With Miso, Toasted sesame, Jam (no peanut butter), fave Vinegar, Mustard Powder, Mirin, Gin and more at chefshop.com/enews
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What is Miso and what to do with it
Make your life better with miso.
If you don’t know miso, you should! It is a miracle paste that can enhance so many foods to taste better, different, more unique. From sweet to sour to baking, it can give a dish that extra push to magic.
What is miso? Simply, miso is a fermented paste of koji (Aspergillus oryzae) which breaks down the structure of rice, soybeans or barley, or a combination of them. This creates amino acids, fatty acids and simple sugars.
This potion is a way to add punch to a meatless broth or make a creamy salad dressing swoon!
Here are some really easy ways to try miso.
1) Combine miso and toasted sesame oil and spread it on the next fish you broil or grill.
2) Combine jam, vinegar and miso with sage, rosemary, and thyme and brush over a roast before cooking.
3) Mix then melt miso and butter, 1 to 1, and drizzle over cooked broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or green beans.
4) Add a quarter cup of miso to a soup and enhance the whole pot.
5) Make mustard miso by taking hot Chinese dry mustard (2 tsp. mustard - 3 tsp. water) as you normally would, add mirin (2 tbsp.), white miso (1/3 cup), purple sweet potato vinegar (3 tbsp.) and jaggery ( 1 - 1/2 tbsp.). Think of it as mustard for your next sandwich or to dip one of Scotty’s pretzels.
6) Make mayonnaise better - 1/2 cup mayo with a 1 tsp. miso paste and a little vinegar.
7) Make a brown sugar - mix 2 tbsp. red miso with 1/2 cup Murakami Syouten Crushed Brown Sugar from Hateruma Island. Use as you would brown sugar in baking.
So many options and creative ideas for using miso. Just a little will make a difference in your life.
Check out all this week's ingredients here
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Toasted
Sesame Oil
This golden brown toasted sesame oil adds a rich, nutty flavor to your vinaigrettes, stir-fry and BBQ marinades. Not overpowering, this oil adds just the right amount of toasty sesame punch.
Sesame oil, also known as Gingelly Oil and Til Oil, is an ancient ingredient. The Assyrians used it as a cooking oil more than 2500 years ago. It was an expensive delicacy back then, and a hundred years later in Persia, it was still an oil only the rich could afford.
Today, it's still used as a medicine in India, and oil pressed from the raw sesame seeds is commonly used as a massage oil in Ayurvedic medicine.
La Tourangelle has partnered with one of the oldest Japanese oil mills to bring you this toasted sesame oil, crafted in central Japan following traditional methods that are over 270 years old.
The quality of Sesame Oil varies depending on the quality of the seeds, and the length and temperature of the toasting process.
La Tourangelle's Japanese partner uses only the freshest, highest quality seeds that they then painstakingly clean and slow roast at low temperatures to produce the best-quality product, all the while maintaining the integrity of the oil and creating a unique and wonderful flavor.
The result is a lighter colored, more richly flavored oil with a subtle, toasted taste.
Sesame seed oil is low in saturated fatty acid content and high in polyunsaturated fatty acid content (about 40% omega 6 and 40% omega 9) making it a very healthy oil. Best to keep it refrigerated once opened, as the high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids makes sesame oil somewhat delicate.
Raw sesame oil has a much higher smoke point due to the high concentration of anti-oxidants, and raw is suitable for high-temperature cooking.
Shop now for La Tourangelle Toasted Sesame Oil!
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Strawberry Jam
any jam is a good jam
Peanut butter and jelly. Most of us grew up with it. The go-to sandwich made with Wonder bread for much of our grade school life until we hit puberty and high school where cool was not a peanut butter and jelly anything.
Today we skip the bread and the combination of peanut butter and jelly, split them apart, otherwise known in hip terms as “deconstruction” and a term that is no longer cool either....
