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The Flavor Boosters

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Every serious cook will tell you that a rich, flavorful stock can spell the difference between the success and failure of a dish. Auguste Escoffier, the turn-of-the-century chef credited with modernizing French cuisine, wrote, “Stock is everything in cooking. . . . Without it, nothing can be done.”

So why do many otherwise serious vegetarian cooks content themselves with bouillon cubes, or even plain water? Although meatless cooking is increasingly popular, you never hear much about the importance of vegetable stock.

When I was in culinary school, the old-world chefs treated the making of meat stock with the reverence Escoffier said it deserved. But if you asked them about vegetable stock, they’d shrug, purse their lips and make that dismissive French pouf! sound. “Use chicken stock,” they’d say. “Or water.”

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Mollie Katzen’s newest vegetarian cookbook offers vegetable bouillon paste as an alternative to making stock from vegetables. And in a disheartening note, she adds, “I know of few people, if any, who actually bother to [make stock] on a regular basis.”

Canned beef and chicken broth of acceptable quality are on the market, but I’ve never heard anyone even pretend that canned vegetable broth--essentially water, salt and caramel color, with an acrid aftertaste of spoiled carrot and onion--is palatable. And homemade vegetable stocks often aren’t much better. I have tasted more than my share of pale, flavorless broths made from forgotten vegetable peelings.

With these watery stocks, it’s no wonder vegetarian food has a reputation for being a cuisine with no backbone, as it were.

I resolved to find out whether vegetable stock could be flavorful on its own and contribute something to a dish besides moisture. The result: some rigorous experimentation, a few unscientific hunches and a freezer full of labeled containers.

Booster Broths

A meat or poultry stock is usually made by extracting the soluble proteins and gelatin from bones and cartilage, with a little extra flavor from a mirepoix, that humble fine-chopped trinity of carrot, celery and onion. Vegetables, of course, don’t have bones, so the liquid made from simmering them should be called a broth. But many prefer the word “stock” for its fonds-de-cuisine sound: the “foundation of the kitchen,” as Julia Child says in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” “Broth” suggests something for invalids; indeed, the only vegetable stocks I found in classical French cookbooks were recipes for healthful tonics to be used as cures for overindulgence.

Still, vegetable stocks play a very different role in vegetarian cuisine than meat stocks do in French cuisine, for which they are the basis of an elaborate family of sauces. Vegetarian food doesn’t have a lot of heavy, butter-finished sauces. You might see the occasional wine sauce orbechamel, but for the most part, classical sauces don’t exist in vegetarian cooking.

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I think it all boils down to this: Vegetable stock isn’t stock at all. It’s not the foundation on which the rest of the cuisine rests; it’s not Julia Child’s “working capital of the kitchen.” It’s simply broth--a liquid that contributes layers of flavor to vegetables and grains.

Armed with this new definition, I turned to vegetarian cookbooks in search of the most flavorful vegetable broth recipes. Most have standard recipes, differing by only an ingredient or two. Karen Hubert Allison, whose book “The Vegetarian Compass” applies classical techniques to vegetarian food with some interesting results, has the most unusual stock recipes, with ingredients like mung beans, sea kelp, eggplant skin and dried lentils.

Most of the books advise avoiding vegetables from the cabbage family because of their sulfurous qualities, onion skins because they make a stock bitter and any vegetable of questionable age or quality, and this is good advice. On the other hand, some consider garlic too strong, but Allison’s basic stock, which calls for a whole head, is not at all overpowering.

The best advice on choosing ingredients comes from Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”: If you’re unsure about the flavor a particular ingredient will add to a stock, simmer it and then taste the cooking water. This allowed me to eliminate the boring, like potato peels and dried beans, and to include the surprises, like tangy celery root and sweet, spicy parsnips. To all broths, I added classical stock flavorings: bay, thyme, parsley and peppercorns.

Then I considered the ratio of vegetables to water. Unlike meat stocks, which use bones that would otherwise be discarded, vegetable stocks generally use up whole vegetables. When there is too little vegetable matter, the result is watery broth, but if you use too many vegetables, the issue of questionable economy arises, as in the case of the wild mushroom broth that calls for $13 worth of dried mushrooms (not surprisingly, it does taste very mushroomy). Using just enough water to reach the top of the vegetables seems the best compromise.

