Homemade Vegetable Stock

This is a basic stock that can be used with pretty much any soup or stew.  You can always tailor your homemade stock to enhance the soup you are making. For example, if you're making a sweet vegetable soup, add sweet potato or squash for extra sweetness to your stock. You can also use your vegetable trimmings, such as leek tops, mushroom caps, squash skins and fennel tops. But avoid spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards, brussel sprouts, beets, onion skins and wilted vegetables. They will make your stock bitter. The stock will last about 5 days in the fridge and 2 months in the freezer.

Stock

1 large onion, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 leek, white and green parts or 2 leek tops, washed and chopped

2 carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 celery rib, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 parsnip, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

8 ounces mushrooms, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (if fresh is not available use dried)

1 whole garlic bulb, unpeeled and cut in half

2 quarts filtered water

2 bay leaves

10 black pepper corns

handful of fresh parsley 

handful of fresh sprigs of thyme or 1 tsp dried

Put everything in a soup pot. Bring to boil. Skim off any foam that forms. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 1 hour. Strain vegetables and voila, you have made your very own homemade stock.