Put peanut butter in your milk shake and it is a "protein" shake and it makes the ice cream healthy for you. Or, for dinner when you are trying to cut your calories (and too lazy to make anything) peanut butter with an apple is easy.
And bread is now a delicacy when you bake it yourself, slathered in a couple of tablespoons of protein butter and made from an "exotic" flour called whole wheat that you got at the grocery store.
And jam is no longer simply jam or jelly. We know now that we can choose between jam, jelly, marmalade, conserves, preserves, or even a fruit spread.
And this is a good thing! There is no denying that there are a million great fruit-based spreads out there.
Finding ones you like is both easy and difficult. When you crave jam any one will often do.
But having one on hand that is outstanding, and that you truly love, is important!
Feelin' like Jammin'? Check out all our Jams - Click here!
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Espelt Moscatel White Wine Vinegar
And all kinds of vinegars!
We love all our vinegars - and this Espelt Moscatel Wine Vinegar is one of our all-time favorites! Something about this delicious vinegar goes with everything.
This warm, light-colored vinegar is first sweet, and as it moves to the back of the mouth, the throat gets a jolt of acid. If you “taste” with a little lip and tongue, there is a sweetness and a wonderful grape and peach flavor, and the acid is subtle and later.
Its very light persona is not aggressive, with fruity notes, and will create a wonderful dressing that goes well with summer bounty and delightfully well with the fall harvest, too. There is woodiness that comes with it that adds a round, perhaps cushy, finish to your palate.
It has a subtle approach which spreads out nicely, revealing all its nuances of flavors. What’s wonderful is that this vinegar is not monotone at all. Its flavor profile is indeed white wine, yet, from a light, simple wine comes this quiet, flavor-rich vinegar!
Try this one or any vinegar and brighten up your next dish.
Shop now for all of our Vinegar!
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S&B Mustard Powder
Hot Mustard!
That hot mustard you get to dip your BBQ pork in from the restaurant most likely is this or something similar. Dry mustards can be, and usually are, super hot to the mouth, and can give you a nice nostril flare!
Store in your essential pantry to pull out when you need it. Keeps a good long time, actually almost forever, though it loses its punch eventually.
This is a great mustard to take camping!
Shop now for S&B Oriental Hot Mustard Powder!
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Unrefined Jaggery Powder
sweetness from sugar cane
Jaggery (which you may know as Guda or Indian gur sugar) is a whole, unrefined sugar that is as pure as any sugar from sugar cane can be. Compared to most sugars, especially refined white sugar, Jaggery has good properties. According to Ayurveda, pure Jaggery powder has Ushna (hot) properties, and eating some daily after meals improves your digestion and can prevent constipation.
Jaggery is made from the juice of sugarcane and sometimes from the sap of the date tree, and is formed into a block. From there it takes on different forms.
At ChefShop, we have a crushed form, with little round globe-like pieces and finer granules, as well. Eat the little globes with your fingertips to get a shot of adrenaline and a hit of flavor, even regularity.
With the rich aroma of molasses, sugarcane Jaggery powder is like a wonderful perfume of sweetness.
If you like sweet like I do, you have to have some jaggery in your life! Use as you would white sugar and eat it with abandon, just like you would like life to be. All out! This is a sugar I have to have in my personal essential pantry! Sweet and a happy smell!
Shop now for this unrefined sugar cane Jaggery!
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Sweet rice seasoning
Ohsawa Organic Mirin
Genuine Mirin gives food a subtle sweetness and sheen, an appetizing luster to foods as if they've been glazed. This exquisite, versatile seasoning has the unique ability to coax out and accentuate flavors.
Known to provide mouthwatering umami flavor - an essential taste of traditional Japanese cuisine - mirin's mild sweetness and unique qualities help other ingredients' flavors meld together, adding sweetness and a touch of saltiness to Japanese dishes - or any dish.
