Rock Candy, Cranberry Relish, non-gmo Split Peas and much more - chefshop.com/enews
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In this issue:
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Rock Candy
Cranberry Relish
Split Peas
Ingredients
Recipes of the Week
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Couscous
This delectable couscous is much larger and has a creamier texture than the tiny, fluffy North African version. Served warm, this pearl-like pasta is pure comfort food.
In Lebanon, where it may be known as "maftoul," it is traditionally served pilaf-style with chicken or lamb. Cook it with a little vegetable stock, and then add some petit black lentils, chopped peppers, olives, onions, tomatoes, herbs, a good squeeze of lemon juice and some olive oil for a superb salad.
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 Real Rock Candy!
Rock Candy, in history, has it's origins here. Less like rock and more like crystals, it's a bit like a dime-a-dozen kind of candy, what I called Rock Candy and what I remember was from the Concord General Store, which was next door to the historic Concord Colonial Inn. They had a real penny candy counter. The kind with the big glass jars all lined up in a row at kid height, filled with all different kinds of colorful treats. The kind that always attracted my attention was the "rock" candy; candy that looked like the rocks that you find at
Rialto Beach, pictured above.
This small box of "rocks" is unlike other hard candy; it's what's inside that's different. Not squeezy like a gum drop, but definitely softer than a rock, filled with at least four different treats that surprise you.
Think of chocolate covered roasted almonds, dried apricots, chocolate covered almond paste, and just plain chocolate, all wrapped in a hard sugar coated shell. Like their candy coated almonds, Pecou's attention to detail when making the simplest of candies, makes you realize that the very best is just plain better.
Shop for Rock Candy!
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Hawkshead Cranberry Relish
The Cranberries are an Irish Rock Band and have nothing to do with Cranberry Relish. Like the Hawkshead Relish Company, the rock band may not be one you have heard of, but both have had runaway top hits. One selling millions of copies as a recognition, the other was visited by the Queen herself!
It's that time of year when we think about the menu for Thanksgiving dinner. This year, we are expecting at least 18 at the table. With that many hungry mouths, you can never have enough condiments and flavor twists.
Three turkeys prepared three different ways; cooked in the oven, the grill on my Traeger grill, and one smoked to perfection from Rick. (This is one of the back-up turkeys we have on hand in case one is lost in shipping. No problems ... extra turkey for us.) Each turkey needs their own relish. I make one that goes for my cranberry cheesecake, Ann makes the one she remembers from her childhood, and we get one out a can just for memory sake.
A selected brief history of the cranberry in American History and lore: the cranberry is one of three native fruits that are now commercially grown. The fruit name was derived from the "look" of the blossoms, which looked like the local Sandhill Crane. In 1550, natives of America were eating, coloring, and using them as a medicine. Whalers and mariners ate cranberries as a preventative "medicine" to scurvy.
Cranberries are grown in bogs, not water. The harvesting process uses water by flooding the fields and thus floating the cranberries. The cranberry vines are not typically replanted, so some vines in Massachusetts are more than 150 years old! In 1870, a six-quart pail was used as the picking measure. In 1888, The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Organization was formed. There are 333 cranberries in a pound. About 5% of cranberries are sold fresh, the rest are used for juice, dried and made into relish.
Hawkshead Cranberry Relish is "spoon ready" and even if your cranberry sauce is the best, this one is worth having on hand!
Shop for Hawkshead Cranberry Relish
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Sweet Palouse Green Split Peas
These split peas are non-gmo, and like the lentils and the garbanzos, they are grown and harvested in the Palouse by the PNW Co-op.
In the same family as lentils and beans, thus not a pea, they are a different shape and are harvested fully mature. They are then dried fully, skins removed, and split naturally with a little help. These split peas are full of fiber, two B-vitamins, high in protein, and contains almost no fat at all! Packed with isoflavones, phytonutrients that can be work like estrogens in the body and have been shown to reduce the risk of breast and prostrate cancer. The soluble fiber they produce binds with bile, which contains cholesterol and then carries it out of the body.
If the most recent studies are showing that when it comes to many foods, like olive oil and non-gmo tomatoes, freshness is the key to a plant's healthy properties. Though considered to be consumable when stored for lengthy amounts of time, split peas seem to excel when eaten within 12 months of harvesting. Interchangeable with yellow split peas, green is slightly sweeter.
Recipes to look for beyond split pea soup. In Asia, split peas are often used to make a sweet snack, or think of
Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old;
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot, nine days old.
Shop now for Split Peas!
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French Vinegar
In the southwest of France, in a small Mediterranean seaside town called Banyuls-sur-Mer, some of the finest wines are produced. So, it's no wonder that the grapes grown on the region's ancient vines also yield one of the world's finest vinegars: Le Vinaigre de Banyuls. Made from the naturally sweet wine of the region, the grape base for this very small production of "vin doux natural" (no sugar added) is 50% Grenache noir, 40% Grenache gris and 10% Carignane.
To those who know its qualities - aromas of walnut, spice, vanilla, and licorice - Vinaigre de Banyuls is a rival to both balsamico and sherry vinegar. Its distinct nut-like qualities make it the perfect companion for vinaigrettes made with hazelnut or walnut oils, or high quality all-purpose Provençal oil. Try it for deglazing sautéed duck or mushrooms.
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| Last chance to order
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Reed Avocados
Last chance to order Reed Avocados.
Peter is going to pick the last ones hanging this weekend, and then we will have to wait a year before we see these smoooooth flesh avocados again. One of these creates more guacamole than I could eat in three sittings and almost two bags of chips! Send us your guacamole recipe to win a couple of Reeds! We will pick one lucky recipe. Shop now and order!
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| Grab Bag of Garlic |
The last of the garlic
It's a celebration of the last of the garlic. Hard neck garlic in various stages in the long production schedule that a farmer has. In this case, Chuck had over a hundred varieties that he was fostering. As they grew, every year he would replant to get them larger and larger. That's what you do with garlic. The grab bag will be a random sampling of the bulbs of what Marie has left. Much are of the Asiatic variety which we have not had before. Sold in 1/2 pound increments.
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| This Weeks Recipes |
Split Pea and Ham Soup
A classic soup recipe that is best garnished with a flair of color like your favorite vinegar or oil. A pinch of sea salt or a puree of carrots, almost anything will do. Start here and make your own recipe.
Red Grape and Cranberry Relish Recipe
How easy is this to make? Easy, though not as easy as clicking to get Hawkshead Relish!
Maple Cranberry Glaze
Adapted from Sear, Sauce, & Serve, by Tony Rosenfeld. Just a quick combination and it's perfect for pork chops!
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DESIGN: JODI LUBY & COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK CITY, NY; EMAIL STRATEGY: CRM Group USA, SEATTLE, WA
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