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Shichifukujin, 7 Layer Magic Bars, Amber Lager, Hot Coals, Brinjal Caponata and more at chefshop.com/enews |
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| Recipes | Chef's Pantries | Shop for Food & Ingredients | Food Blog |
The seven spices of prosperity! a blend of flavors that may have been created in the 17th century Shichimi Togarashi, a blend of flavors that may have been created in the 17th century, as a way to help one to eat healthily. Also referred to as Seven Spice, the number of ingredients in this pepper mix, this number is considered prosperous (lucky) and refers to the Shichifukujin, the Seven Lucky Deities. This mix adds a little heat when added to “dry” dishes, it really comes alive when added to liquid like soup or oil from a fresh fish. Unlike so many “spice rubs”, this one is not sweetened with sugar, instead it has a wonderful hint of citrus. In addition, this mix has sesame seeds, ginger and seaweed which adds the umami that completes the seven flavors. With its little circular hole in the top it shakes out perfectly to make your Udon Noodles sing. As a perfect complement to fish or fowl, you can imagine a line “drawn” down the center of a piece of salmon fillet with ketjap manis, diced ginger, and a gentle sprinkle of Nanami Togarashi to kick it up without dominating. Important when having any freshly caught fish. This is a traditional Japanese 7 spice blend. A mixture of red peppers, sansho pepper, roasted orange peel, black and white sesame seeds, seaweed, and ginger. The seaweed brings out the flavors in a dish, and the pepper gives a little kick to whatever you add it to. Usually added to Japanese noodle dishes, such as Udon and Soba. Easy to have about, and just under a million ways to use it! Shop now for Shichimi Togarshi Red Pepper Mix! |
It's a fun magical recipe Known as Magic Bars and 7 layer bars. It is one of those recipes that have stood the test of time and many, many cooks. Like toll house cookies, this recipe comes from the "wrapper", though in this case it's a can. A friend said she makes this recipe only once or twice a year, even though it is super easy to make. (Inhaling consumption all at once might be the reason to make it only once or twice). So we set out to test it and had success even with the first pass! Ok, so it is almost good for you. It is, though, excellent for your spirit! Make a batch for fun and joy! And have friends around to share with...mostly so you won't eat it all yourself! Click here to see the 7 Layers Bars Recipe! Shop now for Cru Sauvage Chocolate in place of the conventional semi-sweet chips! Shop now for Dried Unsweetened Coconut! Shop now for Fastachi Cranberry nut Mix! |
Bitters of all kinds For glorious creative mixed drinks and baking, too! Bitters are not just for cocktails. In fact, historically-speaking, before the prohibition, they were a standard part of every pantry - and used extensively in cooking and baking. Bitters add a flavor and a bitter component that makes many dishes sing! They include aromatics, citrus, and other unique flavors you just won't find anywhere else. Shop the Bitters Pantry! |
Whiskey Barrel Aged Shoyu from Haku Mitzunara! This shoyu is first brewed using traditional shoyu making methods of the Mushiro Koji process. So Haku starts with exceptional shoyu. Then the shoyu masters age the shoyu in Japanese Whiskey barrels made from Mizunara Hard Wood, a type of Japanese Oak. This traditionally fermented and aged Japanese shoyu is amazing. Delivering umami and that special something, all in one bottle. If you like quality shoyu, you will like this one hands down. The flavor is not over bearing, but delicate with a touch of sweetness, which gives it just that little bit of extra touch that is amazing. A must have, for sure! Sensational Shoyu! "This shoyu is terrific - mild, sweet, and delicious. I compared this in a taste test with my old soy sauce that I had in the cupboard, and the old stuff tasted harsh and salty by comparison. I am buying this from now on! This evening, I made a shoyu and lemon balsamic salad dressing from this shoyu, and it was outstanding. Highly recommended." -- alice Shop here for Whisky Barrel Aged Shoyu! |
Woos-t-er-sure sauce from Col Pabst Amber Lager I am late to the party of Worcestershire Sauce users. It is quite a wonderful sauce to have nearby. In fact, I use with such regularity these days it shares the limited space next to the stove. Along with sesame oil, shoyu, ketjap manis, olive oil and about 5 vinegars. It adds fun, enrichment, and flavor to sauces, dishes and marinades! Col Pabst All Malt Amber-Lager Worcestershire, made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is better than the current version of the original! Starting with fresh Milwaukee Amber Lager and then blending in 21 all natural ingredients. Along with Tamarind and Anchovies, Col Pabst adds Grenadian Ginger and Madras Curry. Aged in small batches this Worcestershire sauce is more like a fine balsamic than an ingredient. To the nose it is like a sweet, hint of anchovy fish sauce, with twists and turns that are hard to identify. It twinkles in the nostrils and is very enticing. To the mouth the sauce has a saltiness, a sweetness and this wonderful complex flavor that rolls around, begging you to taste a little more. You can sip this and sip some more. Its pretty gosh darn good! (Try sipping those other sauces and feel the burn and not in a good way). Shop now for Col Pabst Malt Amber-Lager Worcestershire Sauce! |
