Pistachio, Balsamic, Candy, treats from Italy, France, England and more at chefshop.com/enews
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Stocking Stuffers
for 2022
At ChefShop, this time of year brings great joy, a happy mouth and an overwhelmed palate.
Take today, when there were so many things to open and photograph.
First up were Calissons d’Aix from France. Soft, with this unique gentle firmness on top and a softer sweetness on the bottom. The almost cake-like almond paste and crisp, sugar shell is a winning combination with wonderfully contrasting textures.
Next up was pistachio torrone from Sicily, studded with deeply flavorful, pointy pistachios that are the very best in the world. The sweet nougat itself firm, yet soft enough to bite or slice. It’s the only sweet treat I looked forward to after eating so much chocolate yesterday…
And I popped the top of the tin to check out the ventresca tuna from Lummi Island. Sinking the fork in and watching the rich, tender tuna crumble with ease made me stop for a moment, then I ate the whole tin!
And then, as if I wasn’t already overdosing on calories, I opened the jar of Pistachio Crema that just arrived from Brontedolci in Sicily and had to try it before scooping a couple of spoonfuls for the shot.
And that was just this morning! Yesterday was about 8 hours of sampling chocolate...I am pretty sure getting all your calories in chocolate in a day might not be super healthy....
And once I’m done at the keyboard, I’m going to test some cookie recipes, if I can find it in me to wash the silpats and pans from the last batch of baking!
I love this time of year!
OK, this super long newsletter is filled with gift ideas for yourself and your best food friends.
And if time is tight, you can click the link below or
here
and see all the items on one page and put everything you choose in a couple of clicks into your shopping cart!
We have tried to keep everything small enough to fit in any size stocking … but we failed. Instead we chose the treats we wished we would find in our own oversized stockings!
Many of the items are available only this time of year, so if it looks good, go for it!
Please keep in mind that
shipping cutoff
deadlines are this week if you live east of the Mississippi river, so order soon!
Last day to order for ground shipping for Christmas is
Wednesday, December 14.
Last day to order for 2-day air delivery for Christmas is
Sunday, December 18.
Last day to order for OVERNIGHT delivery for Christmas is Tuesday,
December 20.
This will give us time to gather your order together, pack it up and check it twice. (Please keep in mind, food loving humans pick your order. We do not use robots.) Based on inventory in stock!
Click Here To See Everything Featured in This Newsletter!
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Bagna Cauda
Recipe
Bagna Cauda is the Italian’s version of fondue. Raw vegetable pieces are dipped into the hot, garlicky, anchovy-flavored oil until hot – and then devoured, catching every little garlicky salty drip on a fresh piece of Italian bread.
The literal translation is “hot bath” for this dipping sauce for vegetables. It is often a dish that is included in the Christmas Eve meal in Italy.
See the Bagna Cauda Recipe here!
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Aceto Balsamico di Modena
A long lost friend!
It feels like a lifetime since I last tasted these exquisite combinations of fruit and balsamic condimento.
One taste and it is still as sweet as my memory reminds me, every bite brings on another great conversation of things past.
And it feels like 42 years since I have had these Frutti di Bosco and e Fichi Balsamicos from the La Vecchia family.
These infused 30th anniversary balsamico condimento are thick, syrupy and packed with the sweet strawberry of life paired with the age of a well-defined, cultivated balsamic that has traveled through many forests to arrive, refined and ready to dress, to your next sweet treat of pastry.
Don't be fooled by their sweet demeanor; their gentle flavors are mixed with the strength of a powerful elixir filled with just enough tartness to make you respect it and treat it with honor.
You will absolutely think of a million uses yet feel like you could just enjoy sipping them while looking out over Twin Lakes. What Fun!
And their crazy, shapely containers, with delicate legs, are so beautiful they make perfect gifts for the recipient who loves taste and shape! They are so nice you need one each for yourself, too!
Balsamic e Frutti di Bosco
The La Vecchia Dispensa Berry Vinegar is a melange of wild berry flavors. It is sweet, but not cloying. Good for decorating a lovely platter of roasted potatoes, drizzling over sauteed mushrooms, dolloping onto a fresh slice of mozzarella perched on bruschetta, or for saucing up some herbed grilled chicken or garlicky shrimp.
