Really stuck, what to use as a basic vegetable stock for soups, stews, risottos

[Crystalmoon]

Hi everyone  I have quite a few auto immune system diseases & have to have yearly food allergy/intolerance tests. I had my latest tests last week & a very large list of basic items flagged up so I am now really stuck as to how I can create a decent vegetable stock for cooking stews, soups, risottos etc. I cannot find any shop bought stocks that are free from all the ingredients I must avoid so I am hoping someone knows of a way to make, or somewhere to buy, a decent vegetable stock that is free from -
Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, chillies, ginger, yeast, celery, black or white pepper, mushrooms, soya, thyme.
Very grateful for any ideas thank you

[Crystalmoon]

[squeezyjohn]

It's a tricky one that - mainly because that "savoury" flavour that commercial vegetable stocks use generally comes from the use of yeast extract and celery along with onions and other root veg for body and sweetness and some herbs for aroma. Any good stock is balanced in 5 tastes: umami (from meat or yeast), savoury (normally celery), Salty (from salt!), sweet (from vegetables) and bite (herbs and pepper)

To get a similar savouriness that the celery would give you could try lovage (mind you it's in the same family as celery so may be a no go) - maybe coriander leaf?

To get the delicious umami taste that meat or yeast would give is a tough one.  A lot of chinese/japanese alternatives use soya (as in soy sauce, miso soup etc.) so that's out.  You could try an addition of edible seaweeds which have a similar effect on cooking and are very healthy (try Kombu that's a good one).  I did hear that some dutch chefs are experimenting with making a similar fermented thing to miso from dried peas instead of soya which should work well and is on my wish list for things to try given how well peas grow over here!

To those suggestions I would add non-thyme herbs like oregano, marjoram, bay leaves and a little bit of sage along with a big dose of leeks and onions and root vegetables along with some black pepper.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties - and good luck

[Paulines7]

I am sorry to hear that you have so many allergies, Crystalmoon; it must be very difficult for you in your everyday life. 

I make stock by cooking the carcases of a chickens or a ham bones which still have a lot of meat on them.  I then freeze the stock and use it when I make my next lot of soup.

I have just had a quick look on Supermarket grocery sites and searched for stock.  They list the ingredients, but those I found contained potato, celery or yeast.  I didn't look at them all though as there are so many listed, so it may be worth your while ploughing through them all one day.   I usually use their sites if I want to know the ingredients or carb values of certain foods.

[daveyboi]

You should be able to make a good vegetable stock avoiding all your ingredients
Have a look at this article

http://www.thegardenofeating.org/2012/03/make-homemade-vegetable-stock-from.html

[squeezyjohn]

Of course - I very much agree with Pauline that the tastiest and most nutritious stock of all comes from boiling up bones - but that wouldn't be a vegetable stock of course!  If you do eat meat - it would be my first suggestion to try!

[Crystalmoon]

Thank you all for your quick responses & great answers, I am really grateful.
Hi Paulines7 the list of allergies is so long it does my head in sometimes....no dairy of any sort, no tea or coffee, no pork, no peanuts, no citrus fruits, no cherries, no nightshade plants, nothing that has rape oil in it, no rye, yeast, soya....the list goes on & on, sigh. Every meal time I have to make a separate meal for myself as I can't eat what I prepare for my family. I have to take steroids & antihistamines every day. I am hoping that if I am really strict with myself & cut everything out that has been highlighted this year that I may have a chance of getting off the steroids as they have made me gain so much weight my joints are suffering. Thank you so much for taking the time to look at supermarket on line sites for me that was very kind of you. I haven't been able to find anything not even at specialist health food sites so making my own stock is the only answer.

Hi Squeezyjohn that's a good idea about using sea weeds I hadn't thought of that at all so thank you I will experiment with them. I will miss Miso very much as up until last week it was my go to for flavouring so many meals. I hope the Dutch chefs are successful very soon with the fermented pea alternative to soya. Please let me know if you hear of any progress with this.

