Brattleboro Food Co-op Deli

November is a time for delicious food, for giving thanks and for enjoying loved ones. Here at the Co-op we are excited for November because it means we get to be a part of supporting your holiday meals with friends and family. Whether it be a fresh turkey from Stonewood Farms, bulk flour from King Arthur Flour, or sweet potatoes from Laughing Child Farm, we are excited to help make your holidays special. While we know many people love to cook their own recipes from scratch and take deep pride in a Thanksgiving meal, we are experiencing an increase in demand for conveniently prepared foods ready to eat.

The good news is that our Deli offers a delicious variety of ready-to-eat food, made by a team of chefs, cooks, and food lovers preparing food by hand from scratch. This team takes pride in all of the delicious food, sweets, and drinks that they prepare. Walk through the kitchen and you’ll see our team creating food the old fashioned way, by hand. Reading recipes, chopping veggies, mixing dressings, battering fish, buttering potatoes, marinating tempeh, grilling tofu, smoking meats, deboning chickens, cutting steaks, boiling veggies for stock, creating vegan soups, and, of course, baking delicious treats. Their goal is to deliver high quality hand-crafted food that offers a diverse variety for all types of food lovers, diets, and preferences. Vegan, vegetarian, meat-filled and beyond, we have something for you. Plenty of people who cannot eat dairy, eggs or gluten can find a great meal here at the Co-op. (Know that while we offer food made without gluten ingredients they are made in a kitchen that cooks with gluten.) Others who follow a vegan diet or love meat and seafood can be satisfied too. There’s an extensive range of options every day and we try and keep new creations on the hot buffet every week. Some people just love our salad bar, where you can bring home items to make your own salad or just have a quick and healthy lunch. Others stop in for pizza and find new varieties of toppings each day based on the creative freedom our team takes with each pie they make. The options are endless!

With so many options in and around Brattleboro it is often hard to know who is cooking from scratch and who is not. Stop by our Deli and chat with the many talented folks who can share the stories of our ingredients and the team that cooks your food! Whether it be Dano and Di for breakfast, making bacon-filled bagel sandwiches or fakin’ bacon on a croissant, or Shelby and Michelle for a variety of by-the-pound delicious vegan, veggie, meat and seafood dishes. Chris who works in the Deli says they “pride themselves on great customer service” and that “there is nothing more rewarding than helping a customer get the right food for their needs.” They also hand-make sandwiches, smoothies, or get you that perfect piece of cake! Our team in the Deli can share how to get a delicious plate of food from our hot buffet for around $5. Yes, affordable food is a huge part of what we strive to offer here at the Co-op.

As a recap you can rely on our deli for the following:

• Offering breakfast, lunch and dinner
• In-house smoked meats
• Baked goods made daily
• Handmade food, made from scratch
• Organic, non-GMO, and local products available
• Not from a box
• High quality
• Affordable
• Vegan and vegetarian dishes
• Food made without gluten ingredients

When it comes to Thanksgiving we are very excited to share some of our delicious menu options through the stories of the people cooking your food!

Sam: Vegan Nutloaf
When speaking with Sam, one of our bakers and a long tenured member of Deli kitchen team, she shared that the Vegan Nutloaf is quite unique. It’s “unheard of” in this area, as not many kitchens are preparing vegan food, especially not ones that would please almost anyone at your dinner table. Packed with nuts, flour, and aromatic spices, this item is sure to please; don’t miss it as we sell them fast! She also mentioned how much she loves baking our cookies, scones, pies, cakes and more… she is always in our kitchen mixing up great baked goods. We might even see some special mini banana breads and pumpkin breads for the week of Thanksgiving.

Carl: Stonewood Farm Smoked Turkey Breast
Local turkey, smoked or roasted in house and ready to re-heat and eat or just pile on a sandwich immediately. The secret with these turkeys is brining them overnight before they get cooked. When it comes to the Thanksgiving meal, this is a great option for those of you who may not want to cook a whole 15 pound bird for your intimate gathering.

Scottie: Turkey Gravy & Sausage Stuffing
Scottie, our Kitchen Manager, spoke about our Turkey Gravy. He loves gravy and says that this is one of the best he has ever tasted and the key is making it from scratch. It all starts with local turkey bones boiled into a delicious turkey stock. Then we make a roux with flour and butter and cook it down until its time to add the turkey stock. Pour this gravy all over our sausage stuffing made with our sweet Italian pork sausage, celery, peppers, onions, bread crumbs, and—voilà!— you have a delicious addition to your turkey feast.

Craig: Cranberry Sauce
One of our lead chefs and chief buyers for the Deli kitchen, Craig mentioned his love for cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. Piling cranberry sauce on top of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and veggies, he creates a plate stacked with flavors. The key to the cranberry sauce he makes is fresh orange juice, fresh cranberries and fresh Hidden Springs Vermont maple syrup, cooking it down for a long period of time and ensuring that it reduces to a perfect consistency.

Dawn: Handmade Soups
Dawn, our Food Services Manager, was excited to share about our soups. Every week the kitchen staff cooks stock from scratch that create the bases for the three hot soup options we offer daily in our Deli. Look for BFC specialties, like vegan carrot ginger and Mulligatawny, and classics like chicken noodle and New England clam chowder. They’re perfect for everyday meals or special gatherings like Thanksgiving!
Our menu options for Thanksgiving from the Deli (as seen on the front page of our in-store flyer) are quite extensive. From Brussels sprouts to vegan gravy to pies to tons of appetizers, our Deli can please you. Stop in for your whole meal or just a side or two. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.

Tina: An affordable and tasty plate
One of the best and unique attributes of our Deli is that a customer has the ability to make a plate with lots of little tastes. With so many offerings, Tina and the whole team love to help people who stop in for lunch try lots of different dishes. In particular she loves all of our kale salads and our Curry Chicken Mango salad, and whenever these are available, suggests them.

Sample our Deli’s handmade Thanksgiving Menu 11/19-11/21, the Mon-Wed before Thanksgiving, from 11am-1pm and 4-6pm.

By Jon Megas-Russell