Preparation of the mushroom broth Peel the onions. Finely dice half of them and halve the rest. Clean the carrots and roughly chop them together with the washed celery sticks. Clean the mushrooms and halve them. Grate the lemon peel and pluck the thyme leaves from the sprigs.
To save time, you can roughly chop the lemon peel with a knife. Alternatively, you can add the thyme sprigs to the mushroom broth without picking them.
If possible, use untreated lemons from controlled organic cultivation to avoid unnecessary pesticide contamination of the mushroom broth.
Heat half of the rapeseed oil in a frying pan. Fry the cut sides of the halved onions for about five minutes until they turn a brownish color. In the meantime, continue with the next preparation step.
Make sure you use rapeseed oil that can withstand high temperatures and is suitable for frying. You should not use cold-pressed rapeseed oil for this purpose.
Heat the remaining rapeseed oil in a saucepan. Sauté the mushrooms together with the carrots, celery and chopped onions for about three minutes. Deglaze with water.
Add dried mushrooms, onion halves, lemon peel, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns to the mushroom and vegetable mixture in the pot. Season with salt.
Fill the saucepan with cold water until everything is covered by about five centimeters. Once it has boiled, reduce the heat and let the mushroom broth simmer for two to three hours. Occasionally skim off any foam that rises.
If necessary, add some water when the ingredients are no longer covered.
Finishing and preserving mushroom broth Pour the broth through a fine-mesh sieve and use it for other recipes. To preserve it, pour it into sterilized bottles or jars while it is still hot and store in the refrigerator.
Detailed Nutritional Information per Person for this Recipe
The majority of the nutritional information comes from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). This means that the information for natural products is often incomplete or only given within broader categories, whereas in most cases products made from these have more complete information displayed.
If we take flaxseed, for example, the important essential amino acid ALA (omega-3) is only included in an overarching category whereas for flaxseed oil ALA is listed specifically. In time, we will be able to change this, but it will require a lot of work. An “i” appears behind ingredients that have been adjusted and an explanation appears when you hover over this symbol.
For Erb Muesli, the original calculations resulted in 48 % of the daily requirement of ALA — but with the correction, we see that the muesli actually covers >100 % of the necessary recommendation for the omega-3 fatty acid ALA. Our goal is to eventually be able to compare the nutritional value of our recipes with those that are used in conventional western lifestyles.
BA Ökotrophologie, Handelsfachwirtin IHK, Kräuterkundlerin; Autorin
Notes about recipe
Organic mushroom vegetable broth with carrots and celery has a hearty umami taste. It stores well and can be used for risotto, soups, etc.
Explanation of the term broth: A basic distinction is made between broth and stock. Broth serves both as a basic ingredient and as a dish in its own right, whereas stock is a heavily boiled, concentrated, salt-free, and therefore unfinished, cooking ingredient.
Estimated yield and boiling time: Although at first glance large quantities of liquid and ingredients are used, the final volume with an amount of ingredients for 8 people is around 2 to 2.25 liters. This figure depends on the temperature of the stove, the boiling time and the volume of the pot. It is a good guideline to estimate the number of containers required if only part of the broth is intended for immediate use.
Umami taste and protein content: Shiitake mushrooms have an umami taste, which is the fifth scientifically recognized taste quality that can be perceived on the tongue, alongside sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Glutamate present activates special taste receptors on the tongue. Porcini mushrooms contain high-quality and easily digestible protein that is very similar to the best animal proteins. Since porcini mushrooms cannot be cultivated, the range available in the commercial trade varies greatly.
Celery: Celery, also known as celery root, is one of the vegetables with the fewest calories. In addition to its high water content, it also contains a variety of vitamins and minerals. Celery root is said to have a relaxing effect and its diuretic effect makes it helpful for gout and rheumatism. Caution : People who are allergic to birch pollen and mugwort may experience a cross allergy when eating celery root.
Rapeseed oil: Rapeseed oil has a higher proportion of essential fatty acids, particularly alpha-linolenic acid, than olive oil, for example. It is primarily used as cooking oil and as an ingredient in margarine. Rapeseed oil cultivars are varieties that have been bred to be practically free of erucic acid and are therefore suitable for human consumption. Erucic acid causes organ damage and heart problems in humans and mammals. Furthermore, the newer varieties (double zero) are also low in glucosinolates, which makes them easier to use as animal feed.
Tips
Storage for months: Sterilize clean jars briefly in boiling water and leave to dry upside down on a clean cloth. Pour the boiling hot mushroom broth into the dried jars, close them well and turn them upside down for 5 minutes. It is important that the jars are sterile for this. Therefore, avoid contact with the inside of the jars and lids. You can store mushroom broth in the freezer for about half a year.
Alternate preparation
Variations in ingredients: You can put together the ingredients individually depending on your taste preferences and the vegetables you have available. Instead of shiitake or porcini mushrooms, you can of course use other types of mushrooms suitable for drying, such as black trumpet mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, pointed morels and edible morels, Judas ears, boletes, funnel mushrooms, knight mushrooms, parasol mushrooms and honey fungus.
Soaking the dried mushrooms: If you soak dried mushrooms before preparing the mushroom broth, you can reduce the cooking time to one and a half hours. Use only a small amount of lukewarm water for soaking. Add this aromatic soaking water to the simmering mushroom broth with the rest of the water. The soaking time can be two to twelve hours, because the longer the dried mushrooms are in the water, the more intense the mushroom flavor in the water.
Instant broth: To make an instant broth, you can chop fresh vegetables, fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms that have been soaked overnight in a blender with the addition of salt and then let them dry. There are various ways to do this: You can either use a dehydrator or spread the mixture out on a baking tray to a thickness of around 1 cm and dry it in the oven (at 60 °C for several hours, or at 80 °C for 1-2 hours, followed by air drying). Blend the dried mixture again to obtain a fine powder.
