lemon-grass (but you don't have to.)

Ingredients

1 red onion (chopped into large pieces)
3 carrots (with fronds, chopped coarsely)
1 zucchini (chopped into large rounds)
3 leeks (cut into large rounds)
3 stalks of celery (coarsley chopped)
1 potato (cut into chunks)

1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
3 bay leaves

Recipe

Fry the onion, and the leeks until they are translucent. Add the celery, and fry for a minute or two. Add the fennel, peppercorns, and bay leaves and fry for a minute.

Now add the rest of the veggies, and fry them for at least 5-7 minutes. (I will explain the science behind this in a later post.)

Add cold water to the brim of the pot (it is crucial that the water be cold!)

Now the hard part, let the mixture come to a slow boil. As it does, the fat will come to the surface.

Skim, baby, skim

Let it simmer (uncovered) on a very slow heat for the better part of two hours. Keep skimming. (Yes, this is painful.)

Take a cheese-cloth, and separate the broth from the crap. (Toss out the crap!)

If you plan to freeze it, add salt to it. Don't worry about the fact that it is concentrated, you can always dilute it later.