This homemade stock can be simply sipped as a soothing broth on a cold winter day or used as a base for various clear or thickened vegetable, seafood or meat based soups or sauces  —  try it in Vietnamese pho or other similar Asian dishes, for example.

To make the stock strictly vegetarian, leave out the marrowbones.

2 medium carrots  —  about 150 g cubed
piece of celery root  —  about 120 g cubed
piece of rutabaga  —  about 80 g cubed
1 small to medium parsnip  —  about 60 g cubed
1 medium leek, white and green parts  —  about 120 g sliced
1 medium to large onion  —  about 100 g chopped
1 - 2 marrowbone slices
2500 ml water

small bunch of flat-leaf parsley with stalks
pinch of sea salt
a few black and white peppercorns
2 bay leaves
pinch of thyme
2 tbsp apple wine vinegar

In picture above: ingredients for vegetable stock with added marrowbones.

Rinse the parsley and set aside. Slit the leek lengthwise, rinse well between the layers, then thinly slice crosswise. Rinse and scrub the root vegetables and peel them and the onion. Cut or chop the vegetables into as tiny cubes as you have patience for  —  the smaller the pieces, the more flavour is extracted from them.

In picture on right: vegetable stock ingredients boiling in saucepan.

You should have at least 600 grams of the chopped vegetables, preferably closer to 800 grams. Note that different root vegetables give out different flavour nuances to the stock  —  carrot and rutabaga yield sweetness, parsnip, celery root and onion sharpness, etc  —  so tweak the proportion of the vegetables according to your personal liking. However, do not leave some vegetable out just because you might not like it individually, as this affects the balance of the overall flavour of the stock. You should always have something sweet (eg carrot, rutabaga), acidic (eg vinegar, lemon), sharp (eg parsnip, onion, white part of leek) and green (eg parsley, green part of leek, snow peas) in the mix.

Place the vegetables (and marrow bones, if using) in a large saucepan, pour over the water, cover and bring to the boil. Add the spices and let simmer briskly, uncovered, for an hour.

Strain the stock through a fine sieve, discard the vegetables and spices (you can eat the marrow from the bones with a small spoon). The chilled stock can be stored frozen.

In picture on right: strained vegetable stock.

To make a simple, clear vegetable soup, sweat some onion and/or leek in a bit of butter, add some vegetable stock and chopped, cubed, sliced or julienne-cut vegetables (carrot, cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas, potato, green peas, or the like) and boil until the vegetables are tender.

Recipe source: family recipe.