Ice Clarification

     I have recently been given the task of creating a flavorful broth element for a vegetarian entree. I have made vegetable sauces in past by blending, cooking, and repeatedly filtering vegetables (mostly carrots or onions), but that is an extensive and labor intensive process. I needed to try a different approach. Let's give ice clarification a go.

This guy is responsible for making me freeze things!

     My first experience with ice clarifying was stumbled upon by accident, and most people may have also tripped over it without even knowing. I grew up in Arizona, and we spent many summers freezing our drinks to make make-shift Popsicles. Every time we froze soda or a juice made from concentrate, the iced beverage would leach out a super concentrated syrup before the water ice melted. We would promptly consume the sticky sweetness and even go so far as attempt to suck it out of the icy matrix. That, essentially, is the principle behind ice clarification.

The horrible "smoothie" ice cube

     I started with the same process of extracting maximum flavor that I have used before, puree the hell out it. The standard mirepoix would be a good start; carrot, shallot, and celery. To the start, I added leeks, parsley, parsnip, red beets, and tomato. To facilitate the puree, water was added to the blender. What survived to process was a glop of goo reminiscent of a smoothie gone horribly wrong. The "smoothie" was added to a stock pot and put over a flame until it reduced by one quarter in volume (approximately one hour). I placed the cooked "smoothie" in a shallow flat pan to cool in the refrigerator for a few hours. Once the pan was cool, I placed it into the freezer overnight.

surviving juices in the heavy sauce pan

     The following morning I had a large ice cube made from my horrible "smoothie". I lined a large perforated pan (you can use any colander or sieve) with cheese cloth (two layers of unfolded cloth) and placed this into another pan for catching the juice. Once the pan was lined and placed, I plopped the ice-cube into it. The ice cube, now resting in a lined perforated pan, went into the fridge to melt. In the refrigerator, the ice cube "smoothie" would slowly leach out all its good liquids while the cloth kept the solids in place. After two days in the fridge, I had a beautiful red-hued liquid in the catch pan. I threw away the solids left in the cheese cloth and went on finishing the surviving juices.

slurrrp*

     I placed the red liquid into a heavy sauce pan, and began to reduce it further. The taste was rich in vegetable and mildly sweet, but I knew I could make it stronger. The liquid was reduced by another two thirds over a medium flame. The finished liquid was very sweet and full of flavor with a viscosity of a heavy stock and a deep red hue. From this point you could thicken the liquid further with a small touch of xanthan gum, to achieve a "demi-glace"-style sauce.

     This clarifying process can be done with a multitude of ingredients. Your imagination and your available space are the only limitations.