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Italian Sale Alle Erbe Sea Salt with Herbs, Brontedolci Pistachio Pesto - New Pasta and more at chefshop.com/enews |
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Sale Alle Erbe Italian Herbed Sea Salt Open a jar and smell the salt! It is not at all what you would expect! The smell is a wonderful food for your nose! It is quite remarkable as you can smell three distinct notes. Like a wave, the fresh rosemary rises up and curls over revealing the sage and garlic. Take a “pinch” to taste in your mouth. Let the salt melt away with the sage, rosemary and then time allows all the flavors to come through and linger as you suck your cheeks in. It might not be spoon ready, but for sure it is pinch ready! This salt, from award winning wine maker Vignalta, uses all fresh rosemary, sage and garlic that is then ground together with the Sicilian sea salt. This embeds the herbs into each grain of salt giving you get excellent flavor and allowing you to salt like you normally would. Those that have used this salt swear by it. This salt mix imparts its flavors on a baked chicken nicely. Used lightly with a pristine rock fish or simply toss on your next baked potato. It’s easy. Shop Now for Sale Alle Erbe! |
Pistachio Pesto Pesto is full of basil. Well, not always. Interestingly, it is translated here (and many places in the world) as a green sauce made with basil. Except that pesto has more than just one meaning. It also means to: pound, beat, grind, trample on, work over and pestle. To pestare, pestle perhaps is pesto. One could speculate that the ancient Romans, who made and ate a paste of cheese, herbs, salt, oil, vinegar, and nuts are the originators of pesto. The nucleus of modern day pesto started in North Africa and India, when basil became the main ingredient. Basil pesto took hold in Provence (as pistou) and in Liguria (as Pesto alla Genovese). In the 1860's a recipe for pesto with basil is published in La Cuciniera Genovese. Then the recipe travels with the immigrants to the New World. Italian basil pesto was introduced to a much wider audience when Italian immigrant and University of Washington Professor, Angelo Pellegrini's pesto recipe was published in a 1946 issue of Sunset Magazine. The recipe consisted of a little bit of this and a little bit of that, with no precise measurement. This makes sense when you think that pesto, which means to crush or bash, is a combination of just a handful of ingredients mashed together. You can see how you might want to add a little more or a little less of one thing or another to match your palate. To make a typical pesto, you crush fresh young basil, Italian pine nuts, add Parmigiano-Reggiano, sea salt and olive oil. (The Silver Spoon New Edition) ?That's all it takes; a mortar and pestle, elbow grease, and you can make your own. Or, you can use a food processor, though the results are less textural and more mushy, like a moist paste. This pesto from Brontedolci in Sicily is, as you may have guessed the main ingredient is Sicilian pistachios (55%) along with sunflower oil, salt and pepper. No Basil. Yet, if we think of pesto as mortar & pestle, then this is a savory pistachio pesto. Look in the jar and see green (with texture). It’s the beautiful green of Sicilian pistachios with flakes of black pepper. When you taste you will get this wonderful smooth feel that is creamy and then finishes with little tiny bits of pistachios in the pits of your teeth. The “bite” really never ends as you move your tongue around tasting pistachio! Using this pesto di pistachio as it was intended is even better than that. Take a pasta, cook it al dente, drain with a touch of pasta water left, twirl and twist in the pesto in the pan and plate into small bowls. This is the perfect side dish and very filling! Or if convention is not your thing, think a dollop on your fish or with tofu! Shop now for Brontedolci Pistachio Pesto! |
A bouncy fun pasta from Italy Busiate This pasta has stipple! Look at the white bits and know that is the rough part that will turn into the grabby part of the pasta. Ready to grab whatever sauce you throw at it. Once cooked al dente (10 to 12 minutes) the pasta changes from a stiff almost unruly shape to a springy, alive pasta! I love the way it bounces on a fork! It is a perfect pair with the "test" pistachio pesto! It's a pasta with a good "chew". A delicate feel for simple sauces and with enough body to hold up to hearty robust sauce! Shop now for Pasta to go with your Pesto Pistachio! |
Blackberry Honey - Raw & Unfiltered from Oregon This crystalized honey ekes out a wonderful flavor of blackberry. Fantasy or fiction, I am not sure if you tasted this blindfolded you would know it is blackberry. When you know though, you can taste it! It is like candy with the crystals giving a wonderful crunch that melts away to happiness. Eating with a spoon creates joy!! Perfect for making a cup of hot honey water or tea. You can spread on toast in the morning as well as a nice pork chop at night! Shop now for Raw Unfiltered Oregon Blackberry Honey! |
Love at First Bite Parmigiano-Reggiano Great Product "I love to cook and I have used the Winter Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese consistently over the years. It is a "must" on my ingredient list. I not only use the cheese but the rinds as well when I make one of my favorite soups--Winter Minestrone with Butternut Squash. It is both delicious and healthy." -- peggy Shop now for Parmigiano-Reggiano |
Summerdown Mint Chocolate Peppermint Creams Now my favorite chocolate mints! "I (have) tried all brands of chocolate covered mints and this is the first time I have tried these. They are now my favorite. They are very fresh and delicious." -- jacqueline Shop now for Summerdown Mint Chocolate Peppermint Creams! |