Hi daveyboi, thank you so much for the link, brilliant & so easy...I have started saving my veg scraps already so hope to have a go at veg scrap stock very soon.

[Redalder]

Looked at my ancient copy of Constance Spry Cookbook and her stock receipt is much the same as daveyboi's link with the addition of a bouqet garni (which you could tailor to suit) and haricot beans to give a bit of body.

[squeezyjohn]

I might have a go at making my own pea miso from a culture (piso?) ... but it sounds like a very very long process, at least one year fermenting - and up to 5 for the really good stuff!!

I imagine it could be something home-grown if you plant a huge row of good yielding peas and leave them to dry without picking and you could ferment enough to last for years!

I have seen that you can also get chick-pea or barley miso but I couldn't find anywhere online that sold it to the UK

[squeezyjohn]

Another thing to look for is called "doubanjiang" a Chinese paste from Szechuan province made from fermented broad beans.  I've only ever been able to find it in the spicy version (and it is VERY spicy!) and I use it a lot - it has that umami salty taste like miso and yeast extract do.  Apparently they make a non-spicy version too but I suspect it's a bit rarer in the UK - and beware that some brands mix soya in with the broad beans too.

You need to find a Chinese or Japanese supermarket with a helpful shop-assistant as invariably these imported specialist things have the labels printed without any English on them!

[Crystalmoon]

Hi Redalder sadly I am also allergic to beans like haricot, kidney etc & also chickpeas...sigh...stupid body! But the adition of a bouquet of garni would be nice & easy to collect from my herb garden so I will give this a go. I am busily collecting veg scraps so will be able to make my first batch of leftover veg stock this weekend...wish me luck.

Hi Squeezyjohn the chickpea miso would be a no no for me but barley should be ok. The doubanjiang sounds very interesting as I should be ok with Broad beans, not that I have ever eaten them though, but as I am fine with French beans & the like I think it would be ok. Next time I am visiting my son in London I will go to China Town & see what I can find in the shops there, reckon I will be able to get great dried seaweed if nothing else. Wow that does sound like a very long process to make your own fermented pea miso..... love your name for it Piso lol.

[galina]

Crystalmoon, what about peas?  Can you tolerate peas?  There are non-sweet soup peas and these would take the place of beans in soups.  I freeze them just after shelling, before drying and it is so fast to take out a handful in winter to add to something.  If you would like some seeds, let me know.

Duh!  Senior moment.  Sorry.  You are ok with peas, you said so!  You are very welcome to soup pea seeds, large non-sweet pea seeds and also to parsley pea seeds.

[squeezyjohn]

The kombu seaweed they sell in chinese supermarkets (and waitrose) is just kelp which you can find all around the british shore!  It makes a good stock and you could combine a trip to the seaside with a nice foraging trip and bring back loads of your own to dry!  As long as you go armed with a good seaweed identifying book you should be fine as there aren't any poisonous ones on our shores anyway and kelp is easy to identify.

Here is a recipe for the vegetarian dashi stock made from kelp ... but if mixed with more traditional root vegetables and herbs from a western veg stock I'm sure it would be more useful in risottos and stews etc.

[Crystalmoon]

Hi Galina thank you so much I would love some soup peas to try....I would only be able to give them a small raised bed to grow in that is 38.5 x 38.5 x 10 but holds 230 litres of soil so I would only need enough to grow in this space. After taste testing I am assuming I can let some dry on the plants to use as seeds for the following year & if they are a winner I can reorganise my plot plan to give them more space. I don't have much to swap with you I'm afraid, just some brand new lettuce seeds that I have listed on the swap shop thread. Please let me know if you would like any of these so I can save them for you. I will of course pay for the postage of the seeds.

What are Parsley Peas? I am intrigued xjane

[Deb P]

I had some Parsley peas growing on my plot when you visited Jane, they are quite short and have distinctive parsley like tendrils instead of the usual type that cling to canes. Peas are a bit woolly though...