Meat stock, because it will usually be reduced at some point, is rarely salted. But nearly all the vegetable broth recipes advise adding salt to “draw out” the flavors of the vegetables. Whatever the chemical reason, vegetable broths taste better made with salt.

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Almost all sources agree that chopped vegetables give their all within about 45 minutes. I tested this by cooking a batch for as long as three hours. Sure enough, the broth didn’t become more flavorful after 45 minutes, and it developed a slightly stale, sour taste.

Another consideration is whether to leave the lid on or off the pot. I left the pot partly covered, which keeps the liquid at a simmer and minimizes evaporation.

Most recipes call for sauteing or “sweating” the vegetables in a little oil for about 10 minutes before adding the water. A few leave this step out and some offer oven-roasting as an alternative.

I tried a basic vegetable broth four ways (always starting the poaching with cold water). I made one by poaching raw vegetables. For another, I sweated the vegetables uncovered over medium-low heat in a little olive oil for 10 minutes first. For the third batch, I coated them lightly with oil and roasted them for 25 minutes before adding to the water. Finally, with the process of making brown veal stock in mind, I coated vegetables lightly with tomato paste and oil and roasted them before adding water.

Then I simmered them all 45 minutes and concluded that sweating or roasting gave the best result. The first pot yielded a light-tasting broth with a pleasant vegetable flavor, but it tasted a little harsh by comparison with the batch that had been sweated in oil; sweating made for more balanced, well-rounded flavors. Of course, the sweated vegetable stock was cloudy because of the oil, but that didn’t bother me (we’re not aiming for a clear consomme here).

The third batch, made with roasted vegetables, was sweeter and milder, with fewer harsh, outstanding flavors. Although it had some oil in it, it was considerably less cloudy than the second batch, probably because much of the oil stayed in the roasting pan. The last batch got a nice rust color from the tomato paste, but the sour, harsh flavor of the paste obscured the other flavors.

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Almost all the recipes I consulted agree that vegetable broth can be boiled down for a stronger flavor. I had a feeling that all the vegetable essences might vaporize and waft away in the steam--a small fortune in porcini mushroom aromatherapy--but it was a groundless fear. I reduced several broths by half, and they certainly did become more concentrated in flavor and color. The only problem was with a butternut squash and ginger broth, which became unpleasantly sweet.

In addition to a basic broth, I wanted a darker, stronger-tasting mushroom broth to complement heartier dishes. A mixture of fresh and dried shiitake mushrooms resulted in a light, clean-tasting broth, while dried porcinis made a smokier, woodsy-tasting broth. I wanted something even stronger. Caramelizing the onions and browning the fresh mushrooms before adding, which theoretically should have made a darker, sweeter broth, didn’t have much effect. But a red onion and the skin of an eggplant did add both flavor and color.

Two cookbooks include soy sauce in their dark stocks, and they taste so much better than stocks made with plain salt that I tried adding mushroom soy sauce to the mushroom stock. You couldn’t detect a soy flavor, but the result was a fuller and more balanced sauce.

After I made dozens of vegetable broths and lived on a steady diet of soup and pilaf, the most important thing I learned about vegetable broths is that, because of their relatively quick cooking time, they can be made in small batches to complement particular dishes.

Madison’s book suggests recipes for stocks to use in curried dishes, Mexican dishes and stir-fries. She also suggests flavoring stocks with ingredients like asparagus ends and pea pods for dishes featuring these vegetables. By adding ingredients like lemon grass, fennel seeds and ginger to a basic broth, you can customize it to go with whatever dish you are making.

And you’ll never have to put up with “spineless” vegetarian food again.

Mushroom Risotto

Active Work and Preparation Time: 40 minutes * Vegetarian

The dark stock gives this risotto a rich brown color.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt, pepper

3 cups arborio rice

1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup dry white wine

Dried Porcini Broth, plus water to make 8 cups, heated

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

* Melt 2 tablespoons butter with olive oil over medium heat in large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add onion and garlic and saute until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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* Add rice and mushrooms and stir to coat with oil and butter. Add wine, bring to simmer over medium heat and cook until wine is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes.

