Prepping the Veggies for Their Broth Bath

While the easiest way to make vegetable broth is to just throw everything into the pot, I'm a HUGE fan of roasted vegetables.  So tonight, I'm prepping my veggies for tomorrow's broth fest.  This way, they're done and ready to work with when everything else gets tossed into the pot. 
Off we go with roasting peppers. mmmmmmm....

As usual, I have in the fridge a bag of these little sweet peppers.  They are tasty, they last in the fridge for weeks, they cost next to nothing, and they are a quick easy fix when you need peppers for any dish.  Wash 'em and put 'em on a roasting pan.  In this case, I'm only roasting a few and because I have tomatoes roasting in my large oven, these are going to be broiled in my toaster oven.  This is also a great thing to do if you're afraid your peppers will go bad before you get to use them.  There's nothing worse than throwing out food.

As soon as you start to smell them, keep an eye on them.  You don't want to burn them into oblivion. Once they start to blacken, flip them over for the other side to do the same thing.

When they are beautifully roasted on both sides, take them out, put them in a bowl and wrap it tight with plastic wrap. Put it in the freezer, setting a timer for 10 minutes.  DO NOT rinse them with water or all your hard work, including the flavor will go right down the drain.  When the timer goes off, remove them from the freezer.  At this point, peeling them will be a cinch.   Put them in an airtight bowl and refrigerate until you want to use them.  Trust me on this, you're going to love them.

While all of this is happening I've also quartered 7-8 tomatoes, arranging them on a large roasting pan with another bunch of peppers.  Get your garlic infused oil & drizzle it over the whole batch.  (See my previous post on roasted tomatoes, if you don't know what I'm talking about.)  Put them in the oven with the peppers and bake for 3 hours at 275.  Sit down, watch a movie or two and enjoy the aroma of tastiness.  

These would be much more flavorful if they were organically grown, or better, home grown.  But I'll make due with what I've got.  They'll start to shrivel and be browned slightly when they're done.  Dump all of the contents of the pan into a bowl, cover it and refrigerate until you're ready to use them.  There will be lots of juices that will be wonderful in your soup stock, so be sure to save every last drop.

See you tomorrow!