john east wrote:

> Could you advise a novice on a quick way to make tasty vegetarian 'stock'
> from vegetables, please.
>
> More or less as a kind of a thick gravy or sauce, for the purpose of adding
> to other
> vegetable dishes.
>
> Preferably something that can be prepared quite quickly. Thanks.
>
>
>

Unlike a meat stock which can take several hours to days (fish/seafood
being the exception) a good veggie stock can result from as little as 1
hour of simmering.

But be careful not to over cook or heat. Veggie stock can have its
flavour seriously impaired by too hot or long cooking.

Unlike meat stock veggies stocks wont thicken on their own. You must
use some sort of thickening agent such as a roux with them if you want
to make a gravy with them.

I think i get a better flavour by chopping the veggies in large chunks.
an onion i quarter, a carrot cut in 3rds, quarter a whole cabbage &
etc. Not only will this speed up the making of the broth but imo it
tastes better than if just tossed in whole.

Don't try to season the veggie stock, add any herbs, spices, garlic, s &
p to the dish you are using the stock in and not the stock itself,
though a bit of wine can do wonders to a veggie stock.

As well a carrots, onions, celery one can add sweet pepper, broccoli,
cauliflower (often times stalks & trimmings) tomatoes, leeks, mushrooms,
turnips, potatoes (will 'cloud' the stock) but also try experimenting
with potato or pasta water as the base for your veggie stock, and odder
veggies for stock are okra, eggplant, various fruits, and beans and
various legumes. Peanut butter can be a very good addition to a robust
veggie stock.

Many texts, both classical and modern add thyme and parsley from the
beginning, parsley root if you can get it, but IMO this is an
unnecessary step.

With beans and legumes, cook a pot of beans or legumes of choice, drain,
reserving the stock and begin building your vegitable flavours by adding
veggies & simmering till you have what you want. I am very fond of
using black eyed peas in this way.

A good and quickly made (15 minutes to 1/2 hour) fish stock is seasoned
with various raw veggies.

One can make an argument for caramelized onion, carrots & etc. but i wont
--
JL