A perfect choice for the ubercool new cocktail: the berry balsamic vinegar martini! It’s a martini made with the usual suspects (vodka or gin with a dry vermouth) plus a sinker of the sweet stuff...Ta Da! You will have the hippest minibar in town.
Shop Now for La Vecchia Dispensa Balsamic e Frutti di Bosco!
Balsamic e Fichi with Fig
Not quite as sweet as its berried sibling, La Vecchia e Fichi is a good companion for other dishes that blur the line between sweet and savory. It’s a natural final flourish over squash soup, braised carrots or baked beets.
This fig balsamic vinegar is also a nice pairing for your favorite protein: dream of drizzling it over a warm steak salad, or onto a cured meat platter with prosciutto and coppa.
When your holiday turkey is given a final varnish with this tender Italian vinegar, even your most indiscriminatimg gobblers will pause to savor its flavor. And don't forget to pair it with your medium-aged cheeses.
Shop Now for La Vecchia Dispensa Balsamic e Fichi with Fig here!
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Slitti Chocolate-Covered
Black Cherries!
Everything from Andrea Slitti is a special treat. And these Chocolate Covered Cherries are no exception.
What Andrea does best is take what is common or readily available, and then make it special, unique, and cravingly great!
Just like Slitti Nocciolata is the very best Hazelnut Crème there is, or Andrea’s Rusty Tools (ok, not so common) and chocolate spoons, these cherries are a sensational taste, besides being a cool shape!
Bite into your first cherry and create a memory to cherish forever! The soft bite of the chocolate and the cherry is a delectable combination of holiday cheer...first the smooth chocolate is bitten through, and then the cherry comes in with a contrast, not of a fresh, sweet cherry, more like a soft morsel of a sour cherry.
Not too much, just right!
This is an awesome gift - for yourself and to share if you need to!
Shop now for Slitti Chocolate-Covered Black Cherries!
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Leone Fruit Jelly Drops in a Tin!
Lemon and Blood Orange!
Remember gum drops? They seemed to be better a long, long time ago. Not sticky to the teeth like what you find now in the local five and dime, gum drops used to be just sugar and natural flavors.
And that is what these Fruit Jelly Drops are, a nostalgic trip down memory lane, or a trip to a new memory. These treats from Italy are truly special!
For those who remember, these used to come in a plastic box that sometimes leaked the sugar coating. Now they come in these really nice tins with removable see-thru lids, so you can carry them everywhere you go!
These little bites with big flavor are perfect for the glove box and as stocking stuffers!
Shop Now for Leone Lemon Fruit Jelly Drops in a Tin!
Shop Now for Leone Blood Orange Fruit Jelly Drops in a Tin!
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Brontedolci Elite Crema di Pistachio
Spoon Ready Pistachio Cream
This is the most amazing stuff in a jar! One spoonful and you will hide this away from everyone!
This rich, deep pistachio-green crema is so soft on the tongue it literally melts like a chocolate bar of pistachio. Brontedolci Pistachio Crema is made from 40% Sicilian pistachios and luscious white chocolate. It is an Italian luxury wrapped up in a jar.
As you taste a spoonful and the crema moves outwards through your taste sensors, a white chocolate creaminess follows. Then, as the crema dissolves, the pistachio flavor asserts itself and quietly finishes with the perfect blend of creamy white chocolate and pistachio nut.
So smooooth! You can spread this Sicilian pistachio cream like butter on just about anything. From toast to crackers, to top a simple donut or fill a muffin, sharing this pleasure (or not!) with fellow pistachio lovers is the ultimate.
Swirl the crema into your ricotta for your next cannoli. Add this Sicilian pistachio spread to Banana Cream Pie, or Boston Cream Pie (or is that blasphemy?). Make a Crème Anglaise – or just simply enjoy a big spoonful straight from the jar and savor it like a fine Balsamic.
The crema comes from Bronte, a Sicilian village within sight of Mount Etna, whose economy revolves around agriculture and textiles. The area is known for its olives, oranges, prickly pears, almonds, chestnuts, hazelnuts, and – most importantly – pistachios. All coexist in land characterized by volcanic soils and clay, cultivated for centuries and handed down through generations.
The cultivation and production of the famous Bronte pistachio, and later Bronte pistachio cream, is an important source of income for Bronte, so it is nicknamed the "green gold". The town of Bronte knew how to exploit this advantage and the "green gold" represents 1% of the world's pistachio production. The pistachio is cultivated in the municipalities of Bronte, between 400 and 900 meters above sea level.
