Here at Cooking with Clancey, we’ve got stock options.

No, I’m not making money… But I am recycling my unwanted veggies into lucious, flavorful vegetable stock that flavors my dishes throughout the week.

The thing is, cooking liquid is so often the secret ingredient in delicious dishes.

While so many enjoy beef, chicken, or fish stock, us vegetarians are mostly left with mushroom or vegetable stock. There’s no loss there, however, as the flavors of vegetable stock can be so dynamic, so seasonal that one batch can vary greatly from the rest.

Sure, there are cornerstone veggie stock recipes, relying on traditional flavors — carrots, onion, celery, etc. — but perhaps the great big ol’ pot of stock best embodies my approach to life and cooking: The Jazz Approach.

Let’s improvise!

Stock futures look bright

When I recently received my final 2020 Community Supported Agriculture box, I was so happy with nature’s bounty but remained perplexed by just what to do with the bountiful, yet often unwanted elements of my farm haul.

When I recently received my final 2020 Community Supported Agriculture box, I was so happy with nature’s bounty but remained perplexed by just what to do with the bountiful, yet often unwanted elements of my farm haul.

Carrot tops, turnip greens, fennel fronds — if it’s a veggie, it can go into the stock.

Now, a good jazz musician plays on the theme and can utilize some deliciously outside the box elements to make a great improv solo.

And with music swinging in the kitchen, away I went: Into my biggest stock pot, I threw an onion, a whole piece of garlic, turnip greens, carrot tops, jalapeño … The beauty of a good veggie stock is you can heave whole ingredients right in there — don’t worry about cleaning peeling your onion or garlic, you’re going to strain this magic elixir at the end of the process.

This is also a great opportunity to clean out your fridge and pantry. Anything looking a bit on-the-way-out? Into the pot.

In my case, old herbs — like some tulsi basil and lemon balm that I had neglected to properly showcase in my cooking — found new purpose inside my stock futures.

The Pot Simmers

When you should you make veggie stock? When you’re not in a rush, and you can let it cook for at least an hour, but maybe several hours.

You’re improvising, after all.

What components do you want in your stock portfolio? Remember, this will be the basis of so many beautiful dishes to come — soups, braised veggies, curries, grains.

Salt and pepper are always winners. It’s the same with spice; a couple hot peppers blend nicely for my palate.

You fill your pot nearly to the top with hot water, bring to a boil, then simmer indefinitely. You’ll want to watch out for the boil over, cutting the heat before your smoldering cauldron boils and spills onto you stove making a mess.

Filtering Your New Stock Investment

Remember, this a giant hot pot of boiling liquid, so, perhaps letting it cool down is a good idea.

If you have a big bowl and a spaghetti colander, that’s a good place to start. You want to remove those boiled down veggies —which are great for adding to your compost pile, but not much else — to be left only with your flavorful liquid.

For my messy, jazz-styled improv stock, I definitely wanted a finer strain than my first pass. So I grabbed my handy nut milk bag and a series of Ball 32 oz. glass jars.

Then I strained the stock through the nut milk bag into each jar, delighting as I filled seven whole jars of savory, spicy, clear and clean vegetable stock.

Avoid the Deep Freeze — Or Leave Some Room

An embarrassing snafu I experienced in the days that followed the creation of my stock pile, I decided to freeze three jars to prolong the life of my stock options.

Well, folks, as a second grade science lesson will tell you — a liquid expands when it turns into a solid.

Soon, I opened my freezer to find all there jars had shattered, creating a dangerous nuisance and nearly wrecking my hard earned stock options.

I was able to leave the broken jars and their frozen contents in a bowl, allowing the stock to safely melt, before removing the glass, and using my trusty nut milk bag, once again, to strain the stock, this time of dangerous shards of broken glass particulates rather than wholesome speckles of dirt and debris. Crisis averted. It’s good to play the stock market.

RECIPE: VEGETABLE STOCK

INGREDIENTS:
About four gallons of filtered water

Carrot tops, washed

Turnip greens, washed

1 Yellow Onion

1 Jalepeno

1 Garlic, whole

Fennel stems, 1 bunch (Unwanted, save bulbs for tasty dishes)

Parley, one (wilting bunch)

Leeks, whatever you’ve got in the fridge

Herbs

Scallions, the old ones in the fridge

Salt, Pepper

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Step One: Wash and Clean ingredients and add to pot. Don’t bother to peel onions, garlic or remove skins.

Step Two: Fill Pot with filtered water leaving a small amount of space to prevent boil over. Bring to rolling boil and cook for at least one hour. Let stock cool.

Step Three: Filter using colander into bowl, discarding vegetables and retaining the liquid.

Step Four: Filter through nut milk bag or fine wire mesh strainer into jars. (If stock is hot, I’ve heard a spoon to conduct heat in the jar will prevent glass from breaking.) Let cool and store in fridge for up to two weeks. (After two weeks, give it the smell test ha ha. If freezing, leave space in jar for stock to expand or transfer to plastic container.)