Genuine Mirin's natural fermentation over 9 months results in a thick, sweet, golden seasoning that enhances the flavors of both sweet and savory sauces, entrees, stir-fries, dips and desserts.
Shop now for Ohsawa Organic Sweet Rice Seasoning - Mirin!
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Iio Jozo Beniimosu Honey-Sweetened
Purple Sweet Potato Vinegar!
When I first started using this vinegar I thought it was good, and I especially loved the shape of the bottle.
To the mouth, it wasn't specific, it didn't sing a song. It was sweet, and sweet potato, though sweet potato isn't quite a flavor I imagine in my dreams.
And then when I ran out, that is when I realized I really liked how it transformed my stir-fry. A splash brightened all the other flavors like no other vinegar in the pan.
I have tried a lot of vinegars (I have a lot of them in my pantry) and none does the same as this vinegar does. Maybe there is a reason why it does so well in a Wok, I just don't know what it is.
Shop now for Iio Jozo Honey Sweetened Purple Sweet Potato Vinegar!
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Murakami Syouten Kokuto
sugarcane from Hateruma Island
This crushed black molasses sugar is perhaps the most lovely sugar in the world available today.
This sugar is from the southern most island in the chain of over 150 islands in Okinawa Prefecture, south of the mainland of Japan. Hateruma Island is, as a crow flies, 2,006 kilometers (1,246 miles) south of Tokyo and 247 kilometers (153 miles) to the east of Taipei.
This small island is just 1270 hectares (3138 acres), or 4.9 square miles. In comparison, Orcas Island is 11.69 times larger. The only way to get to the island is via a 60 minute fast boat. If the seas are too rough you can take the cargo ferry, leaving at 9, taking 2.5 hours.
The island is a destination for holiday makers and is known for its relaxing island life.
It is also here that is the home of this very special brown sugar. Unlike many brown sugars (made with white sugar mixed with molasses), Kokuto (rich black sugar) is made by slowly cooking and reducing the sugarcane juice.
Sugarcane is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. Antioxidant rich, it is a fighter of infections and helps strengthen your immunities, and it is rich in calcium, iron, potassium, vitamins B1 & B2 and essential amino acids.
Potassium helps excrete excess sodium and keeps the blood pressure balanced. Calcium is known for preventing high blood pressure, arterial sclerosis, and keeping you calm.
Kokuto can help with dehydration, infections, and can even help fight a fever. Keep in mind that processed white sugar cane is not the same and can have the opposite health benefits.
Kokuto dates back to the 17th century and now is a protected process by the Okinawa Prefecture Brown Sugar Industry Council ensuring that quality and production methods are used. Just seven of the islands grow sugar cane.
To taste Kokuto is nothing like a spoonful of sugar or a cube of table sugar. To taste Kokuto is like an awakening! It is not sweet like you expect from sugar. It is almost savory, with hints of molasses, earthy tones, and even a rich subtle touch of tobacco on the top of the edge of the back of the tongue. It is full of complexities with many flavor hits and hints.
It is most often used for savory dishes like noodle soups, stir-fry, hot pots and sushi rice. And of course straight up, like a health pill of sugar.
How great is this? Pop some sugar and get healthy!
Shop now for Murakami Syouten Crushed Brown Sugar from Hateruma Island
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Organic Inchelium Red
Softneck Garlic
This Artichoke variety of garlic is exceptional and was discovered on the Colville Indian Reservation many years ago. The cloves are huge, and when properly dried they are easy to peel, with flavor that is as mellow and warm as the Rocambole variety.
Large bulb vigorous strain with several layers of cloves.
Shop now for Organic Inchelium Red Softneck Garlic!
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Olives
Stuffed with Anchovies!
These terrific olives, firm, extra fancy-grade manzanillas from the south of Spain are stuffed full of anchovies that come from the Bay of Biscay off Spain's northern coast. A very popular combination in Spain, anchovy-stuffed olives are harder to track down here, but we wouldn't know what to do without them!