Brontedolci pistachio cream is rich in tradition and in flavor - a true Sicilian gem!
Shop now for Brontedolci Elite Crema di Pistachio!
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Sal de IBIZA with Edible Flowers
Sea Salt with Flowers - This is so wonderful
Pour a little salt and petals into the palm of your hand.
Inhale with gusto and get a nose full of fresh.
It is a fresh field of spring wildflowers in the palm of your hand.
It’s a floral salt with a dreamy breath of fresh breeze.
The salt itself is light with a big crunch that is small (the crystals are small). The floral of roses is the finish at the tip and on the lips, or is it the marigold with the orange blossom leaves?
Colorful and flavorful!
It’s like a country jamboree, fun with familia and neighbors all singing to your taste buds!
When you top your deviled eggs it is like you are adding a touch of spring wildflowers along with a gentle sea breeze! Perhaps that is a bit of an over-exaggeration, for sure though it is a good looking salt!
Not just for savory or sweet, this sal de mar is so pleasingly pleasant it just plain works.
Ingredients: 80% sea salt, rose, cornflowers, marigold and orange blossom blossoms.
Shop now for Sal de IBIZA with Edible Flowers!
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Superfine Caster Cane Sugar!
It’s baking Season!
Also known as "caster sugar", this superfine cane sugar has granules that are very fine and dry. 3 pounds of sugar doesn’t go as far as you might think. Some cookies, a fruit bread and a cheesecake and poof it is gone!
A superior quality sugar, it is the workhorse of professional Pastry Chefs because it dissolves so easily in batters and doughs, leaving them very smooth. Especially appreciated for genoise, other sponge cakes, and meringue.
Once you use this fine grind to make chocolate sauce or some cookies, you will be amazed at how quickly it dissolves into everyting!
Shop now for India Tree Superfine Caster Cane Sugar - 3-lb tub!
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Calissons from France
a candy to fall in love with
If you love almond paste or marzipan candy, you will love these.
And if you aren’t yet a fan, just one bite and you will be!
These little squares – which are classically almond-shaped – are pop-in-your-mouth happy merry joy! They are a traditional and delicious confection from Provence, redolent of fruit and almonds, not too sweet, with a lovely soft texture.
The French Marzipan is not like others, soft and smooth, and in this case with a top and bottom are a perfect contrast. The Francophile in your life will love these!
Shop now for Calissons!
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Marzipan Fruit
Almond Paste shaped like Fruit
Maffren Confiseu was established in 1945 in Provence and continues to produce calissons, nougats, and since 1980, marzipan in the village of Poet.
Maffren Confiseu is a small company producing wonderful confections including the hand work it takes to make these marzipan delights.
Marzipan is a combination of finely ground almonds, sugar and egg whites. The oil of the almonds combined with the sugar and egg whites creates a smooth and pliable mixture that is easily shaped to make a ready-to-eat treat.
Almond paste and Marzipan have the same ingredients but in different proportions. While almond paste is 1 to 1 almond to sugar, marzipan is 1 part almond to 2 parts sugar. Keep in mind they are not the same; You can make almond paste into marzipan but not the other way around.
To make the fruits like you see here, you also would add food coloring and a lot of skill to get everything to look just right!
Shop now for Maffren Almond Paste Marzipan Fruit!
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Uncle Joe's Mint Balls
Minty Fresh - Like you wouldn’t believe!
This masterful blend of sugar, cream of tartar and oil of peppermint is so minty spectacular it will shock some less minty people who will be overwhelmed by the explosive strength of freshness!
These mint balls are special!
Shop now for Uncle Joe's Mint Balls!
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Peppermint Cream Dominoes
Summerdown Dark Chocolate!
Chocolate and mint have been a classic marriage since 1674, when a fashionable London cafe invented the combination. These wonderful confections are twin pieces, shaped like dominoes, with dark chocolate exteriors and creamy peppermint centers. And not just any peppermint!
These mints are made with traditional Black Mitcham peppermint - for centuries, the true flavor of England's famed mint, but a variety that died out due to changes in 20th-century farming.
After generations, Summerdown, the producer, reintroduced this variety, thus bringing back the mint's particular flavor.
These, like their buffer cousin, the Peppermint Creams, are exactly what you want your mint and chocolate to be. The combination is deliciously perfect without being too sweet. Sweet for sure, but my teeth don't hurt when I am done eating one. Just one box, that is.
