We go through a ton of stock in our kitchen to make soups, risotto, rice, stews…something is always bubbling away in a savoury chicken or vegetable stock. Usually we have bags of homemade frozen stock in the freezer but my one complaint about that is the amount of space it takes up. The Vorwerk cookbook My Way of Cooking had an interesting approach to stock: make a batch of stock paste that keeps in the fridge for months. In recipes calling for stock, just take 1 to 2 teaspoons of the resulting paste, mix it with 500 g water to yield about 2 cups of stock.
After you’ve minced your chicken in the Thermomix and set it aside, place the vegetables and herbs in the bowl and chop.
Add the minced chicken and remainder of ingredients and let it cook for 30 minutes on the Varoma setting at speed 2. I had issues with the 150 g salt it called for. That’s 10 tbsps making me wonder if the 150 is a typo. (Update: no typo, the amount is required for preservation.)
After it cooks, blend on speed 10 for 1 minute and you end up with a thick paste (pictured below).
Let it cool and then store it in an air tight container in your fridge.
I made enough paste to make about 60 cups of stock. That would equal 15 of these:
One box of this particular stock costs about $4, so approximately $1/cup. Doing it the Thermomix way breaks down to approximately 4 cents per cup. That’s crazy.
The vegetable stock paste is more of the same, easy procedure:
Chop up a chunk of Parmesan cheese and set aside. Place cut up pieces of vegetables and herbs into the Thermomix and chop.
Again, when you want to make stock, just add 1 to 2 tsps of the vegetable paste to 500 g of water to make approximately 2 cups of stock. These recipes, like many of the ones found in this cookbook are super easy. If you want to use other vegetables that are not called for in this recipe, go for it. Many of these recipes can be altered to suit the ingredients you have on hand.
This is a money-saving, incredibly easy recipe and a great alternative to buying boxes of stock, or spending hours simmering, straining and supervising vats of stock on your stovetop.
Sweet.
And how does it taste? Let me read this again. Maybe you already said. I have been meaning to make this. My friend swears by it and I haven’t got to it yet. Glad you did!
🙂
valerie
Both pastes result in a very full-flavoured broth although the chicken broth is too cloudy because the paste is more chunky than pasty. The flavour though, is all there. And I find I need two heaping teaspoons per cup to get the right amount of flavour that I like.
Just a thought that the 150g of salt is important for preserving the paste. A quick google search confirms that the 150g amount is indeed correct. Do be careful with the shelf life of your paste as there is little to ensure its integrity through time (ie no vinegar or other preserving agent) except the salt (which is now vastly reduced).
That said, I like your blog and especially appreciate your restaurant reviews. We’ve tried a few of your recommendations and have found new favourites. Keep up the good work, Twyla.
Much thanks, Tamara
Tamara…you are right. I had a feeling that the amount of salt was more for preservation than taste. I hardly use any salt in anything I cook, so when I tasted the paste, the salt was overwhelming. But yes, you do need it for preservation. Thanks so much for stopping by and reading!
Hi Twyla!
I’m actually making the chicken stock paste now…..in the book it says a few months so i’m assuming about 3months?
How long has your stock lasted? Just worried about food poisoning is all! hehehe
Thanks!
Mine lasted almost 3 months BUT I didn’t use as much salt as the recipe called for and that was a mistake. The salt is definitely needed for preservation sake, so follow the recipe exactly as the book says. That’s definitely one thing I learned so far — these recipes are tried, tested and true. Good luck!