Vegetable Stock

This all-purpose stock is great for boosting flavor without a lot of calories and works wonderfully with many of our tea sauces. The vegetables are suggestions only, but a nice balance of root vegetables, fresh greens, and seasonings represents the core of any freshly made stock. The stock does not contain sale because we use it in the recipes themselves.

2 medium carrots, unpeeled, washed, then cut into thick chunks
2 stalks of celery
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 cup/225 grams loosely packed chard, spinach, or similar greens
1 pound/500 grams root vegetables (any assortment of large celery
root, rutabaga, parsnip, or parsley root)
Olive oil for sweating
3 quarts/3liters water
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
1/2 teaspoon/5 grams whole black peppercorns, smashed

Wash and clean the vegetables and chop roughly. In a heavy stockpot over loew hear, sweat vegetables in olive oil until softened and light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the water and seasonings and cook over medium heat for about 1 hour. Sieve out the vegetables and store in the refrigerator in a clean container or covered bowl until needed. Final quantity will be reduced down to about 1 to 1 1/2 quarts/1 liter to 1.5 liters of intensely flavored stock.


This recipe is part of the book Cooking with Tea by Robert Wemischner and Diana Rosen.
Photography by Sysan Bourgoin




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