* Add 1 cup of hot Dried Porcini Broth and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until broth is almost completely absorbed by rice. Continue adding stock 1 cup at a time, cooking until broth is almost completely absorbed between each addition, until rice is tender but still slightly firm in center, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter, parsley and cheese.

4 to 6 servings. Each of 6 servings: 522 calories; 1,540 mg sodium; 24 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 82 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 0.40 gram fiber.

Barbara Kafka’s Six-Vegetable Soup

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 50 minutes * Low-Fat Vegetarian

This recipe is from Kafka’s most recent book, “Soup” (Artisan, 1998).

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 very small clove garlic, very finely chopped

2 cups drained and crushed or chopped canned tomatoes

Basic Vegetable Broth, plus water to make 8 cups

1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/2 pound baking potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 small carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice

3/4 pound shelled peas or 1/4 pound frozen, thawed under warm running water and drained

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne

Hot pepper sauce

* Melt butter over medium heat in medium saucepan. Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, Basic Vegetable Broth and marjoram. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

* Stir in potatoes and carrot and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in fresh peas and simmer 10 minutes. Add green onions, salt and black pepper, cayenne and hot pepper sauce to taste. Heat through, about 5 minutes. If using frozen peas, simmer potatoes and carrots 15 minutes, then add thawed peas with green onions, salt and black pepper, cayenne and hot pepper sauce to taste.

6 servings. Each serving: 154 calories; 1,460 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 2.06 grams fiber.

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Soba Noodle Soup

Active Work and Preparation Time: 20 minutes * Low-Fat * Vegetarian

Fried tofu puffs, also called auberage, are the sweet, seasoned bean curd pockets that are filled with rice to make inari sushi.

6 fried tofu puffs

1 bunch spinach

Salt

1 (1/2-pound) package dried soba noodles

Sweet Potato Shiitake Broth, plus water to make 6 cups

2 to 4 tablespoons red or white miso

2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 green onions, thinly sliced

* Rinse fried tofu puffs well under warm running water and cut into strips.

* Wash spinach and remove stems. Blanch spinach in boiling salted water about 20 seconds. Drain and squeeze dry.

* Cook soba noodles in plenty of salted boiling water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain.

* Bring Sweet Potato Shiitake Broth to simmer over medium heat. Stir in miso and soy sauce to taste and add green onions. Place drained soba noodles in bowl. Arrange mound of cooked spinach leaves and tofu puff strips over noodles. Ladle broth over noodles.

3 to 4 servings. Each of 4 servings: 271 calories; 2,864 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 13 grams protein; 1.21 grams fiber.

Tortilla Soup

Active Work Time: 30 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour * Vegetarian

This recipe is from Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” (Broadway Books, 1997).

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1 1/2 onions, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

4 large cloves garlic, unpeeled

2 jalapeno chiles

2 cups canned tomato sauce or 2 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes

3 tablespoons oil

Red Stock, plus water to make 6 cups

1 teaspoon pureed canned chipotle chile

Salt

2 pasilla chiles, stems and seeds removed

1/4 cup chopped cilantro plus whole leaves for garnish

1 avocado, diced

Tortilla strips (See Cook’s Tips)

1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese

1 lime, quartered

* Lightly oil onions, garlic, jalapenos and plum tomatoes with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Broil on baking sheet 4 to 5 inches from heat source. When onions brown, turn and brown on other side. Turn tomatoes, jalapenos and garlic several times so skins pucker and brown in places. Remove individual vegetables as they finish cooking.

* Puree onions, garlic, jalapenos and tomatoes in blender until smooth. If using canned tomato sauce, puree with onions, garlic, jalapenos and 1/2 cup water.

* Heat remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in wide soup pot over medium-high heat. Add puree and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add Red Stock and simmer, covered, 25 minutes. Stir in chipotle chile to taste and season with salt to taste. If you like a refined soup, strain. If you prefer a thicker soup with some texture, do not strain.

* Toast pasilla chiles in heavy skillet over medium heat, pressing down until fragrant and beginning to blister, about 30 seconds. Turn and repeat on other side. Do not let chiles burn. Cool, then tear or cut into strips.

* Just before serving, add pasilla strips and chopped cilantro to broth and cook 1 minute. Ladle broth into bowls and top with avocado, tortilla strips and crumbled cheese. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve with lime wedges.

