Cowgirl Creamery's Parmesan Broth

All this week, Sue Conley and Peggy Smith from Cowgirl Creamery will be sharing recipes from their forthcoming cookbook Cowgirl Creamery Cooks, answering our questions, and giving away a book every day.

Today: Save your cheese rinds -- the ladies behind Cowgirl Creamery are sharing their recipe for a flavorful, vegetarian broth that's a great way to use them up.

You can make a delicious, full-flavored stock from the leftover bits of hard cheese and pieces of natural rinds found in the cheese corner of your refrigerator. Combined with some dried mushrooms, cheese gives this stock a deep, earthy flavor. We make it often, and it’s a wonderful starting point for soups and sauces.

You can add leftover cheese bits to any other stock, but if you try this recipe, you might be surprised how well it compares with chicken or beef stock. Save your cheese rinds and bits in the fridge until you have about 1 cup or 200 grams. Before starting the stock, clean the cheeses by slicing off any unknown molds. Parmesan and cheddar rinds taste wonderful in this stock, but any natural rind that is not too crumbly can work well.

Parmesan Broth

Makes 10 cups

12 cups cool water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups medium diced onions
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
1/4 ounce dried mushrooms, such as porcini or shiitake
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
About 1 cup leftover bits of hard cheese and natural rind

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Want to win a copy of Cowgirl Creamery Cooks? Tell us in the comments: Do you have a secret ingredient that you add to homemade broths? We'll choose one random winner each day, and announce them this Friday! (Unfortunately, we can only ship books within the US.)

Photo by James Ransom.