Mushroom Vegetable Broth

I love making my own broths. Boxes and jars are great for quick use if you are in a hurry. But, a homemade mushroom vegetable broth is like tea – contemplative and heavenly.  I love the art of letting vegetables simmer slow and develop flavor, experience how the flavors intensify, blend, complement, or sometimes, unfortunately, literally, go to pot. There is such a thing as too much celery. My dad did say though, you can never have too much parsley. Given I had a reasonable lot of frozen stockpot veggies and such, I thought I would share a recipe for my mushroom vegetable broth.

Mushrooms are a super way to bring umami to a dish. Usually we just cut, slice, sauté, or roast. Grocery stores now regularly carry button, baby bella, portabella, cremini and shitake with a smattering of smaller packages of cinnamon, Lion’s mane or other specialty mushrooms when available. For at least the last 10 years, Costco has delivered some of the most beautiful golden chanterelles from late September to mid-November. Chanterelles are so lovely and tender! I sauté them and store in Glad Press n Seal to use throughout the year.  Foraging is also a super way to experience even more mushroom varieties – just be careful, knowledgeable and only eat those you are 100% sure of the species!

As with every mushroom you are prepping, you might ask, “what do you do with those stems?” Sometimes I dry them in a dehydrator and grind them in a coffee or spice grinder to a fine pulp. A teaspoon to a tablespoon adds a touch of umami to any dish.  When we transitioned to a plant-based lifestyle, I started saving every scrap of vegetable in the freezer that was a possible candidate for a vegetable broth. Some basic vegetables might be carrot scraps, carrot tops, onions, leeks, sad garlic, parsley, maybe cilantro, and celery. Leeks are huge and many times I have leftovers so I just clean, slice, and package in, you guessed it, Glad Press N Seal.

Waste not want not.  Mushroom stems and pieces went into the freezer. I didn’t bother to wrap. Just tossed in a ziplock bag.

Tips for any Vegetable Broth

Don’t fast boil to get things done faster. Slow simmering allows the vegetables to break down easily. You will have a clearer broth as less protein and particulate matter breaks down. You may still need to strain but at least you won’t have gross bits floating around. This holds for vegetable broth as well as meat broth.

Avoid a tan or gray sauce. Creating a dish is like painting. You want to start with pure colors – like golden or brown broth. Build color into your dish with other colors.

Consider a good balance of sweet and savory, bitter, salty and umami – a wee tartness can brighten a broth. Carrots are sweet. Celery is sometimes bitter. Parsley is a little bitter but herby. Onions are savory and a little sweet depending on the variety. Some people add a little fresh tomato at the beginning or a little paste the end. A little goes a long way.

For mushroom broth, our umami comes from the mushrooms, thus I didn’t add any tomatoes to the cooking process. There is a theory that when you combine 2-3 umami ingredients, the flavors are complementary rather than additive so mushrooms, a splash of Maggi and some miso in the soup will boom up the final dish.

So, let’s get going. Let’s make your first Mushroom Vegetable Broth.

Mushroom Vegetable Broth

A great way to use up all those scraps, ends and pieces of produce and mushrooms.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs

Servings 3 cups

Equipment

• stock pot
• strainer

Ingredients

  

• 8 ounces mushroomstems and pieces
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 1 cup carrot peelings
• 1/2 onion, quartered
• 1/4 cup sliced leeks (if you have them)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 handful parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 3-4 whole black peppercorns

Instructions

 

• Place all ingredients in a stock pot and cover with water.
  
• Place pot on medium heat. Bring to a slight boil then immediately turn down the heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours.
  
•  Do not allow the vegetables to roll and touch each other. The slower the better.
• Allow broth to cool.
• Strain through a sieve. Strain again through a coffee filter.
  

Notes

Note: You can try this in an Instantpot but the temperature and water movement you want is a slow simmer - not a full simmer and not a slow-cook. Keep playing with your technique. You may decide you are OK with your results!! :-)