Binchotan Coals so hot they melt metal! Camping has not been a practical event this summer...still...having a hot bed of binchotan coals to cook over, well there is nothing like it. And now using a Lodge Cast Iron pan directly on the coals really gets things going! Binchotan Daimyo is made from the hardest and highest quality oak branches in Korea which are baked in hand-built clay kilns at 1200° C. The technique is called Pyrosis and involves limiting the amount of oxygen inside the kiln. As a result, the carbon is captured inside the wood, creating a charcoal what is 90% carbon at completion. The charcoal is also rich in the minerals potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus. The Korean style and Japanese style are slightly different, however. The Koreans use a larger diameter branch that is more mature and has more mass. The extra size means they can bake it longer resulting in a larger, longer burning charcoal - preferred by many. It's important to understand that Binchotan, or White Charcoal, is not actually white. It gets its name from the process used to quickly cool the charcoal when it's removed from the 1200° clay kiln. Charcoal craftsmen shovel a mixture of sand, soil and ashes over the lava-hot charcoal to lock all of the benefits into the wood - which is why it is 90% carbon, mineral rich, slow burning, and why binchotan is an almost smokeless and nearly flavorless source of fuel. Binchotan is the favored charcoal for many of the finest Japanese chefs - and I would argue, it should be yours, as well. Clean-burning with a consistent and even heat; no more fumes and no more re-fueling in the middle of your grill-session. It will take some adjusting, but once you do, whether you are grilling at home outside or camping, you will never go back. One case will last many days out on the camp site -- I promise. And remember, you can cool the binchotan down with water and use for the next time! Shop now for Korean Binchotan! |
A Flavorful Dose of Goodness Gomasio Gomasio is unhulled sesame seeds (goma) and salt (shio). Landsea Gomasio is the creation of a resident of Orcas Island in San Juan County, Washington. The island is about a 1 hour 45 minute drive north of ChefShop, and then a 1 hour ferry ride to the island. Orcas Island is the largest of the 172 named islands & reefs in the San Juans. It is one of the most beautiful places you can visit in the world. Brooke, the owner of Landsea Gomasio, found an abundance of bull kelp and nettles on the island. At the same time she met a neighbor who taught her classic Japanese cooking. It was during these friendly cooking moments that Brooke learned about gomasio. We asked Brooke how she came up with her own personal blend and she told us: “I realized this classic blend would be the perfect starting point from which to incorporate some of the nutritional wealth of the land and the sea. I replaced the salt with the more complex salinity of Bull Kelp and the bright note of Nettle. The result is Landsea Gomasio; a blend that supports the body with both the wisdom of tradition, and the nutritionally rich flavors of my home.” What do we love about this furikake? Because of the kelp, a salty sea is imparted and the nettle adds a vegetable hint. Along with the sesame crunch, it is more like an ingredient than a spice. Imagine frying a nice fillet of fish with gomasio on the flesh side or topping your morning eggs and potatoes. It adds an additional layer of flavor and a lot of healthy goodness at the same time. If you like furikake, you will love this Landsea Gomasio. My favorite way to consume is actually a little bit poured into the palm of my hand and tossed back into my mouth! This is my go-to nighttime snack food. Wonderful! "This is my new favorite, I looooooove it. And I love that it's locally made. I basically inhaled the first bottle I purchased. Goes great with so many dishes, and it's a great healthy snack by itself. YUM!" -- leigh Shop now for Landsea Gomasio Nutritious Blend! |
Brinjal Caponata from Le Bon Magot With hearty flesh, gleaming skin and caviar-like seeds, the aubergine (eggplant) is vegetable royalty in Asia. Like its Mediterranean sisters, the relish tradition from West India has a natural affinity to oil-rich fish, lamb, goat or nutty cheeses. Swirl into mashed potatoes or pureed cauliflower for an inspired side dish, or spread on toasted flatbread, serve on top of creamy brie, or top an omelet for something different. Shop now for Le Bon Magot Brinjal Caponata! |
