Scrap Stock

A few years ago I attended a cooking demo given by the Chef de Cuisine of Blue Hill. The theme was No Waste Vegetable Cooking: from Root to Leaf. The final dish was leeks resembling marrow bones – but the most important method I learned and have implemented was the recipe for “scrap stock.” Scrap stock is a vegetarian stock composed of all the scraps the restaurant would otherwise throw out. At home, I collect them in a bag stored in the freezer. It’s amazing how quickly the bag fills up. Little ends of garlic or parsley stems seem inconsequential, but after a few weeks, the bag is quite full.

Roast the vegetables for about 15-20 minutes in a 400°F oven, which lightly caramelizes the scraps, concentrating the flavors and creates a rich brown color. I put the roasted scraps in the pressure cooker, add a few peppercorns and bay leaves if available, cover with water and make stock.

Simmering on the stove is the original method and might produce a clearer stock, but the convenience of the pressure cooker is most attractive to me.  Either way you choose, this is the stock used at Blue Hill whenever they need liquid for a dish – to cool a pan down, make a sauce, risotto, soup, etc. It’s a rich vegetarian stock that saves so much waste and can be used in many ways.  I also enjoy how it changes throughout the year – asparagus trimmings in Spring, tomatoes in Summer and early Fall. A variety of flavors is ideal, but at the minimum you just need onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. Avoid brassicas, including cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, collard greens, kohlrabi, and kale; additionally, artichokes, beets, potatoes and sweet potatoes can alter the flavor and color of the stock if you’re looking for it to be “all purpose.”

VEGETABLES FOR SCRAP STOCK
Onions
Garlic
Leeks
Carrots
Celery
Herbs
Apple peels
Zucchini ends
Mushrooms
Tomatoes