STOCK POWDERS
Vegetable stock is a common ingredient in our kitchens but have you read the ingredients? Monosodium glutamate, caramel color, fats, flavorings, preservatives, etc. Homemade vegetable stock powder is much better than the one you buy. You can be in control of the ingredients you use, it’s 100% natural, free of preservative and has less sodium. It’s made with dried vegetables, herbs and salt blended together.
INGREDIENTS
-
Dried carrots
-
Dried celery stalks
-
Dried leeks
-
A handful of parsley with stalks
-
2 twigs of thyme
-
2 twigs of rosemary
-
Sea salt 20% of the weight of your vegetables and herbs
-
You can add other vegetables and herbs: garlic, tomato, leek, basil, sage, etc. You can also opt to leave the salt out.
HOW TO
-
This could not be easier. You can you have dried your vegetables (see below) and you have enough. I store mine in jars until I am ready to use they simply need blitzed.
-
I use a coffee grinder and blitz a bit at a time. I do mine very fine but how fine or chunky you make this is entirely up to you.
-
You can store the powder in an airtight jar and add to water/wine and direct to dishes as needed. The main perk of a powder like this is that the flavours are super concentrated and you can add more as you need. I use as a rule 1 teaspoon of vegetable powder to 1 cup of boiling water.
-
The powder will stay good for 6-9 months.
HOW TO DRY VEGETABLES
-
I try to slice all my veg the same size. I used a mandolin for this.
-
Place your slices on your dehydrator trays/racks. Be sure not to overcrowd them.
-
Vegetables are generally dried at 52°. Higher temperatures may cause the outside of the vegetable to harden while the inside remains moist, causing spoilage.
-
How long it will take to dehydrate depends on several factors. The higher the humidity in the air, the longer it will take vegetables to dry. Your weather forecast is one way to determine humidity. An indoor humidity monitor is another.