[galina]

I had some Parsley peas growing on my plot when you visited Jane, they are quite short and have distinctive parsley like tendrils instead of the usual type that cling to canes. Peas are a bit woolly though...

The idea is that these 'parsley leaves' can be used as another vegetable long before the peas are ready.  PM sent. 

[squeezyjohn]

I know it's been a while - but I just found the recipe for making the pea miso on the internet (http://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2011/10/miso)

Emboldened by my success making gherkins by facto-fermentation which are delicious and haven't killed me  I have now started a batch of sauerkraut from one of my bigger than usual cabbages ... so as I'm on a fermenting roll ... I may just try to make the pea miso too!

[gazza1960]

run your fermentation process by me again squeezyjohn its been a few seasons since jude and I grew some large cabbages on our plot....if memory serves it was as per the following link........

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-sauerkraut-in-a-mason-jar-193124

I know when my dad was growing up in Germany back in the 30,s his dad would bury wooden casks of it under ground over the winter and dig them up in the spring and he and his 7 sisters would fight over the resulting kraut......

anyway just wondered what process you are using...?

Gazza

[squeezyjohn]

For the sauerkraut we're using a proper crock and weight with an airlock built in at the top along with the giant cabbage mandolin we were given by family in Belgium ... then ...

-sterilise the equipment with boiling water after washing with soap and water.

-shred the cabbage and add 2 tsps of non-iodised salt per pound of cabbage (my cabbage was 5lbs! - but that's enough showing off!)

-mix thoroughly with clean hands in the crock to distribute the salt evenly and press down.

-after another hour press the cabbage down again so it is submerged in it's brine juice and if necessary add more water to make sure it's covered completely (I add a sprinkle more salt if I do this)

-put the weight on top of the cabbage to keep it below the brine, place the airlock lid and top the lock up with water and leave at room temperature for fermentation to start.

-leave to ferment for several weeks (it varies depending on temperatures), checking every few days to make sure it's OK and to skim off any mould that may grow on the surface of the brine.  Taste the sauerkraut occasionally.

-when nicely sour but still crunchy to satisfaction begin eating and move the crock to a colder place (hopefully outdoor temps will have begun to get cooler and a shed or basement is good.

It's a similar process for the pickled gherkins (small cucumbers) ... except I do it in a large jar, herbs like garlic, dill, pepper, vine leaves and chilli are added and I add a 5% made up brine solution poured over the packed jar of cucumbers and they ferment faster - also I use a folded up horseradish leaf to keep the gherkins below the surface in conjunction with the jar lid which I don't screw on fully while it's fermenting.

For all lacto-fermented pickles, you mustn't ever cook the veg or you will kill the essential lactic acid bacteria that perform the process.

[byrd2park]

are you you allergic to all mushrooms or just one particular type?
to make good vegetable stock you need to take following make list of vegetable you can have.
then you will need to get dried version of them then boil each of the dried vegetables till they give up flavor to the water broth.
once you done this mix and match the broths  till you get broth that meets you needs.
given your allergies listed and unlisted this only way forward i can see for you to get good vegetable broth. doing this is bit like mixing and match of different whiskeys to get blended one. 

[Digeroo]

i would suggest getting a pressure cooker and simply throwing in a handful of what you can eat and boiling for 10 to 15 minutes best fry onion first and yes a good sprig of any herbs you have available.  Do not put in too much rosemary, it makes things taste like cough mixture.  And if it is ok a teaspoon full of ginger.  Ginger is great for spicing things up either powder or chopped up root.

I do not eat yeast or any other fungus and it is very frustrationg because it is easy to miss in the list of ingredients.  With fungus I have also have to cut out alcohol and vinegar and mouldy cheese.  If you are yeast sensitve I would expect pickled cabbage to be out as well as anything fermented.   I do not eat anything dirived from a mould.

I would recommend instead of thinking about what you cannot eat to get a list of things you can eat.  You may be able to source some new flavours from an Asian supermarket.

Once you have made a batch to suit, you can freeze some.