4 servings. Each serving: 384 calories; 1,684 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 54 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 3.63 grams fiber.

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Basic Vegetable Broth

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hours* Low-Fat * Vegetarian

I prefer to roast the vegetables before making this broth. Depending on the amount of time you have and the amount of trouble you’re willing to go to, you might opt for sauteing them instead.

1 onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice

3 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

10 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

6 white button mushrooms, including stems, sliced

2 cups peeled, chopped celery root

1 small fennel bulb, chopped

1 parsnip, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 1/2 tablespoons light-flavored olive oil

2 leeks, leaves and white parts, chopped

1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs thyme

10 to 15 peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 cups water

* Toss onion, carrots, celery, garlic, mushrooms, celery root, fennel and parsnip with oil to coat evenly. Roast on baking sheet at 425 degrees until lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Place in stock pot. Alternatively, heat oil in stock pot over medium-high heat. Add vegetables and saute about 10 minutes.

* Add leeks, parsley, bay leaves, thyme, peppercorns, salt and water to stock pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes.

* Strain through colander lined with cheesecloth, or strain once through colander, then through fine mesh strainer. For stronger broth, boil strained broth uncovered until reduced by about 1/3.

6 cups. Each cup: 58 calories; 91 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.50 gram fiber.

Dried Porcini Broth

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hours * Low-Fat * Vegetarian

1 large globe eggplant

6 ounces brown or white button mushrooms, including stems, sliced

1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

1 1/2 tablespoons light-flavored olive oil

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in 1 cup hot water

1/2 bunch parsley, roughly chopped

3 sprigs marjoram

3 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

10 to 15 peppercorns

2 tablespoons mushroom or regular soy sauce

9 cups cold water

* Remove skin with about 1/2 inch of flesh from eggplant. Chop remaining eggplant.

* Toss button mushrooms, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and eggplant with oil to coat evenly. Roast on baking sheet at 425 degrees until lightly browned, about 25 minutes.

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* Place roasted vegetables in stockpot and add rehydrated mushrooms and liquid, parsley, marjoram, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, soy sauce and water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes.

* Strain through colander lined with cheesecloth, or strain once through colander and then through fine mesh strainer. For stronger broth, boil strained broth uncovered until reduced by about 1/3.

6 cups. 1 cup: 39 calories; 131 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.78 gram fiber.

Sweet Potato Shiitake Broth

. Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 10 minutes * Nonfat * Vegetarian

The recipe for Rich Sweet Stock in Karen Hubert-Allison’s “The Vegetarian Compass” (Little, Brown, 1998) and the Broth for Far Eastern-Flavored Dishes in Diana Shaw’s “The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter, 1997) suggested to me a broth made of their combined flavors for soba noodle soup.

6 to 8 green onions, including green tops, chopped

8 dried shiitake mushrooms

1 (2-inch) piece ginger root, sliced

5 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

3 cups chopped sweet potato or yam

1 parsnip chopped (about 1 cup)

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 cups water

* Bring green onions, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, sweet potato, parsnip, carrots, celery, cilantro, salt and water to boil in stock pot. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes.

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* Strain through colander lined with cheesecloth, or strain once through colander and then through fine mesh strainer. For stronger broth, boil strained broth uncovered until reduced by about 1/3.

4 cups. 1 cup: 69 calories; 97 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.45 gram fiber.

Deborah Madison’s Red Stock

Active Work Time: 15 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 15 minutes * Low-Fat * Vegetarian

This recipe is from Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” (Broadway Books, 1997).

1 1/2 tablespoons oil

2 onions, sliced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, chopped

5 white mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons tomato paste

6 cloves garlic

6 outer iceberg lettuce leaves

1 bunch cilantro, stems only, or 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley

2 teaspoons salt

8 cups water

* Heat oil in stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, oregano and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are browned, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir about 1 minute. Add garlic, lettuce, cilantro, parsley, salt and water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes. Strain, pressing out as much liquid as possible.

5 1/3 cups. 1/3 cup: 13 calories; 153 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.17 gram fiber.

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Cook’s Tips

To make tortilla strips, cut 4 corn tortillas into 1-inch-wide strips. Fry in 1/2 cup hot oil until crisp, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

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Mug, bowls and napkins from Bristol Farms, South Pasadena.

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