Rich Mushroom Stock – Deeply Colored, Richly Flavored

Rich Mushroom Stock Foundational for Caramelized Onion/Fennel and Mushroom Soup

There are three important recipes for making rich, tasty and deeply flavored Caramelized Onion Fennel and Mushroom Soup. This Rich Mushroom Stock, Toasted Quinoa and, of course, the soup recipe itself. Like me, you may want to make this Rich Mushroom Stock and the light and fluffy Toasted Quinoa over and over again.

In order for you to easily find these two recipes whenever you want them, instead of including them with the soup recipe where they could get easily lost, there will be three stand-alone posts. This post for the Rich Mushroom Stock. A separate post for Toasted Quinoa. Then a third  post for Caramelized Onion Fennel and Mushroom Soup.

Make your own stock—it’s easy       

When short on time, boxed or jarred stocks work. Though, it’s rare to find one preferable to homemade stock. There are two main types of homemade vegetable stock, basic and vegetable-specific. Both are good to know about.

• To make a good basic vegetable stock, save your trimmings from leeks, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, garlic scapes, etc. in a bag in your freezer.
• When the bag is full, make a large pot of stock from these ingredients along with some peppercorns, bay leaves and perhaps some thyme as well.
• Transfer the strained stock to quart containers and freeze them. Now you have stock ready when you need it.
• Without precise measurements and the variation in the ingredients and their quantity, each potful will be different in taste and color.
• For a vegetable-specific stock, use fresh vegetables (versus frozen) and include vegetables specific to how you will use the stock. For example, use corn cobs for a stock for Sweet Corn Chowder; add both fresh and dried mushrooms for a mushroom soup.
• Vegetable-specific stocks tend to be more deeply flavored than basic stocks. Thus, they add another layer of flavor and richness to your final dish.
• Following a specific recipe makes for a consistently flavored stock.

A slight and important difference

Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between a stock and a broth. Culinarily speaking, once a stock has been seasoned it becomes a broth. So, if a recipe calls for stock and you’re using a broth, reduce the salt called for in the recipe. Then salt to taste at the end.

Rich Mushroom Stock

A deeply colored and richly flavored stock. Foundational for Caramelized Onion/Fennel and Mushroom Soup and all mushroom soups, sauces, stews, etc. If your soup calls for fresh shiitakes, be sure to add their tough stems to your mushroom stock as well. Note: leaving the skin on the onions makes a darker colored stock.
Thank you, Master Chef Thomas Keller, for suggesting adding curry powder to mushroom stock.

Makes   14 cups                                                Printer-Friendly Recipe
Active time   20 minutes
Total time   1 hour and 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, unpeeled and coarsely chopped (3 cups)
2 cups celery, thickly sliced
2 cups carrots, thickly sliced
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and smashed with the side of a knife blade
¼ pound tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 cups dried, sliced or whole shiitake or other mushrooms
¼ pound fresh cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon curry powder
12-18 parsley stems
1 large sprig fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
5 quarts water

 Instructions

1. Prepare all the vegetables.
2. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Stirring occasionally, cook 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are lightly colored and softened.
3. Stir in the curry powder. When fragrant, mix in the tomatoes, mushrooms, parsley stems, thyme, bay leaves and water. Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Partially cover the pot and lower the heat so the stock gently simmers. Cook for one hour.
4. Strain the stock through a fine strainer, pressing down on the solids.
5. Rich Mushroom Stock can be made and refrigerated up to three days in advance or frozen for up to 6 months.

Printer-Friendly Recipe.