Corn Based Vegetable Stock

My grandparents did a great job of not letting anything go to waste.  Empty jelly jars became cups, plastic butter containers became planters to start vegetables, and the rubbish went in a different container than the trash so that it could be composted to feed our plants.  Rain water collected from the roof of the shed to water the garden.  Why would food be any different?

Stock is one of the most expensive ingredients in soup.  I hate paying so much for something that is basically water!  When I have the right ingredients, I make my own stock out of pieces I may not otherwise be able to use.  Making stock is as easy as pouring water over something and letting it reduce.

I once made an awesome corn soup from a recipe I found online.  I don’t remember the ingredients to the soup, but I decided that any time I had corn that I cut off the cobs for any reason, I was going to make a stock out of it.  Corn stock is very sweet.  It can be used for soup, to cook rice to give it a flavor boost, or to use as a base for a marinade for meat.  Last week, I made some canned corn.  You can read about it here.  I put all 24 corn cobs into a very large pot on the stove and covered it with water.  I also had some cut vegetables from our Memorial Day cookout, so I tossed them in as well.  There were some celery sticks, broccoli, and onions that had been sliced for hamburgers.  I added 1 T salt.

Bring the whole pot to a boil, and then simmer for at least one hour.  I ended up with about two quarts of broth.  I put them in the pressure canner with the canned corn in 1 pint jars so I can use them for dinner throughout the year.