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A magical trip to the orchards, Chocolate, noodles, calming drink and More Recipes at chefshop.com/enews |
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| Recipes | Chef's Pantries | Shop for Food & Ingredients | Food Blog |
Dried Barberries grown here in Washington! With its long history of culinary uses, this little berry has been overlooked for far, too long. The barberry, with a sharp-ish, sometimes sour, almost citrus flavor, is best known and most used in west Asia, particularly in Iran, where the berry is known as Zereshk. In that part of the world, barberries are often used in pilafs, and in a chicken and rice dish called Zereshk Polo. And in Eastern Europe and Russia, barberries have been used as an integral ingredient in making jam; they are naturally high in pectin and will firm up a jam very nicely, all the while adding their own flavor. Plus - this little berry packs some serious healthy goodness: fiber, vitamin C, iron, zinc and copper! Several studies indicate that a compound called berberine found in barberries can lower blood sugar, improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels and contribute to gut health. Unlike some barberries, which can be quite sour-tart eaten on their own, these berries from Washington State are super-fresh and truly edible right out of the package – this is subjective of course! – and very suitable for recipes calling for raisins, currants or dried cranberries. The recipe below is just one of many that makes excellent use of the barberry. Shop Now for Dried Barberries! |
Saffron Rice with Barberries, Pistachio and Mixed Herbs recipe The finished rice is beautiful to look at, with perfectly balanced flavors: the aroma and color of the saffron, the citrus-y tang of the barberries, the crunch of the pistachios, and the fresh, vegetal taste of the herbs. Check out the Saffron Rice with Barberries, Pistachio and Mixed Herbs recipe! |
The Sweetness of Sardinia 100% Pomodoro of Sardinia! We like these. The tomatoes are whole and nestled beautifully inside the can. The taste is pure tomato, the way a canned tomato should be, with no added elements, allowing you to be in control of how they’re flavored. It has been for almost 20 years that we have had one favorite canned tomato from Italy. So, when this can of tomatoes came into our lives one day, I was a bit stubborn, and hard-pressed to find a reason we should change. And then I used them in my basic tomato sauce and knew they would become my new favorite. These are consistently sweeter tomatoes, with a richer, fuller color, and with nice soft ends. These tomatoes worked just as they should, adding to a dish, without being too strong. Perfect. They have just 3 ingredients: tomatoes, tomato juice (juice from processing), and citric acid. No salt added, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, BPA-Free, Pesticide-Free. 100% Pomodori Sardi Tomatoes from Sardinia. Like all great ingredients, there is a difference from one brand to the next! These are truly exceptional tomatoes. Shop now for Posardi Sardinian Whole Tomatoes! |
Easy and Basic Pasta Red Sauce Recipe! This is a family recipe that we have made over and over. It's meant to be fun and easy to make. This is a "sharing" recipe, meaning great to make enough to share with everyone. Or, eat all week over with different shapes of pasta, over rice (jasmine or brown rice), or just plain like a thick soup or stew topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano. See the Easy Basic Pasta Sauce recipe here! |
Mori - Spaghetti Bigoli Nobili Mori Pasta This spaghetti is absolutely fabulous! How is it possible that a pasta can taste this good? We don't know but we love it! If you can have only one pasta, it might have to be this one! Bigoli is a traditional pasta from the Veneto region of northeast Italy and references to Bigoli date from the mid-1400s. In 2002, Pastificio Sgambaro re-introduced its bronze-drawn Bigoli in three versions: Mori, Bianchi e Sottili, and al Radicchio Rosso. They gave these amazing pastas the name "Bigoli Nobili" to pay tribute to the best culinary traditions of the Veneto region. About the size of spaghetti, Bigoli takes its name from the extrusion press used to create it. Sgambaro "Mori" (dark) is made from the best durum semolina grown in Italy; it's slightly darker and denser than most pasta, and its surface has a rougher texture, perfect for encouraging sauces to cling - and the taste is sensational! Shop now for Bigoli Nobili Mori Pasta! |
Tellicherry Peppercorns The term "Tellicherry" originated when these large, black peppercorns were exported from the Indian port city of the same name. These Tellicherry peppercorns are pungent, with the deepest hot flavor you'll ever find! Once traded, ounce for ounce, for pure gold, these Indian black peppercorns are still a superlative spice that can add a depth of flavor - first heat, then a tinge of sweetness - to your everyday meals. Black pepper is produced from the still-green unripe drupes of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The drupes are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer. Once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn. In general, the later the pepper is picked, the better its flavor — maximizing the taste of the Tellicherry peppercorns. But waiting too long to pick is a gamble too; ripe pepper fruits will rot if left too long, and there is also an increased risk of loss to hungry birds or unfavorable weather. Picking black Tellicherry pepper at just the right moment involves keen judgment, and results in Indian black peppercorns with truly excellent flavor. Shop now for Tellicherry Peppercorns! |
