Description: How to make your own soup stock.

We talked last week about leftovers and how saving vegetables and freezing them, and then eating soup once a week saves money. It's not hard to keep a container in your freezer and just add leftover vegetables. It's just a matter of planning and habit.

What might be a little harder is putting the soup together into a delicious brew! All soup starts with the stock, or liquid, so I thought an article on making soup stock would be appropriate for this issue.

Making soup stock is economical, nutritious, and delicious. The aroma that fills your house is wonderful. Can there be anything more satisfying than a hot bowl of soup and fresh homemade bread on a cold winter day? (Made very easy with a bread machine)!

Many people make their stock using ham shanks or the bones from other meats. However, you can make a good vegetable stock without them. It is a simple matter of adding vegetables to water and letting them boil so that the vegetables dissolve into a flavorful broth.

The smaller you cut, dice, or puree the vegetables, the faster the process. However, slow simmering always intensifies the flavor. Here is a simple recipe. If you make a large quantity of it, you can freeze portions of it in sizes as small as an ice cube (remember those ice cube trays), or you can freeze larger amounts. They say good cooks are known for their sauces. Broth is the same.

As you experiment with flavoring the broth, you will come up with your own special flavors. Some people only use leeks instead of onions. Others prefer a particular type of tomato. Others use certain spices, and aren't telling!

Broth can be delicious, on it's own. Even had just plain onion soup? The broth is wonderful! Work on it. Experiment and taste as you go. A good broth is the foundation of a great cook.

Having said that, here are the basics of a good vegetable broth.

INGREDIENTS:

Onions
Celery
Carrots
Tomatoes

SEASONING:

Garlic
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

Cut up your vegetables and add to water. Add your seasoning to taste. Boil or simmer at least 20 minutes. When it tastes good, stop. Run the broth through a sieve to remove pieces of skin from the vegetables.

Reprinted with permission from:
The Pennypincher
An E-zine for the Frugally Minded