Great food gift ideas, Tools and Spoons made of Chocolate, Panforte, Nonnettes, Paind’Epice, Twigs, Candy Canes and more at chefshop.com/enews
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What's on the Table
Sharing our Holiday Favorites
At this time of year, a lot of our old friends come into the store. It is great to catch up, to share how the year has been and what we are looking forward to in the new. This year is a relief, really, because, even if we are wearing masks in the shop, now the norm more than the oddity, we are talking about food again.
We voice our opinions, not about the state of the world, but about the things that taste good, have the right crunch and feel good in the mouth. And of course, we talk about our new allergies and family members who now can't eat this or that!
We talk of our happy memories of treats past, treats present, and treats in the future. We talk about what we are planning to make for the holidays, which recipes have caught our eye, and what our favorite flavors of panettone are.
These friendships, nourished over the last 20 years or so, are special—whether face to face, on the phone or in email—and we truly relish them. It is what we are thankful for all year long.
Sharing a passion for all the seasonal treats is fun! And although sweets are at the top of the menu this time of year, vinegars, olive oils, shoyu, and just about anything else we carry can be a sweet gift for someone.
This week's newsletter features most of our annual favorites, plus maybe a new one or two, and a few words on why we still love them after all these years.
Click Here To See Everything Featured in This Newsletter!
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The Original Power Bar
Panforte
Like the stained glass of the Duomo di Siena, a slice of Tradizionale Panforte positively glows. Open the paper wrapping and you'll find a foil bag with a packet of powdered sugar. Open the bag and you'll uncover a panforte made in Siena.
Looking like a cake without its frosting, you see every delicious morsel of candied fruit and nuts in plain site. You "swaddle" in powdered sugar and then slice into thin, thin pieces. The first bite is better than you can imagine. Not hard, but soft, full of flavor and filled with holiday joy!
Made from September to February, we have panforte in November and December. This year we offer panforte from three producers made in the traditional ways. Using the same ingredients and following the recipes that are familia.
While fruitcake, stollen and panforte are similar in their use of candied fruit and nuts, the "feel" of each is wildly different. For me, I like all three, and no holiday is complete without these very special treats!
Shop Now for Masoni Apricot and Pear Panforte di Siena!
Shop Now for Masoni Panforte al Cioccolato - Chocolate!
Shop Now for Masoni Panforte Fichi E Noci - Fig and Walnut!
Shop Now for Masoni Panforte di Siena IGP Antica Pasticceria!
Shop Now for Masoni Panpepato Panforte di Siena!
Shop Now for all 9 flavors of Panforti here!
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no no Nonnettes!
a wonderful treat of wheat and honey
These moist (not moist) cakes are soft to the poke, whilst being firm to the touch. Some consider them dry, but to me they are not. Les Nonnettes are not a cake nor even a cupcake (which after all is really just a small cake), nor a bread at all.
Nonnettes are more like a sugar iced gingerbread, which is not a cookie, but a bread.
Actually Les Nonnettes are closer to Pain d'epice, a spice bread (which when translated is gingerbread). Pain d'épices is a sourdough that is left in a wooden trough for months while the honeyed rye flour ferments and is then shaped and baked into loaves. Les Nonnettes have a similar process with a shorter fermentation time.
Though that isn't really a correct comparison either.
Originally from the Burgundy region (there is no mustard in these), they were made by the nuns (at the local nunnery) to hand out, share and sell to the visitors. And that is where the name, Les Nonnette, "little nun", comes from.
With no fat and with the natural preservative of honey, these little bundles of joy keep well and keep you well, too. From snacking to a meal, you can indulge anytime of the day, at home or on the road.
I absolutely love these nonnettes! And I look forward to seeing them show up in the shop for the season. This year I snuck a roll (it's a pack of 6) out to make sure they are as wonderful as I remember and to "photo" them along with a cup of tea.
These palm-sized spiced breads with a delectable jam center are just perfect for a bite of joy!
I have no single favorite, I love all of them.
Shop now for Les Ruchers De Bourgogne Honey Nonnettes with Orange Marmalade!
Shop now for Les Ruchers De Bourgogne Honey Nonnettes with Apricot Jam!