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Chocolate-Dipped Citrus Peel Recipe If you dip just half of each piece of peel, the flavors balance out perfectly, and you’ll have a sparkly, festive treat! You’ll need a candy thermometer to properly temper the chocolate. See the Chocolate-Dipped Citrus Peel Recipe here |
Dark Chocolate Covered Candied Orange Peel! It's Candy! Candied fruit is wonderful and we can justify consumption of this candy because we know fruit is good for us. When you surround candied fruit with chocolate, it just doubles up the goodness factor, as we all know that eating chocolate is an essential daily vitamin and candied orange peel is an essential fruit for our diet. The soft bite of the candied orange enrobed in chocolate is just super wonderful! Shop now for Dark Chocolate Covered Candied Orange Peel! |
Mission Chocolate Horchata White Chocolate Bar with Puffed Rice and Cinnamon This Horchata white chocolate bar is based on the Brazilian dessert of the same name, made with rice, cinnamon, and usually some milk. The bar is part of Mission's Brazilian Dessert series, which includes the Romeo & Juliet Bar (cream cheese and guava paste), and the Pamonha (Sweet corn tamale). Ella's tasting notes: As soon as you open the wrapper, you get the aromas of malted cream, vanilla and cinnamon, a pleasing combination that comes through clearly in the bar. The white chocolate has a velvety texture, but then comes the chew. Crunching the crisp puffed rice releases a mild flavor of toasted rice. The full flavor experience lingers in your mouth - rich vanilla rice pudding with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Shop now for Mission Chocolate Horchata White Chocolate Bar with Puffed Rice and Cinnamon! |
Japanese Buckwheat! Soba Noodles! Buckwheat soba noodles are one of Japan's best-loved foods. They are so popular that certain restaurants have nothing but these noodles on their menus. These delicious noodles take just minutes to prepare in hot water and have a distinctive nutty flavor that teams well with cold dashi broth, scallions, sesame oil and bean sprouts. This common preparation can also be embellished with shitake, pork, vegetables and tempura. They can be chopped and rolled with vegetables in nori for a vegetarian sushi, or coated with a sheen of butter and tossed with sautéed fresh vegetables. However you nibble on them, don't forget to cook up a batch on New Year's Eve - slurping down these long noodles is said to ensure a long and happy life. Shop now for Soba Noodles with Buckwheat! |
A Wild Trip to the Orchards The Secret Orchards of very special cherries We were blindfolded as we were driven down the road towards the orchard known as "Area 51." We made a hard turn to the right and, clearly, we were now traveling over rough, dirt roads as we lurched and lunged about in the bed of the pickup truck. Then, as quickly as the road had turned rough, the ride smoothed out again, and we could smell the trees and felt the air turn moist, as the sounds of the truck were muffled and a quiet settled in. We felt the truck pull to a stop and Mark removed our blindfolds. Our eyes took in what we could already smell. Long rows of lush cherry trees, on an undulating terrain that rose in elevation, ending at a rock wall that stood high above us. As we walked into the grove, Mark and twin Kevin (5th generation cherry farmers) and their father, Keith, told us a little about this very special place. One family has owned this orchard for as long as the trees have been standing, and it is known for producing especially large fruit. The first thing I noticed were the size of the tree trunks, massive compared to all the cherry trees I had seen up to this point. The low canopy of branches was covered with Rainier cherries looking exceptionally big and juicy. Mark showed me the sizing of the cherries - already an 8 on this day. He expected them to grow at least another half size more before they were to be picked - some time in the next 5 to 10 days. The cherries are already sized "off the charts," even more impressive in a year when many cherries may come in as 11's and 10's! (When it comes to fresh cherries, the smaller the number the bigger the fruit). Historically, almost all of the fruit from this orchard goes to the highest bidder, usually to Taiwan. Because this is a new relationship for us, we had to be on our best behavior. But I couldn’t control myself; I blurted out that our fruit customers would jump at the chance to get such magnificent fruit! They have agreed to let us sell a little of this amazing grove of cherries to you all! ** By the way, though some of the words are fictitious...the ambiance of how cool this experience was is accurate. This is one special orchard, and we felt very lucky to get the opportunity to walk amongst the trees. Preorder now your Picked-at-their-Peak Sweet Washington Cherries! |
Pizza Flour Caputo '00' Italy This 11-12% dry gluten content flour is designed for high-temperature pizza ovens and fast fermentation times. Supersoft flour is the tradition in Naples, Italy - the land of pizza and pasta. Caputo '00' Pizza Flour is finely ground from the finest European winter wheat, which means a softer texture and smooth mouth-feel. It's easy to work and produces a superior crust with a beautiful crumb. Antico Molino Caputo was first started in 1924 in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, in Naples, Italy. This is the same mill that Carmine Caputo took over from his father, and still runs today. The mill grinds only the finest quality durum wheat, grown mostly in Italy using traditional, age-old methods. Caputo is known throughout Italy for their very finely ground ('00') flours - a mainstay ingredient for sweets, breads and pastas throughout Italy and worldwide. Flour is very important to Italians, especially those who live in Naples; quality is important, and the miller is critical. So, the secret to getting that authentic Piazza di Napoli taste is to buy Italian flour online (here) and use Caputo '00' pizza flour from Naples. Shop now for Caputo '00' Pizza Flour! |
