[Basic] Vegetable Stock (Bouillon de Légumes)

Vegetable stock can replace chicken stock for vegetarian dishes or very light dishes where chicken stock might over-power the flavor. Although I'd rather use chicken stock than vegetable stock in most of my cooking, I make the stock sometimes, especially when I don't have enough time to make chicken stock.

Here is a simple and easy vegetable stock recipe.

[Basic] Vegetable Stock (Bouillon de Légumes)
(Yield: 1 quart / Cooking time: 1 hour)

Ingredients:

+ 60g onion, thinly sliced + 60g carrot, thinly sliced + 50g celery, thinly sliced + 50g leek (pale green part), thinly sliced + 50g tomato, thinly sliced + 50g mushroom, thinly sliced

+ 15g unsalted butter + 1 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil + 2 quarts cold water + 2 sprigs thyme + 1 bay leaf + 2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

Procedures:
1. Sweat the vegetables in a pot with butter and neutral vegetable oil.


2. Pour water, bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes. If you use dried bay leaf you can add your bay leaf now.


3. Add herbs (thyme, bay leaf and parsley) and simmer another 10-15 minutes.


4. Strain the stock through a fine strainer.

5. Reduce the liquid to 1 quart.


6. If you don't use it right away, cool down immediately in an ice bath, and refrigerate for use within a few days or freeze it to last a few months.