Tiny House Creature #9

So you want to be a bouillon-aire

October through April = soup season. Which means there is a lot of soup in our future! Since we’re also a vegetarian house, that means we’re going to need a lot of vegetable broth.

I’m a veggie scrap saver. I have a gallon ziplock bag in my freezer where I put onion skins, carrot shoulders, celery tops, etc… and then when I’ve accumulated enough I put it all in a big pot with water, salt, and a bay leaf or two and cook it on low for a few hours for a big batch of broth.

But sometimes I want spontaneous soup, or I don’t have enough veggie scraps accumulated. That’s when I turn to my favorite thing I made last year: frozen vegetable bouillon cubes. These have been officially added to my “Make Every Year” list. And this year I even experimented with a little something new - dehydrated and powdered bouillon!

Inspiration for this recipe comes from 101 cookbooks and Alpha Foodie. (101 Cookbooks also has a recipe for bouillon powder made from already dry ingredients!) I took notes on last year’s cubes and adjusted accordingly, so this is my version, but, as always, you can adjust however you like. Ingredients that make good bouillon are:

• All alliums (onion, leek, garlic, etc…)

• Carrots

• Parsnips

• Potatoes

• Celery/celery root

• Fennel

• Mushrooms (dried or fresh)

• Hearty herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage)

• Nutritional yeast

• Nori/seaweed

• Sundried tomatoes/tomato paste

• SALT!

Here is what I used this year:

• 3lbs veggies (celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, and parsnips)

• 6-8oz additional flavorings (dried shiitakes, garlic, nutritional yeast, and parsley)

• 3oz salt

• 3-4 Tbsp olive oil

The how-to

1. Chop all your vegetables - they can be small or large pieces, but the smaller they are, the faster they’ll cook and the easier they’ll puree.

2. Put a large pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the pan is hot, add your veggies and salt and cook until the veggies have released all their water and it has evaporated (20-30 min).

3. ***If you are using dried mushrooms, give those a few pulses in the food processor before adding the rest of your veggies. They don’t need to be totally powdered, but you want to give them a headstart so you don’t end up with chunks of dried mushroom.

4. Put the veggies and any additional flavorings in the food processor and process until mostly smooth, scraping down the sides as needed (this might take 5-6 minutes).

5. FOR FROZEN CUBES: Line a 9x9 pan with parchment and spread the veggie mixture evenly in the pan. Freeze for at least 8 hours, then cut into 32-46 cubes. Store in the freezer until ready to use.

6. FOR POWDER: Cut parchment paper to fit the racks of your dehydrator. Spread about 1 cup of vegetable puree per piece of parchment, making it as thin as possible. Set your dehydrator to 150 degrees for 12 hours. You’ll know it’s done if the mixture snaps when bent. If it bends instead, give it another two hours. Snap the bouillon into small pieces and put in a spice grinder or food processor to grind into a powder. Store in a glass jar.

My preferred ratios for soups and stews: 1 frozen cube + 1 quart water OR 1 Tbsp powder + 1 quart water.

HAPPY SOUP SEASON!!!

(P.S. The powdered version is another great addition to foodie gift baskets!)

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Betcha didn’t know my husband is a polymer chemist at an adhesives company and he tests adhesives used in food packaging for FDA approval! Given his expertise, I had to involve him in this week’s issue. For as long as I’ve known Peter, I haven’t put plastic in the microwave, and I haven’t put hot food in plastic containers. He’s generally a very laid-back guy, so when he’s serious about something you know it’s the real deal - and not putting plastic in the microwave has always been a very strict no-no in our house.

Bon Appetit recently put out an article about not putting plastic in the microwave, and while they got the general idea right, they got their wires crossed in a few places. Here are Peter’s thoughts:

“It seemed to drift back and forth between microplastics and leachable chemicals without clear distinctions and made them read like similar things (they are not). I agree with the general conclusions: things can leach out of plastic and hot food/liquid makes this happen faster. I think my biggest issue is the article actually discusses what could leach from all plastics, and only at the end do we find out that phthalates and bisphenols are not present in most food storage containers.  

[…] A fun fact is that there are often stricter guidelines for pet food than human food because it is assumed that pets eat exactly the same food every day (and that's all they eat), so if a specific container has anything bad, then a pet would get the largest amounts of it. Chemicals are most likely to leach out of a container early on (there are more of them when the item is new), and microplastics are most likely to come out as the product ages (the material is breaking down). Your safest option is to use whatever plastic for exactly the intended use and duration--that is what it is tested and approved for!”

So read the article, but know that microplastics and leachable chemicals are different things that act differently in our bodies. Don’t put plastic in the microwave, AND don’t put hot food in plastic containers. (Peter says he cringes a little bit every time YouTube chefs put hot liquids into those takeout-style quart containers.) So what do we use? Glass! There are lots of awesome glass food storage options out there, so make the switch if you haven’t already!

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The New Rules of Laundry

The Laundry Evangelist is back with some hot (or warm) tips on how to wash your clothes more efficiently and with more care. This episode of NPR’s LifeKit debunked some old laundry myths and gave me enough confidence to use the “express” cycle today. Check it out!

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See you in two weeks for a full rundown of the canning season as well as a few more fall goodies. Haven’t upgraded your subscription yet? Go for it!