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Apple, Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Pizza Topping Recipe This recipe was in the "all seasons" section of Kim O'Donnel's cookbook, The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook, Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour". As Kim says, this is a rich pizza topping and a perfect combination of sweetness and richness. The recipe will easily top a 12 inch pizza. See the Apple, Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Pizza Topping Recipe here! |
100% Natural - Not a Nut Coconut Milk A fruit or drupe, this nut is not a nut and not nearly as dangerous as one is led to believe. Contrary to popular belief, these nuts are not deadly. As the common saying goes, “If the fall doesn't hurt you, you'll be better for it.“ Just a few hundred people a year die from coconuts falling on their head worldwide, so one is reasonably safe unless there's a coconut tree nearby. Coconut milk and coconut water on the other hand, have been touted as exceptionally, unbelievably fabulous for you. We don't know about that, but we do know that the coconut milk that we use is indeed fabulous! Consists of just two ingredients: coconut kernel extract and water. That's it. Filled with lots of B vitamins and other good stuff, coconut milk is a versatile and surprisingly useful ingredient to have in your essential pantry. Not only is coconut milk essential for desserts such as coconut cream pie, coconut cupcakes, coconut hot white chocolate, and of course coconut ice cream. It is a wonderful ingredient in savory dishes, as well. Think of Thai Curry for your shrimp, coconut rice (if you use coconut milk to cook the rice) or a wonderful curry garlic pepper milk sauce for your fresh fish! We have tried a boat load of coconut milk and this is the best we have tasted! Shop now for Coconut Milk! |
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Cold Almond Coconut Milk Drink Recipe also known as Licuado de Platano Licuados are milk-based drinks often made with fruit, in this case with bananas. All you need is a blender and in about a minute you are swallowing a soothing smoothie! We modified it slightly to mix it up for a refreshing summer twist. Incredibly easy to make and incredibly satisfying, especially served super cold! See the Cold Almond Coconut Milk Drink Recipe |
Indian Sweet Pepper Pickle from Hawkshead Packed with capsicum sweet peppers and mixed with Hawkshead's own blend of roasted spices and herbs. A fantastic burst of flavors if you love peppers, You’ll love this pickle. Recipe ideas include stuffing a teaspoon in chicken breasts before roasting, or stirring through some mashed potatoes for serving with an Indian curry. The Sweet Pepper Pickle makes great quiche filling with goat cheese, as well. Shop now for Hawkshead Mild Indian Sweet Pepper Pickle! |
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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. STORE HOURS: Monday thru Saturday: 10 to 5 Closed Sunday. Please let us know if you would like a private shopping time and we will do our best to accommodate you. We now have multiple HEPA medical grade air filters running 24 hours a day in the shop. Please keep in mind we are limiting the number of people in the shop at one time and masks are required. If you are feeling sick for any reason please choose a different time to visit. We may perform random temperature checks. | |
Sweet Washington Cherries Picked at their Peak! Best Bing Cherries!! "Every cherry was perfect, fat, sweet and crispy. Year after year they arrive at the peak of perfection." -- sally Huge, sweet, delicious cherries!!! "There are huge cherries, as wide as a round measuring tablespoon, and look just like the ones traditionally pictured on slot machines. They arrived in perfect condition and were at their peak for the first week, and they sweetened over the second week. I'm already looking forward to next year's crop!" -- lori Preorder now your Fresh Sweet Washington Cherries! 
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Store Hours - Monday thru Friday 10 to 5, Saturday 10 to 5 If your order has been confirmed as "ORDER 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 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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Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe Damn the purists, balsamic vinegar and oil may not mix, but they do taste swell together. This is your basic Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe; versions of this can be found in most cookbooks. This one includes a tablespoon of demerara sugar. However, if you use good, aged Balsamic, the vinaigrette should be sweet enough - no added sugar needed. If you use balsamic from the grocery store, or if you substitute a traditional champagne or white wine vinegar, you will need to add the sugar. Macadamia & Coconut Sprinkle Recipe Adapted from Susan Hermann Loomis' cookbook, Nuts in the Kitchen. She recommends the sprinkle as an addition to both, sweet and savory dishes. Suggestions include: breakfast cereal, hot oatmeal, pancakes, atop of rice, or just eat it by the spoonful! Green Beans with Walnuts and Walnut Oil Recipe |
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