Food Photography – Vegetable Soup Stock

I’ve tried making a few different soup stocks but I always come back to the vegetable stock from my Mother’s Williams Sonoma Soup cookbook. I’ve never even made chicken stock this good! It always tastes so homey and fresh, definitely comfort food. It’s actually so rich that sometimes when I use it I water it down a bit to balance out the other flavours of the soup.

It’s really easy to make. Essentially just cutting up all the vegetables and letting it simmer on the stove for an hour or two. I used to make stock using leftover vegetables, stalks, and other things that are on the verge of going bad, since that’s what many people will tell you to do. But then I started thinking, since I’m still eating it I want to use the freshest ingredients I can. Plus if I’m going to the trouble of making, then storing my own stock so that later I can make my own soup, then I’m going to do it up right.

My favourite trick is making it in a pasta pot and putting all the vegetables in the strainer, that way when it’s ready all I need to do is lift out the basket and I’m all done.

What’s your favourite kind of soup stock? Do you use fresh vegetables or leftovers? What are some of your favourite seasonings? Favourite veggies?