>What do you guys put in your vegetable stock?
Scraps. Before cutting into or even peeling veg, wash them. This way, the scraps are ready to go for making veg broth.
>I say broth because fuck you that's why
Carrot, parsnip and/or celeriac peels. Onion, tomato and/or apple/pear cores. Celery stem-ends. Parsley, herb-celery, lovage, and/or marjoram stems. That sort of stuff. Set a bag or container in the freezer for these scraps and when you've got 1kg/2lbs of'em, make 1 litre/quart of veg broth.
I made some just Sunday, actually.
>Also, can I use vegetable stock for the same things I would use chicken stock for
Generally.
>does the lack of gelatin affect it in some way other than flavor-wise?
Texturally.
>My girlfriend's best friend is vegetarian and she's been coming over for dinner more often. She said she doesn't mind eating stuff that has chicken or beef stock in it but she would prefer not to
That's nice of you, but entirely unnecessary. Sadly, there are few-to-no vegetarian options for replacing gelatin's thickening property in stocks meant to be served hot for one of two reasons, either
• the gelling agent used melts too readily, yielding no discernible textural/consistency difference when heated between gelled and ungelled variants
• the gelling agent won't re-liquefy
Now, I'm not entirely sure (which is why I said "few-to-no" rather than giving a definitive "no" above), but I'd imagine the easiest-to-obtain gelling agent that can provide the closest textural similarity as a gelatinised stock might be carrageenan.
If you have Jamaicans anywhere near you, you'd have no difficulty finding dry Irish moss/carrageenan. Add some, soaked-from-dry, to the veg scraps when making the broth then strain the broth as normal. As it cools, it will gel in a manner similar to gelatin-rich stocks would. Not identical, but pretty close.
Unlike other veg-friendly gelling agents, it's easy to get, easy to use and can be both re-liquefied and reheated.