Shop now for Les Ruchers De Bourgogne Raspberry Nonnettes!
Shop now for Les Ruchers De Bourgogne Honey Nonnettes with Fig Jam!
Shop now for Les Ruchers De Bourgogne Honey Nonnettes with Mirabelle Plum!
Shop here for all the Nonnettes!
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The cake that is filled with honey!
It's a honey of a cake with fig!
It's not like the cake you had at your 5th birthday. In fact, I would wager a guess that at first glance you wouldn't even call this a cake. But it is. Sort of.
This cake is shaped like a bread. It looks like it is cut from a larger "cake" made in loaves. From the side you can see the bits of prunes and the open cells of the cake.
This French Pain de Spice (spice bread) is made with rye flour soaked in honey and spices. It has a long history in France with many variations and stories.
Pain d'espice origins appear to have their roots in a Chinese honey cake made with aromatic plants, that was brought to Europe by the Crusaders. And Pain d'espice is the origin of gingerbread.
If you think of gingerbread houses made with gingerbread (and not made with graham crackers) you can start to understand the inherent build of this bread. It has structure!
The combination of the rye flour soaked in honey makes for a dense and chewy bite. After you slice it you realize that it's not like other bread. The honey and the rye mix create a bond that is hard to cut through. Toast it and slather it in butter and you have a meal fit for the King of France.
When warm with butter it's a pure treat. It's like a cookie without the crumbly interior. It's like honey without the gooey sticky mess.
It is one of my all-time favorite winter holiday treats.
Shop Here for French Honey Bread with Fig!
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Pain d'Epice - Honey Spice Cake
Recipe
Note the grocery-store variety Pain D'Epice - this classic French tea bread, when made right, is moist and delicious. Make it a day ahead to give the spices a chance to bloom.
When you are cooking with honey, you want to focus mostly on flavor - as opposed to the health benefits of the honey which will largely be lost in the cooking. For this recipe, we recommend a more floral honey, like a traditional Lavendar Honey or Ohi'a Lehua, or a more citrus-y honey, like Citrus Blossom honey. I would avoid the more powerful honeys, like Chestnut or Oak Tree Honey, as they can overwhelm the flavor of the cake. Then again, if you like those flavors, you might want to experiment with them.
See the Traditional Pain d'Epice Honey Spice Cake Recipe Here!
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Chocolate Almond Mousse Cake
recipe
This is the most amazing cake! You can dress it up with holiday cheer, with twigs and candy canes, chocolate and love.
This recipe is perfect for a dinner party. It can be made a few days in advance, and frozen in the cake ring until the day of the party. It will definitely look like you just picked the cake up from your local, professional bakery.
See the Chocolate Almond Mousse Cake Recipe here!
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Swedish Peppermint Candy Canes
a Nordic Sweet!
Hand-bent to look like a shepherd's staff, the candy cane has a history reaching back hundreds of years.
Popular belief is that white sugar sticks were transformed for children who would get restless during the long-winded holiday sermons. And before we had too many gifts under the tree, candy canes hung as gifts for children.
They were truly a treat. Today's wimpy striped sticks are just a peppermint candy stretched to resemble a cane.
Our sturdy Swedish candy canes are nothing like the commercial ones you see at the Five and Dime. They’re plump, beautifully bent peppermint sticks, well-worth eating after you've enjoyed them hanging on the tree.
These candy canes are approximately 5.5" tall, from the top of the curve to the bottom of the stem. The days of giving away candy-colored cars for Christmas are over.
Why not give the next best thing, a candy cane! Don’t buy just one – buy 3 at a time and save big!
"Christmas is like candy: it slowly melts in your mouth sweetening every taste bud, making you wish it could last forever." Richelle E. Goodrich. "With candy canes and silver lanes aglow."
We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: Candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.
Shop now for Nordic Sweets Swedish Peppermint Candy Cane!
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Rusty Tools!
Made of Chocolate!
The perfect gift for the one you call when there's a leak, a squeak or a bump in the night.
Some of the most spectacular chocolate you can find in a box. These tool shaped chocolates are cool!
Tools that are cool! Clearly the best food gift you could give the tool person in your life.
