Honey like Butter, Not just any Tuna, Potato Vinegar - chefshop.com/enews
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Smooth Like Butter
my favorite everyday honey!
Every so often we get the pleasure of visiting Garnett Puett (famous bee and wax sculpture artist and beekeeper) and his partner and artist, Whendi Grad, on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Not only do we get to enjoy a tropical paradise that is just the right temperature, we also get to see parts of the island that aren't usually accessible to touristas like us. This trip we were allowed to watch the placing of hives in the Wilelaiki forests in an incredibly beautiful location overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The locations are wonderful and fascinating to see, but it is the time we get to spend with Garnett and Whendi, and the conversations that come about, that make it a wonderful experience. This being our third visit, we already know bunches about bees on the island. But, every time we get to talk we learn even more!
This trip we clarified that the bees of Big Island Bees live on flower nectar 365 days a year. This makes for some very healthy bees. Unlike the mainland, where most bees live on some sort of honey substitute, usually sugar water or high fructose corn syrup, during the dry or cold seasons, in Hawai'i there are nectar flows all year around.
Of course, the passion Garnett and Whendi have for their "family" of bees always comes through in our conversations. Like all the "farmers" we know, there is more to the "food" they produce than making a living - it is also about the health value of what they produce, and their compassion for the land.
This white Ohi'a Lehua honey is a beautiful, soft, off-white color. We have been waiting for over a year to see it "in production" and it is almost ready! Exactly the opposite of the overheated, pasteurized, mixed-up honeys that are prevalent everywhere these days, this honey comes from the blossom of the Ohi'a Lehua tree, found only on the volcanic slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawai'i. This honey, once extracted from the hive frames, will naturally crystallize within hours. Just to jar it, the honey needs to be heated back to the hive temperature of 94 degrees so that it will flow smoothly into the bottle.
Once jarred, it goes through a secret process, and without adding anything to the honey, its white creamy texture is achieved. It makes for a wonderfully floral flavor and a smooth creamy texture that is more solid than liquid -- making it easy to spread. This is a spreading honey, not a pouring honey. No sticky bottles here!
This creamy Ohi'a Lehua honey now comes in 47-ounce jars at a great price! 35% cheaper per ounce than the smaller 9-ounce jars. At almost 3 pounds of honey, this is perhaps the best deal on honey in the world! Rare, organic, unfiltered, raw, and never blended, this is one of the honeys to have, period!
(Repeat from a previous trip as we get ready for the new site! Thanks for reading!)
Shop now for Big Island Bees Honey!
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Fabulous Tuna
Straight out of the can!
Some of the best tuna is from a can. Just not any can.
Tuna in cans that cost 69 cents are an amazing concept. The grocer has brought you into their fold with a "loss leader", something they typically sell for less than they paid. They've got you; you have come into the store and, on checkout, you will have more than tuna in your cart. It's a good practice and, if you are making tuna casserole for a herd of teenagers, it might be just the catch you need.
Cheap tuna is not a good choice with pasta, nor is it so nice for a tuna salad sandwich. For this you really want a canned tuna that is made from a piece of fish or a couple of pieces, that actually taste like tuna. For this, you need to step up your game; go for the good and find a tuna that fits your taste palette.
Don't be shy in testing and tasting many different canned tunas, whether it is in maker or cut. Ortiz told me once that their cans have different tunas in them, and that some tuna is frozen before being canned and others are never frozen. The differences are subtle, the price is not. When you taste one over the other, you realize there is a difference, and even if subtle, it is worth getting the one you like most.
I like to think that all of our tunas are spoon ready, or in this case fork ready; ready to eat right out of the can, bare naked, open right out of the picnic basket with a pickle and a nice ginger beer. Lunch, simple, divine, bare naked!
Shop now for Tuna!
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Potato
Purple Sweet Vinegar
When you first sip this vinegar, well actually when you first "sniff" it, it "sniffs" like a red vinegar, but not so "winey". The taste is acidic and really punchy. It's a much harder taste to discern, the nuances, not exactly subtle, are more disguised.
This sweet potato vinegar has a unique feel to it. The sweet potato comes through, right down the middle and then the flavor rolls to the outside. If you hold it in your mouth you can feel the potato come thru.
A deep rich purple or strawberry red when backlit, the color must come from the deep purple flesh of the sweet potato. The process starts with a rice fermented starter and the chopped potato. It takes almost a year to make this wonderful vinegar at the brewery which was founded in 1893.
This aging process clearly makes a product that has great characteristics. My counter has about 7 vinegars which I use all the time. This Sweet Potato vinegar I have had for over a year, all the while wondering why it was different enough for us to carry.
It wasn't until I was making a soy sauce mix to make me realize that this vinegar made the marinade just right. Using soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar along with the sweet potato vinegar, gave it the correct smell and flavor. Since then, I have been using the vinegar all the time!
Shop now for beautiful sweet potato vinegar!
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Olive Oil!
Giuseppe's Umbrian Olive Oil is so perfect. Perfect for everything!
Pickled Green
Beans that are tangy, crunchy, crispy, sweetish and spicy! What more could you want from a bean!
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| Cooking Class! Booking October Classes Now (no classes in November and December |
Cooking Class - Provencal Kitchen Cooking Class
Le Pique-Nique de Provence: Take a trip to Provence, the sun-soaked region of southern France with Chef Lesa as your guide. Partake in the ritual of an Aioli Monstre (crudités with lemon-garlic dip), soak some good crusty bread in a zesty broth of Mussels Amoricaine (steamed mussels with herbs and saffron), nibble on a Pissaladiere (anchovy and olive flatbread) and polish off your trip with a cool Glace de Melon (melon ice). Bon apetis!
Visit the store everyday! (except Sunday)
Mark your calendars! Bloggers and everyone, the 20th of September we will have an amazing Italian sampling party with Cheese and drinks, foods you have never tasted before unless you have been to Sicily! And some pastries, Noon to Four.
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