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French Candied Orange Peel Great in baked goods! "This is the best orange peel I have had in US—second only to the ones I had in Spain, for I love a tad tarter, bolder flavor than the delicate French one that this one offers. But the sweetness and texture are perfect. Not at all like the usual overly sweet, chewy or hard peels you have to contend with. I had them in pumpkin spiced scones and they added beautiful scent and tangy bite to the scones. I highly recommend them, just try not to gobble them up as is (yes they are that good and, because they aren’t too sweet, you can easily eat them up)! " -- naoko Shop now for Candied Orange Peel |
Yuzu Kosho Red Best pork belly ever! "I slathered this on chunks of pork belly, sous-vided it at 65c for 24 hours and then seared it. It may be best thing I ever cooked, period." -- dan Shop now for Red Yuzu Kosho! |
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Lentils! Lentils are one of earth's first domesticated crops, and are still one of the most widely used pulse in existence. They have a relatively short planting and harvesting time and can grow well even in poor soil. They are easily dried and stored for long periods of time, and are quick to prepare. Lentils are a "cinchy" way to add fiber and protein to your diet without adding fat or calories. Their hearty flavor goes a long way to satisfy your "meat tooth," so if you're looking for a way to a) go veggie or eat less meat, b) improve your diet dramatically, c) eat well for less money or d) dine your way to happiness, wealth and beauty, you can't find a better dish for yourself than a heaping helping of lentils. I'm always astonished at how deeply satisfying and rich a simple lentil soup or salad can be. All it takes is just a little bit of seasoning from a squeeze of lemon, some freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of sea salt to make lentils sing. For me, brown lentils recall a younger day of macrobiotic dinners eaten with brown rice and steamed zucchini, all soaked with lots of home-brewed tamari. If that's your thing, bravo; you're probably already a big "lentilhead". What's amazing to me is how they also occupy a space at the other end of the table. Lentils are not only easy, they're elegant. Lentils can be braised with duck fat and demi-glace, pureed with parsnips and deep-fried into croquettes, or pressed together with roasted mushrooms and walnuts for pate. Yes, you can have your lentils and relish them, too... no wheat grass juice required. Shop now for easy lentils. |
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Apicultura Dr Pescia Cardoon Artichoke Thistle Honey Wow! ***** "A phenomenal savory honey! Could not recommend this more highly! It is delicious and completely blew my mind! Great with anything, but was especially tasty served with a sharp or soft cheese. I used it in sauces, as a glaze w baked goods, it was even delicious in tea. You can easily lick this off a spoon. It is not cloyingly sweet as is the case with most honey. You won’t be disappointed, it’s a rare gem." -- chris Shop now for Apicultura Dr Pescia Cardoon Artichoke Thistle Honey! |
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Les Terroirs De Marrakech Olive Oil With three ticks of the clock and the burn sets in and three coughs and you know you have an oil. A full feel, the tip of the tongue gets this great olive taste, almost as if you are eating the olive from which it came. I love the feel of this Moroccan olive oil. Delightfully full of flavor, yet so clean the oil evaporates leaving a wonderful memory. Les Terroirs de Marrakech Olive Oil is another superior Moroccan olive oil from the Aqallal family. Pressed from 100% Picholine du Languedoc olives grown in century old groves originally planted by Baron Rothschild. The Aqallal family has been producing Moroccan olive oil in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains since 1887, winning more awards and press mentions than any other producer in the region along the way, including Travel + Leisure, Saveur, London’s Great Taste Gold, Los Angeles Olive Oil Competition Gold Medal. All the olive work is done on the estate, from cultivation and harvest to bottling and packaging. Les Terroirs de Marrakech olive oil has a very low acidity level of between 0.1 and 0.2 percent. Shop now for Les Terroirs Marrakech Olive Oil! |
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Cookies, Brownies & Hot Chocolate
It's colder than normal just about everywhere! And staying in is either essential or by choice. Snow is fun, at least nice to look at, freezing cold not so much. This is where the baking comes in. Nice hot stove and a little mixing and then voila! Something full of chocolate goodness ready to eat! Never hurts to have enough cocoa powder on hand! Shop now for ChefShop Cocoa Powder! 
Cooking Classes for the New Year
Check out the classes and reserve your seat now! Give the best Gift of food! Cooking Class Gift Certificates are available. Booking March Classes Now. ChefShop Cooking Class
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Store Hours - Monday Thru Saturday! Monday thru Saturday 10AM to 5PM. ChefShop.com 1425 Elliott Ave W Seattle, Wa 98119 206-286-9988 Our parking lot is north of the shop and next door (south of) Champions Party Supply. Easy open parking lot. Click here to see the map. |
| This Week's Recipes |
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Pork Chops with Ginger Apple Sauce Recipe Orange Brownies with Pistachios, Cranberries and Candied Ginger Recipe Base Lentils Recipe Love Lentils and only a little more work than boiling frozen peas. You can at a minimum just boil and eat or simply garnish after cooking. They keep for days in the refrigerator so it is a great Sunday dish to eat in different ways all week. This recipe makes them much more appealing and delicious and barely more work than boiling water! |
| See what you missed in previous Newsletters |
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Squid Ink, Buy One Get One Free, Spoon-Ready Faves New Gorgeous Beans, New Flavors Lakrids Pianogrillo has Arrived, Diet Food Tuna |
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