Candied Ginger slices of fun! Candied Ginger Slices. You can eat'm out-of-hand! Sweet, yet oddly cooling to the mouth. Quite frankly, they are like candy. Pretend to buy this dried ginger candy to bake with, and then eat them to be happy! Love these! "For a sweet snack with a little kick to it, these are just the right thing. If you like ginger, you will love these" -- karen Delicious!! "These candied ginger slices are sweet and tangy. They taste great just as a candy, but I plan to chop them to put into ginger cookies. Love it when I bite into the sugar exterior and taste the tangy ginger inside! Highly recommended." -- alice Best Sliced Ginger!!! "This is the freshest tasting ginger ever. The flavor is great. It is sweet but has the zing of fresh ginger. We love it as a snack plus it is great if you have a stomach ache. Just grab a piece, chew it up and swallow. Within a few minutes your stomach will feel like new." -- rosanne Shop now for Candied Ginger Slices! |
Scalia Anchovy Fillets in Olive Oil Scalia is known for its anchovy fillets packed in extra-virgin olive oil - yes, extra-virgin! Many companies, especially those available in the grocery store, use second-press oil or less flavorful oils - like sunflower or soybean. In addition, these anchovies have been aged for at least 12 weeks, which means richer, more complex flavors. This little fish is a small, warm water relative of the herring, a Northern European staple. And, just as the peoples of the north salted their herring to preserve them, the anchovy has long been salted by fishermen and packers in the Mediterranean, where it is a staple. Anchovies are packed in one of two ways; brined fillets that are packed in olive oil in jars or cans, or the whole salted fish packed in large cans of salt. Of the two, salt-packed anchovies are often preferred for their meatier flavor. What is most important about these little Sicilian blue fish is that they are only caught during the proper season - otherwise they would have a mushy texture when they are preserved - and cleaned and salted as soon as possible after they are caught. Because of Scalia's attention to detail, it is possible to discover the flavor and texture of the ancient Mediterranean. From one end of the peninsula to the other, Italians use these little, aromatic, preserved fish in almost any conceivable dish. Whilst in the south, they seem to show up with practically the same frequency they use olive oil, and they are a common addition to numerous sauces, salads, and other dishes in the north. Nothing else compares! "There is nothing pulled from the sea or grown on the ground whose flavor can equal, for potent satisfaction, that of an anchovy. But they have to be carefully chosen and packed anchovies. ChefShop has some of the best. As an appetite arousing nibble or as a snack, I like to take a couple out of the olive oil in the small mason jars in which Scalia packs them in Sicily, and lay them on buttered, grilled slices of bread. They are likely to be tastier than any dish that follows." -- victor hazan Shop now for Anchovy Fillets from Italy! |
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Potato Lasagna with Caramelized Onion Recipe Potato Lasagna with caramelized onions from Chef John Howie's cookbook Passion & Palate. See the Potato Lasagna with Caramelized Onion Recipe here! |
Espelt de Garnatxa amazing versatile great tasting vinegar! This vinegar is for sure one of my all time favorites. This wine vinegar is delicious. Thin in viscosity and, when it first reaches your lips, it feels luscious, rich and thick. The tip of the tongue feels the vinegar but the flavor comes to the senses via the lips and a bit of a sting (acid of the vinegar) at the back of the throat. Unlike some vinegars, this gentle bing at the back of the throat dissipates quickly and is more akin to a nicely aged Balsamic. The round flavor of its red wine origins lives in the “nose” and in the “taste”. There is a complete roundness to the flavor of this red wine vinegar. This roundness draws you in and one spoonful is not enough. Perhaps, and even though it is a gourmet wine vinegar, it makes you feel like it is a sweet wine or an aged balsamic, and yet its notes are different than you expect. After much tasting, I still cannot describe the flavor as I would like. Like many, if not all, red wines, if you suck in a sip your nose will pucker at the tip, and hints of red wine vinegar will be present. But if you are willing to savor the flavors and the gourmet wine vinegar slowly, you will feel the hints of a red strawberry (creaminess) laced with vanilla and hints of little tiny violets! I can tell you that it is a wonderful, joyous surprise and one can imagine that in everything it goes, it can only be better. What a wonderful treat this is. Agrodolce! Order your Espelt de Garnatxa Wine Vinegar! |
