Stock from winter vegetables

A recipe from a century ago

I prepared this vegetarian stock for the vegetable cutlets from Iwan Kriens.  The stock recipe is also from his cookbook, that he wrote with Dorothy Peels in 1918 to provide the British with recipes to use during the food rationing. More can be read at the recipe for vegetable cutlets.

This is a simple recipe, due to the period in which it was written (the end of the Great War). However, the stock is quite tasty, especially when the vegetables are cleaned and chopped just before preparing them. All vegetables can be grown in England, which was important because of the German U-boat blockade.
For 1,5 litre (6 cups) stock; Preparation in advance 15 minutes Preparation 35 minutes.

150 gr (1 cup) onion
150 gr (1 cup) cabbage
150 gr (1 cup) carrot
150 gr (1 cup) turnip
150 gr (1 cup) celeriac
150 gr (1 cup) leek
½ to 1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
1¼ litre (2.2 pints) water
piece of mace
some black pepper corns
1 bay leaf

Preparation in advance

Clean all vegetables as usual and chop them.

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add chopped vegetables and salt and stir for a few minutes at high heat. Then close the pan with a lid, temper the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir again half-way through. When the vegetables are ready, raise the heat again and stir-fry until the vegetables start to turn brown. Add water and spices. Bring to the boil and simmer for fifteen minutes with the lid on.

Strain the stock for further use in soup or sauce. The stock can also be served with a part of the used vegetables as simple vegetable soup. Just add a can of tomato purée to finish the soup.

The vegetables, once drained, can be used for making vegetable cutlets, and part of the stock for the accompanying sauce. A recipe for concentrated vegetable stock can be found here.

How to keep and freeze stock

It is perfectly possible to keep stock in the deep-freeze. Prepare small packages of 2½ decilitres or one cup each, and do not forget to label your frozen stock, in the freezer all stocks look alike. See this page on how to prepare stock for freezing..

Bibliography

The editions below were used by me. Links refer to available editions.

• Mrs. C.S. Peel, Iwan Kriens, The Victory Cookery Book. John Lane, London etc, 1918. Available online.

Vegetable stock in the winter
This stock has a full-bodied flavour and is excellent for use in recipes for vegetarians and vegans during winter. It takes some time to clean and chop all the vegetables, but the result is quite good.
© Author Christianne Muusers