Sunday, September 9, 2018

ShopRite at Bruckner Commons #1 - Of Soup and Corn

Periodically, I make my own veggie broth and I freeze part of it in the form of three (covered) trays of icecubes.
Oxo No Spill Ice Cube Tray
Often times, especially when sautéing it is easiest to not have to splash around with actual broth, but use a few ice cubes of soup stock.


In between, I use some store-bought soup stock and yesterday it was time to see what our new ShopRite store had to offer, which was impressive, so I decided to try all of them:
Veggie Broth and McDougall's Soups at ShopRite Bruckner
In other words, take your pick, they have four different veggie broths, College inn, Swanson, Rachel Rae, and Emeril's Organic and all reasonably priced, so pick whichever one you like best. I decided to try all four of them and compare.

Home Made Veggie Broth

Here is what I might use for home made veggie broth:

Ingredients

The veggies for roasting:
Onions 1lb,
Celery 1lb
Carrots 1lb
Tomatoes 1-1/2 lb
Green bell pepper 2-3
turnips 1/2 lb
garlic - 3+ cloves 

The spices for the stock:
3+ cloves or, if you want a different flavor, use Cardamom
3+ bay leaves
black pepper tsp
1 bunch parsley (or cilantro)
chunk of turmeric
1 gallon of water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Clean veggies as needed, including removing the leaves and the soft core of the celery. 
Place vegetables in a roasting pan and place them in the 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) oven. Stir every 15 minutes.
Cook until the vegetables have browned and the onions start to caramelize, typically more than an hour.

Put the browned vegetables, along with the celery you set aside, garlic, cloves, bay leaf, pepper corns, parsley and water into a large stock pot. Bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered until liquid is reduced by half.

Use a colander to pour the broth into a large bowl or pot. This is your veggie broth. You can use it as is, store it for later use, or freeze it in an ice tray like I suggested above.


The veggies are delicious to eat hot or cold. You can freeze them in quart bags for later use. For instance, to make a "chunky style" pasta sauce.

Cooking Cycles

Making your own broth has everything to do with cooking in cycles. Once you really get into the plant-based routine, you learn to always work ahead so that in a pinch you have a meal ready, you can use your fridge and freezer to help you out. I consider 5 days the outer limit in the fridge, but most things you can freeze, and I always have a collection of quart freezer bags, so I am never caught short.

McDougall's Soups

I was delighted to also find Dr. McDougall's soups. Dr. McDougall is one of the pioneers of the plant-based nutrition movement and his soups are great for those times when you don't have time for anything, or simply don't have anything in the house. The are superior products. I always like to have a few in the house.

Corn on the Cob

There's only one way to make corn on the cob. Thankfully, ShopRite now sells corn with the husks on.
The way to cook them is to soak them in water and then roast them in an oven pan or on a baking sheet for 45 minutes at 450F, and you leave it in the husks, but you cut off the stems for serving. You only remove the leaves when you are ready to eat one, so that they remain piping hot. I don't put anything on them usually, but sometimes I love to offset the sweetness with some Tabasco Sauce. The recipe goes back to Nero Wolfe, the fictional detective created by Res Stout, who says in Trio for Blunt Instruments that American housewives should themselves be boiled in water if they prepare corn that way. He suggests eating it with butter and salt, though, but we skip that part for the sake of our #WFPB diet.

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