Vegetable Bouillon~Part 2

I decided that I would try drying the bouillon because I was sure I wouldn't be able to use it quickly enough if I left it in the fridge.

Here is a link to my original post on Vegetable Bouillon.

I sprayed the silicone mat with olive oil so that the mushy stuff wouldn't stick when I tried to take it off.

Here is the green goop spread on the silicone mat in the dryer.

I wasn't sure there would be enough airflow around the vegetable bouillon, so I put another tray on top of the mat.

I started the dehydrator and had the temperature set on the lowest setting. I didn't really want to cook the vegetables. But after about 12 hours there was no change... it was still mushy, not even the surface was dry.

So I turned up the heat to the highest setting. It still took another 36 hours for it to completely dry. Maybe next time I will spread it thinner and start with high heat.

Here it is broken and put in the blender before I powder it.

All powdered! About 3 cups of wet vegetable bouillon fits into an old yeast jar, which holds about 1/2 cup (I think).

It smells really good! And I like that I don't have to store it in the refrigerator or the freezer. It tasted great in the meat pie last week (before dehydrating), now I'm tempted to try sprinkling it on some chicken before Hubby grills it.

Got some suggestions on how to use it? I'd love to hear them. I made the bouillon because I thought it looked like a neat thing to do, not because I know what to do with it now that I've got it. Weird, I know, but it keeps life interesting!

Vegetable Bouillon

I posted that I wanted to try this, and I did!

It looked really interesting, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it after I made it. Sometimes I do things like that. It looks fun or interesting so I try it, but then I think.... now what!?

I found the recipe here at 101 Cookbooks.

I had no idea what celery root looked like.... I had to find a photo on the internet before I went to the grocery store.

I didn't know what a shallot was, either. Sheesh! I couldn't use this one. I didn't notice it was black when I bought it. Good thing I bought three!

Everything but the leeks all weighed and ready for the blender. I forgot to buy the leeks. I went back to the grocery store and bought them the next day. Clockwise from left to right: celery root, parsley, celery, garlic and shallots, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes that I dehydrated last fall. You can find the post here.

I don't have a food processor. I have this mega blender. I wouldn't try this in a little blender....

Everything blended together except the salt.

The recipe calls for alot of salt! I'm sure the salt is there to cure and preserve the veggie puree.

Here's what it looks like blended with the salt.

I put it all in a airtight container and stuck it in the fridge. I added the leeks the next day. I didn't use the fennel or cilantro. Those are not two flavors that our family likes, so I left them out.

Oh, don't taste it yet. Not even a tiny smidge on a spoon. It smells great--but YUCK! It tastes really strong and salty at this point!

I sent some over to two friends who don't mind trying my experiments. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the green sludge myself. One family really enjoys cooking, the other family loves to try my experiments. They are both honest in their feedback, too.

I think I might try to dehydrate some to see if it will be easier to store.

I decided to use it in our Cornish Pastie for dinner last night. I used it as a base to make the sauce. I had to use about 1 1/2 tablespoons in about 1 cup of water to get the taste strong enough to make a difference. Vet2Be thought that the bouillon smelled nasty in the container, but he thought it was great in the pastie.

(you can find the post about how it dehydrated here.)

Homemade Bouillion

Gonna try this!

101 Cookbooks

I found another link for it here:

Jennie's Kitchen