Even if anchovies aren't your cup of tea on pizza or in Caesar salad, you might give these a try...their flavor is subtler here, and together with the olives, the combination of tastes is ideal.
These Spanish manzanilla olives are a real treat on a relish tray, for special hors d'oeuvres, and of course, for those very dry Martinis. High-quality ingredients and craftsman-like attention to detail in processing and packing...what more could you ask for?
Absolutely delightful
"I purchased these for my wife, who loves anchovy-stuffed olives, and she says that these are the best ones she has ever had. I will agree with her, as these olives have a strong anchovy flavor that is desired, but it is quickly "cut" with the delightful taste of the olive, perfectly marrying the two flavors in one bite."
-- dan
Shop now for Olives Stuffed with Anchovies! Here!
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Pink Grapefruit and Gin
this is a 3-part experience!
The first look in is a flat top glossy gel with little bubbles and slivers of grapefruit just below the surface.
Dive your spoon in like it is cutting through a glassy pond in summer. The spoon, if withdrawn without scooping, will show a nicely covered surface with bits of jell.
Without the influence of the bits and pieces of pink grapefruit, the jell still encompasses the flavor of a ginned up fruit! Sweet, but not too sugary, as the sharp edges of the grapefruit cuts through to balance nicely.
A bite with the pink grapefruit bits is just another excellent dimension overall. As the jell melts away, full of flavor, you chew the peel and it is so pleasing! No giant chunk gnawing has to happen here, more like a chew you look forward to!
It is a three part experience. First the jell, full of delicious flavors combined to be one; next the bite or chew of the grapefruit giving body with little hits of pink grapefruit flavor; and finally finishing with a trailing grapefruit nuance filled with a dry gin.
What a joy to eat off a spoon...though a schmear on crisply toasted fresh bread would be the cat's meow!
Shop now for Hawkshead Pink Grapefruit and Gin Marmalade!
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Spicy Mustard Oil for Cooking
from Australia
This mustard seed oil is amazing. A common ingredient in Indian cooking, it has a real spicy kick -- which might take a little getting used to. But, like many amazing and unique ingredients out there -- once you get used to mustard oil, you cannot live without it.
The health benefits of mustard seed oil abound: This cold pressed mustard seed oil is rich in Omega 3 & 6, rich in vitamins A, E and Beta-carotene, naturally cholesterol free, high in polyunsaturated fats (contains only 5.5% saturated fat), one of the lowest rates of any oil. Add to that a high burn temperature and a very long shelf-life -- and you have a healthy and versatile cooking oil.
Known for its spicy flavor, it is a favored ingredient in India and Australia. You can use mustard oil for cooking like you would any oil - although it is most often used in frying. Try pan-frying your next trout, it will be amazing.
Shop now for Spicy Mustard Seed Oil from Australia!
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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.
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Chesnok Red Hardneck Garlic
shipping now!
Chesnok Red hardneck garlic is a wonderful baking garlic originally from Shvelisi, Republic of Georgia. It holds its shape and retains its flavor after it is cooked. These are large bulbs with 9-10 easy-to-peel cloves.
Extremely limited supply!
Shipping Now! Chesnok Red Organic Hardneck Garlic
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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.
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This Week's Recipes |
Minted Poached Pears (Pere Cotte alla Menta) Recipe
This recipe was adapted from Nancy Radke's cookbook, The Seasons of Parmigiano-Reggiano (1998, Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano).
Carrot & Turnip Mash Recipe
This dish adds lovely color as well as healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber to any holiday table. Don’t be tempted to use ground nutmeg from your spice rack; the slightly exotic flavor of fresh-ground nutmeg makes the dish something special.
Banana Bread Recipe
I make this recipe all the time. The combination of the ingredients adds a lot of moisture, so baking times are a bit longer than you might expect. Banana Bread is a recipe that becomes your own as you make it.
I like to toast my slices and then slather in butter.
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