Let There Be Broth

The Super Bowl is on. I really couldn't care less. Except one of my very favorite people looooves the Patriots. So I actually made an attempt to join her and watch the game, but the bar was "at capacity."
That'll be fine.
I'll just make some soup : )

I  have 3 butternut squash on my counter.. so naturally they'll be the star of this evening's soup.
I start by making a broth... I look through the fridge, through the pantry, and OH. MY. OH. NO!! There are NO onions in this apartment!!!! I only have 1/2 of a very very small onion. I'll admit I freaked a little. I reallllyy didn't want to run to the store tonight. My anxiety rose when I realized there is also. no. garlic. I gave up. Watched an episode of The Office on Hulu.. and THEN decided that I would NOT be defeated.

Making a good broth is a lot like making tea. You find flavorful ingredients and cook them in water until all of their goodness steeps out. I organized my spice cabinet recently (alphabetical order and categorized by peppers, blends, herbs, and roots/seeds) and remembered that I had some dried onion flakes and a jar of dried shaved garlic that my momma put in my stocking a couple years ago. Thanks Mom!  So I checked the fridge again and came up with tonight's broth.

This is a pretty basic vegetable stock. It can be used to add depth to a wide variety of dishes. If I was making a corn chowder, I would add the cobs and any other scraps from that soup. Broccoli soup? Add the stalks to the broth. You can save mushroom stems in the freezer for broths and if you cook a lot, you could save up several days worth of veg scraps, make broth, and store it in your freezer for later use.
Here's an idea: Freeze it in an ice cube tray, pop out the cubes, and keep em in a ziplock bag. Bam.

2 parsnips
3carrots
3 celery stalks
1/2 small onion
2 bay leaves
few white peppercorns
salt
1/4 c dry onion flakes
2 T dry garlic flakes

 To extract the most flavor from your vegetables, cook them in a bit of oil. Stir frequently for about 5minutes, then add water.

 Boil the heck out of it. And keep a lid on, unless you want it to reduce. Boil for a minimum of 30minutes, and no longer than an hour.

Strain. Here I fit a strainer over a pot and mashed the veg to release as much of the liquid as possible.

 Finished Product. 2 cups of beautiful,delicious nutritious broth.