Scraps Vegetable Broth Recipes

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.

Steps:

• Remove the tops/bottoms/skins/stems from any vegetables you are preparing (avoid vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or cauliflower as they will add a bitter taste to your stock) and place them in a ziplock bag - they can stay frozen up to 6 months.
• Note: You can add many other vegetable scraps (think sweet!) - i.e. corn cobs, winter squash, zucchini, and other squash, beet greens, fennel, chard, lettuce, parsnips, green beans, pea pods, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, asparagus, and herbs like dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro, and basil.
• Continue like this until bag is full.
• Dump bag into pot and fill ¾ of the pot (or until scraps just start to float) with water.
• Bring water to a boil and then let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.
• Strain water out of stock.
• Refrigerate stock up to 4 days, or freeze up to 3 months.
• Enjoy!