Homemade Vegetable Stock

I use vegetable stock a lot. In the states I used to buy two or three 32 oz. cartons of organic vegetable stock a week. So when I arrived in Berlin, stock was obviously on my grocery list . . . where it stayed for weeks. After checking big grocery stores, little grocery stores, organic grocery stores and farmer's markets, I finally had to admit defeat. Germans, it would appear, do not purchase vegetable stock. The closest I could find were bouillon cubes and those would not do. So today I broke down and decided to make my own. Recipe after the jump:

Homemade Vegetable Stock
2 med. carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 med. potato, coarsely chopped
1 med. onion, coarsely chopped
4-5 mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped and smashed
1 med. tomato, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
~2 tbl. thyme
peppercorns
~1 gallon water

Basically vegetable stock = the vegetables you have hanging out in the fridge + water + some herbs + about 45 min. The above is what I had in the house, you can use whatever you want. Wash and coarsely chop all vegetables. Create a bouquet with the herbs (bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns)--I used a tea bag. Cheesecloth works as well.

Most recipes say you should sauté (or roast) the vegetables first, then cover with water, and you definitely should do this to add a richness to the stock. However, today I was like, pshaw, that's like making soup and I'm doing that later, so I skipped that step. Instead I tossed everything in a big stock pot, brought it to a boil then reduced the heat and simmered for close to an hour.

Waiting to Simmer

All done

At this point I figured I had sucked all the nutrients and taste out of the vegetables, so I turned off the heat and strained out the vegetables. I froze part of the stock and put the rest in the fridge for Blustery Berlin Lentil Soup.

Mmmm . . . vegetable water