I often marvel at how much Mr Hobby Horseman makes himself. He has inspired me to make a store cupboard ingredient I take for granted.

Stock cubes are expensive for what they are and can easily ruin a dish with the amount of salt they contain. It was only when I noticed gluten free stock cubes that it made me question why would they not be? Apart from a ton of salt and wheat flour, they often contain vegetable fats, caramel syrup and flavour enhancers such as MSG.

In recent years stock pots have arrived on the supermarket shelves which are concentrated jelly-like stock cubes and seem to give a more intense flavour but are expensive at around 50p (= 62 USD ¢/60 Euro c) each, almost double that of a stock cube.

I have plenty of odds and sods in my vege drawer; onions, carrots, celery, garlic and what seems to be a never-ending supply of Brussels sprouts which I need to hide in food somehow as not many are keen on them post Xmas. A YouGov poll found that 77% of Brits refer unaffectionately and incorrectly to these mini cabbages as ‘brussels’ or ‘Brussel sprouts’ but in fact they are Brussels Sprouts named after the capital of Belgium.

I decide not to add leek as it could make the stock cubes bitter. The vege are chopped, sauteed in olive oil with a little salt and blitzed before adding chopped flat-leaved parsley, divvying up and freezing. From a handful of vege, I now have 42 cubes to use at my leisure and I know exactly what they contain. #NewYear2025 #Brussels Sprouts