ChefShop Cocoa Powder! We started with cocoa powder as our very first product. Almost before the internet was born...well not really...and we had this great idea to sell cookbooks on the "web". And Microsoft told us no, stick to writing recipes. So when we left MSN in '97 we started our own online site and we started selling food, the ingredients that our readers were asking for and the ones we talked about. Seemed simple enough. Turns out it was a lot harder to do than one would think. Our first "buyer" (and one of the founders) David, brought in some really great products. This cocoa powder is one of them. It has changed over the years, as the producer changed the formula to a lessor product, and through our desire to make it better. Turns out we all should have three different cocoa powders for different reasons. Darker, sharper, bitter, that is moderated by the amount of sugar, dairy, cocoa butter, etc. in a recipe is good. That is for the serious baker or candy maker. On the other hand, the reality is one cocoa powder that can do everything well is a more realistic solution for the rest of us. That's why this cocoa powder is like our very original, just a little richer and with more cocoa butter. Turns out that our first cocoa was labeled by one company and made to a spec specified by our importer and made by a Dutch cocoa maker. This is the company who makes our cocoa now. The Top Cocoa Ever! "first discovered this cocoa at Williams-Sonoma 20 years ago.....and have been using it ever since. Of course, now I buy it in large quantities! It makes a decadent hot chocolate, and I use it in brownies and Martha Stewart's one-bowl chocolate cake recipe. Really wonderful....." -- donna Shop now for Cocoa Powder! |
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Got questions? Call or email and we will do our best to answer your questions! We love sharing our taste opinions about all our products. Local customers please remember to bring a mask or call if you want us to bring out your order to the parking lot. We also have masks if you forget yours. And if you want a private store shopping time, before or after normal hours, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your request. | |
Last week's #1 seller! Cantucci is what we call biscotti or biscotto! Made first by the Roman Empire, as the lore goes, “Biscotti” broken down from the Latin “bis” meaning twice, and “cotto” meaning baked. Thus the “cookie” was baked twice to ensure that all the moisture would be removed so that the food would last a long time. Pliny the Elder, Roman author known for many famous quotes including “Home is where the heart is”, said “Biscotti will last at least a century”. The cookies collapsed when the Roman Empire crumbled. History shows that a “cookie” like this was being baked all over Europe. In Italy, when the Biscotti came back it was also known as Cantucci. Cantucci was then paired with Vin Santo after dinner and with coffee in the afternoon. Almond was the first original “flavor” most likely because it was readily available nearby. It is considered the classici. Overtime the dough changed to include flavored with spices, and the almonds changed to other nuts, chocolate, orange, pistachio, fig and more. Each one of the ones here from Le Dolcezze di Nanni have their own personality. Almost for sure you will like one over another. Keep in mind these cookies aren’t sugar sweet and they are not meant to be soft and gentle. They are hard and crisp and when you dip these cookies they transform. Shop now for Cantucci - Biscotti! 
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Store Hours - Monday Thru Saturday! If your order has been confirmed as "READY FOR PICKUP" in email (or you were called) and want it brought to you in the parking lot, call us when you arrive and we will run it out to you. 206-286-9988 Monday thru Saturday 10AM to 5PM. ChefShop.com 1425 Elliott Ave W Seattle, Wa 98119 206-286-9988 Our bigger parking lot is north of the shop and next door (south of) Champions Party Supply. Easy to reach and wide open parking lot. Click here to see the map. |
| This Week's Recipes |
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Chermoula Chicken Recipe Nothing complex here. Really. Take the chicken and cover in chermoula in a ziplock bag. Add to a pot and cook and your done! Get classic flavors of Morocco without much "hands on" time. Chicken with Preserved Lemons Recipe This is a classic Chicken Tagine recipe -- but you don't need a tagine to make it. This one was adapted from Chef Erin Coopey (SheSpeaks.com). It's traditionally served over couscous, but if you want to go gluten free, serve it over quinoa. Or just eat it all by itself. Stringozzi Pasta with Broccoli, Gorgonzola and Walnut Recipe This recipe is from our old friend Giuseppe. The recipe calls for Stringozzi made with 50% farro flour, and 50% durum wheat pasta. Although you can make this recipe with any hearty pasta. |
| See what you missed in previous Newsletters |
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Cantucci, Marcona, Stars, Black Ink, Stems, Marm Special Strawberry Jam, Jacques Pepin Recipe Olives and Lots of Recipes, Shipping Garlic |
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