Keep in mind, they may never want to share their tool again! Which means you won't get to taste Andrea Slitti's imaginative chocolate creation.
They are as cool as his chocolate spoons (maybe cooler)!
Order ASAP as it is limited to inventory on hand. Limit one per order.
Shop now for Slitti Chocolate Tools - Extremely Limited Supply!
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You will swoon for these
The most beautiful chocolate Spoons
These beautifully shaped chocolates look fabulous and they taste even better than they looook!
They look like spoons, albeit in need of a polish. Think the ultimate in adding chocolate to your coffee or hot milk, just with the dip and swirl of your spoon!
Or consider a nice chocolate or vanilla pudding eaten with a spoon of chocolate. What a simple luxurious delight!!
Shop now for Slitti Chocolate Spoons!
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Plum Pudding
Mother Sperry
Winnie Sperry has been producing this classic English steamed pudding from an old family recipe for over 20 years. She markets the pudding only in the Seattle area, but locals have spread the word and now she has fans in all corners of the U.S. Each year her loyal followers have her "whisk" them up Mother Sperry's Plum Pudding for their holiday tables.
So far, Mother Sperry has been able to meet the growing demand - but it's getting harder and harder to keep up, as her fame spreads and more people taste this truly delightful creation - in our experience, a pudding without equal. A true cottage industry, Winnie rents a commercial kitchen for this once-a-year production.
This Christmas plum pudding is made with dark fruits, including several types of raisins, as well as breadcrumbs, brandy, and beef suet for extra richness. The puddings are then aged to achieve peak flavor. Winnie personally prefers young puddings, but many people, the English in particular, let them age for years - while not that old, the flavors in these puddings have had a chance to deepen with age.
One bite of a warm Christmas plum pudding reveals moist, dense texture and the perfumed flavor of fruit with a hint of brandy. Winnie includes a recipe for the traditional accompaniment of hard sauce or brandy butter. She suggests that the brandy butter should have plenty of spirit (brandy) to accent the full potential of the pudding.
For me personally I always think every year that I don't need the taste of Plum Pudding and then I steam a little and as soon as I smell the steam I know it is going to be great! There is something magical about Mother Sperry's Plum Pudding. For me one taste and it is a flavor I will remember forever.
Shop now for Mother Sperry Plum Pudding!
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Yamaki Jozo Organic Shoyu
Traditionally Made - Founded in 1902
Soy sauce is like great wine or olive oil, with many, many complex flavor profiles. And not all soy sauce is created equally.
Yamaki Jozo Shoyu was founded in 1902 in Saitama Prefecture, about 2-1/2 hours by train from Ueno station in Tokyo. They have three main rules they live by: living and working in the natural environment; using only traceable ingredients grown in Japan; and using traditional manufacturing methods.
Yamaki Jozo is situated in the countryside, surrounded by mountains which provide an ample supply of clear mountain spring water for the production of their Shoyu.
The quality is exceptional, and it starts with ingredients they or their neighbors grow to make miso, tofu, pickles and shoyu.
Yamaki Jozo have organic certifications from Japan, the EU and the US and is Kosher-certified.
These are the many reasons why Yamaki Jozo organic shoyu soy sauce has become our new favorite for everyday all-around use.
Shop now for Yamaki Jozo Organic Shoyu!
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Panettone
Made in Italy
The panettone are selling like hot cakes and some are selling out!
We are shipping everything right away as we had a touch of snow and snow in hilly Seattle means possible shutdown of the streets!
Order your Panettone now!
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This Week's Recipes |
Basic Moong Dal Recipe
Moong dal is a recipe that everyone makes and makes differently. The key to success is to experiment and not to worry!
Middle-Eastern Tuna Salad with Tahini Dressing Recipe
A delicious salad from the Levant adapted from a recipe found in Gourmet magazine, many, many years ago.
Sprinkle Recipe
Adapted from a Susan Hermann Loomis' cookbook, Nuts in the Kitchen. Use as an addition to both, sweet and savory dishes. Suggestions include: breakfast cereal, hot oatmeal, pancakes, atop rice, or simply eaten it by the spoonful.
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