These are truly one of my favorite Summerdown Peppermints - with the hard shell and crunch - what a combination of perfection!
Shop now for Summerdown Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cream Dominoes!
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The original Stocking Stuffer
Ortiz Bonito Del Norte Tuna Tin!
This can of Ortiz Benito del Norte tuna is the perfect size for lunch and the toe of a stocking! We love the shape of the can, which fits easily in the palm of your hand. Opening it reminds us of those romantic (fantasy or real) wicker basket picnics in a green field in your locale of choice.
It is one of the most reliable tunas in a can you can have. It fits in your jean pocket, front or back! In the glove box or in your backpack! A definite can for your run bag or earthquake prep kit!
Bonito Del Norte (White Tuna) is a homemade specialty of Ortiz. These are authentic Spanish white tuna; they appear annually in the waters in the Bay of Biscay in the Cantabrian Sea.
The Bonito del Norte is the most prized of the tuna family, appreciated for its pure white flesh, delicate texture and superb taste.
Line caught and within a 24-hour period of being caught, large chunks of delicious fish are cooked in seawater and then the loins are hand-packed in quality olive oil to preserve the tuna's highly prized flavor. The tuna is then left to mature in the can for at least three months.
This aging process helps ensure that the product is moist and delicious when finally opened for your lovely picnic lunch!
Shop now for Ortiz Bonito Del Norte Tuna Tin!
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Wild Tuna fished responsibly
The belly of the tuna!
This tuna is new this year and new to the essential list of stocking stuffers. It too, can fit into the crevices of a stocking, and what it lacks in size, makes up for in its explosive flavor of the rich belly of the tuna!
This is my new favorite tuna to eat straight out of the can.
Ventresca is from the Italian word for belly, ventre. Ventresca tuna is considered to be the best canned tuna you can find. And this can does not disappoint!
This tuna is soft, supple, delicious, crazy good, gentle, flavorful, and amazing! Did I say crazy good?
You can sink a plastic fork into it with ease and break off a little piece for a quick taste. The flavor is delicious.
Tuna like this is meant to be eaten straight up. No need for condiments, a slice of bread, or a cracker even. A simple utensil like a fork or spoon is all you need, really.
With just a touch of salt in its own natural juices, this tuna is true pleasure.
Perfect to have in hand for that little hit of protein that you need in the morning, noon and night. Pop a can in your pocket, in your purse, or in your backpack.
This tuna from Lummi Island is amazing, and without any added oil! This tuna is perfection! Gosh darn great!
For the tuna lover in your life, you can never give them too much!
Shop now for Lummi Island Wild Ventresca Tuna!
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Lummi Island Wild-Caught Canned Tuna
" This was hands-down one of the best canned tunas I’ve ever had—
" - and it’s not even oil-packed! I was expecting dry and dense, as water-packed tuna often is. This was so flavorful, moist and delicious on its own that I had it straight from the can, with just a small blast of lemon juice. It easily rivals any of the fancy Italian and Spanish olive oil-"
-- -- Tina Ujlaki - James Beard Foundation's Editor of the Year award -Food & Wine Magazine
This is my go to tuna these days. Local, from just north of us here in Seattle, this can of tuna is reliable and consistent! Everything I want from a can of tuna. It is perfect for a salad or to make tuna salad. The fish is good!
If I need a tuna with olive oil, I like to choose the olive oil I love.
This sashimi-grade young tuna is individually caught with single hook lines and is flash frozen solid at sea right after it is caught, making it a sustainable canned tuna, as well as a tasty one! Averaging up to 50% less mercury than many common store brands, this tuna has more omega 3 fatty acids than most salmon!
All of Lummi Island's wild-caught canned tuna comes from one second-generation tuna fisherman, Paul Hill, and his crew, who care about the fish and making sustainable canned tuna. Because of the special gear they use, they get virtually no bycatch.
Shop now for Lummi Island Wild Albacore Canned Tuna!
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Vignalta Sale Alle Erbe
Italian Herbed Sea Salt!
Open a jar and smell the salt! It is not at all what you would expect!
The smell is a wonderful food for your nose! It is quite remarkable as you can smell three distinct notes. Like a wave, the fresh rosemary rises up and curls over revealing the sage and garlic.
Take a “pinch” to taste in your mouth. Let the salt melt away with the sage, rosemary and then time allows all the flavors to come through and linger as you suck your cheeks in. It might not be spoon ready, but for sure it is pinch ready!
This salt, from award-winning wine maker Vignalta, uses all fresh rosemary, sage and garlic that is then ground together with the Sicilian sea salt. This imbeds the herbs into each grain of salt giving you get excellent flavor and allows you to salt like you normally would.
Shop now for Vignalta Sale Alle Erbe - Italian Herbed Sea Salt!
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Almond Paste
a commercial tub of happiness!
Skip the fancy designer shapes and go for the best almond paste you can get. 1 pound is enough to make cookies and cakes or skip the baking and just eat!
Shop now for Almond Paste!
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SOMA Raspberry Bar
This is Raspberry! Snap a piece, bite and chew and it is raspberry!
Twang and twinge as the raspberry flavor dances through your mouth. The edges of your tongue tell you what's going on. It is all about raspberry.
This is one of SOMA's "fruit bars" that are very intensely fruity and colorful, and made with all natural ingredients. Although it looks like a white chocolate bar, technically it is not - as there is no dairy added. So, perfect for the vegan looking for a white chocolate-like experience. It's also the perfect bar for berry-lovers and its fresh-fruity flavor will make it hard not to eat the entire bar in one sitting.
Shop now for SOMA Raspberry Bar!
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They are more than just nature's best candy!
Prunes D'Agen!
More than a regular reason to eat them! These prunes are a delight to bite and an amazing natural treat! Or, cook with them to make a dish sweet and unique.
These prunes come from plums that are a hybrid of a local fruit and the exotic damask plum, first brought to France from Syria in the 12th century.
The plums are shaken from the trees, dried first in the sun and then finished in a barely warm oven.
The result is a large, plump prune with a deep, spicy aroma and rich, lovely flavor - a summer harvest that's ready to be enjoyed all winter long!
Truly a treat for those that know them! And a special surprise to those that love prunes!
Shop now for Favols Pitted Agen Prunes!
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Pistachio Torrone
from Brontedolci in Sicily, just arrived!
To the nose, it is distinctly Sicilian pistachio.
To cut through it with a butter knife it is resistant and takes some work.
The result is visually amazing. It's green inside. You see a sea of pistachios, the pistachios that have just been cut in half with a bit of nougat holding it all together.
It's pistachio nougat, not nougat with pistachios! You can bite it with ease, without a sticky resistance. Not quite a crunch from the pistachios completes the chew.
And it is a good chew!
Shop now for Brontedolci Pistachio Torrone Morbido al Pistacchio!
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Slitti Chocolate Spoons
Twizzle your milk!
Together this spoon with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee is a delectable treat!
Planning a wonderful mysterious encounter? Bring your own spoons! It will make it special and the evidence will melt away!
Stormy weather is in the forecast and it is best to have chocolate spoons on hand when the power goes out!
Spoons like these are the perfect gift for the chocolate person in your life that has everything. Chances are they have never had these. And if they have, they will be so pleased!
I had a box of my own which I had saved to have one day...my son found them and told me they were really good! I guess I will have to wait...don’t wait!
These spoons are a fabulous gift to have on hand! Or, have them for that special dinner party you are planning.
Shop now for Slitti Chocolate Spoons!
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Flamigni il Dolce
Frutta Mandarino Cake
Just like the cake? And a kilo is too much? This bread shaped treat is a panettone without all the loft!
Like a mini-panettone, this cake is made with the same "bread base" as Flamigni's Panettone and Colomba, it's just smaller. This cake is studded with candied Ciaculli Mandarines and glazed with hail sugar. It's a candied fruit Panettone for one!
Panettone is selling like hot cakes!
Delicious!
"Fragrant, soft, with a lovely delicate orangey flavor. Very hard to stop at one slice. I came back to order more to keep in freezer. Please order more next year, this is headed for favorite status fast."
-- susan
Order your Panettone now!
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This Week's Recipes |
Fennel Pollen Chicken Recipe
EASY EASY and hands off recipe. Coat, bake and eat!
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. 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.
Classic Gazpacho Recipe
This is a perfect recipe to make with fresh tomatoes out of your garden. But if you don't have fresh tomatoes, then a good, Italian canned tomato, like Posardi Tomatoes, will work great.
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