Merry Mac and Cheese

Hi there, friends!

I hope you're doing well as 2016 comes to a close.  I know the Holiday Season is a flurry of activity for a lot of you, so this email gives you the opportunity to add even more to your plate!  I usually do a lot of baking for Christmas, but this year I decided to shake it up a bit and give everyone homemade bath and body whatnots.  Because, really, do we need another dozen cookies in our lives? (The answer is "yes", but I'm saving room for the Black Truffle Mac and Cheese that I'm introducing you to.)  I'll admit I went a little overboard with honey lip balm, bath bombs, facial serum, and olive oil lotion.  Curse you, Pinterest!  I'm sure you'll be cursing me, too, as I'm giving you the recipe for the olive oil lotion in addition to the Mac and Cheese.  Luxury abounds!

Recipes are great, but what's going on at the store, you may ask?  Well, we are open from 9:00-5:00 this Saturday, Monday-Friday from 10:00-6:00, and 9:00-3:00 on Christmas Eve.  Our featured product this month is the Cinnamon Pear Balsamic.  I realize that I'm not using the Cinnamon Pear Balsamic in either of the recipes in this email, but I use it nearly every day for winter salads.  Leafy greens, sliced apple, handful of pecans, goat cheese and Cinnamon Pear Balsamic.  It's the best and when you pair it with the Blood Orange Olive Oil, it's like Christmas in your mouth.  So get your Cinnamon Pear Balsamic for 20% off and then grab your Blood Orange Olive Oil and use it to make these sugar cookies and/or your olive oil lotion.

Oh!  We have a new White Balsamic in our midst.  Well, it's not new, exactly, but it has been a year or two since we had it last.  I bring you the Honey Ginger White Balsamic!  It is lovely.  It's nice and spicy in that gingery way and pairs with our Japanese Toasted Sesame for Asian inspired salad or marinade.  It also goes very well in whiskey with a slice of lemon for when you feel a cold coming on.  I implore you to try it the next time you come in.  However, in order to put this one out, we had to take one away.  The Grapefruit White Balsamic is taking a hiatus.  If you desperately need it, we have a few reserve bottles in the back to tide you over until the summer, when we'll likely bring it back.

The Northern Hemisphere Extra Virgin Olive Oils are going to slowly start trickling in over the course of the next two months.  The only one we have available to us at the moment is an Organic Arbequina from California.  We're going to trade out the Organic Chemlali (sorry, I loved it, too) for the Organic Arbequina, probably tomorrow.  Those are the only changes I'm making right now, I promise!  Nothing too crazy.

Okay.  I'm at a point where I am constantly washing my hands. It is winter time, so we have had round-the-clock colds in our house.  I cook way too much, so there's that.  I change a ton of diapers, as you do with a baby.  As a result my hands are cracked and scaly and appear to be 100 years old and it truly irritates me to look at the label on my "super hydrating lotion" and the first ingredients are water and alcohol.  Wait.  What?  The main ingredients are designed to make my hands drier than they were?  Nope.  I decided to take matters into my own chapped hands and found an extremely easy DIY recipe on the interwebs.  I will tell you that is recipe is one that you should slather on before bed and let it be.  It's more of a salve, if you will.  Considering that the ingredients are all oil and wax, it feels all...oily.  But in a good way!  I used the Eureka Lemon Olive Oil as the base and it has a really nice smell, even without essential oils added.  The Blood Orange or Persian Lime would be equally lovely.

What you do is get a really big glass mason jar and use this jar from now on as your "lotion making jar", because you will not want to spend the 1 hour it takes to get it clean. You can get beeswax pellets (which I recommend) on Amazon or at Hobby Lobby, in the candle making section.  Or if you know someone who has bees, ask them for a bit of it.  It's good stuff to have around.  Also use a wooden chopstick or kabob skewer that you can throw away and not bother washing.  This recipe makes about 3 jars of lotion.  They make adorable gifts that are great for winter time.

Now, this Black Truffle Mac and Cheese will change your life.  You'll have to read the recipe below to see how that magic happens, but let me warn you.  There is no going back.  This is what you will bring for every gathering from this point forward.  It feeds an army and is so deliciously cheesy that it warms you up even on the coldest day.  It will make all your days be merry and bright!

Eureka Lemon Olive Oil Lotion

Adapted from A Sonoma Garden

Makes approximately 3 jars

1 c. Eureka Lemon Fused Olive Oil (or Blood Orange Olive Oil)

1/2 c. Coconut Oil

2 oz. Beeswax (I usually buy mine from Amazon)

1/2 tsp. Almond or Avocado or Vitamin E Oil (optional)

20 ish drops of Essential Oil (I used Frankincense, Myrrh, and Lavender) (optional)

1.  Combine the olive oil, coconut oil, and beeswax together in a large glass Mason jar.  Henceforth, this will be your lotion making jar, as you will not want to bother trying to wash it.  Put this jar into a saucepan and fill that saucepan with water until it reaches about halfway up the sides of your Mason jar.  Set your heat to medium and stir your oil/wax mixture until everything is melted.  Make sure that no water gets into your jar during this process.

2.  Remove your Mason Jar from the double boiler.  At this point,  add your Almond Oil and Essential Oils, if you're doing that.  

3. Pour (carefully!) into wide-mouthed half-pint jars. Now stir (I used a wooden skewer/chop stick, so I would have no dishes to contend with) every 15 minutes until it comes to room temperature.  and you're done! (Or don't stir it if you want it to have a smooth surface.)

Black Truffle Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted, only slightly from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

Serves 12 (No kidding. 12)

Cheese Sauce, not Lotion

6 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. Black Truffle Oil

6 slices white bread, crusts removed, cubed/torn into 1/2 inch pieces

5 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. Black Truffle Sea Salt

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

4 1/2 c. (18 oz.) grated Sharp White Cheddar cheese

2 c. (8 oz.) grated Gruyere cheese

1 lb. elbow macaroni

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a 3 qt. casserole dish or a 9 x 13 in. dish, set aside. Place bread in a medium bowl and toss with 2 Tbsp. Black Truffle Oil.  Set the crumbs aside.

2.  Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Melt the 6 Tbsp. butter in a high-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat.  When the butter bubbles, add the flour.  Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

3.  While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk, a little at a time to keep the mixture smooth.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick and smooth, 8-12 minutes.  

4.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in Black Truffle Sea Salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 c. Cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 c. Gruyere; set the cheese sauce aside.

5.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the macaroni until the outside is cooked, but the inside is still underdone, 3-4 minutes.  Drain pasta, rinse with cold running water, and drain well.  Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.  

6.  Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 c. Cheddar, 1/2 c. Gruyere, and the bread crumbs over the top.  Bake until golden brown, 30-40 minutes.  Let rest 5 minutes, then serve.    

Thank you all for making our holiday season so wonderful.  We love seeing both the new and the familiar faces that have been coming through.  Happy Holidays, friends.

Cheers,
Andrea

Thankful

Hello friends,

It's that time of year again.  You know, the one where you meet up with friends, family and loved ones and celebrate together with food, drinks, football and more food.  In short, my kind of holiday.  As I sit here typing on this crisp, sunny fall morning, I want to share some of the things I am thankful for.  Coffee, for one.  My health, my children, my family, my wonderful customers (you guys!), my beautiful city and, again, coffee.  And Black Mission Fig Balsamic.  In order to make your Thanksgiving meal absolutely complete, this month's feature is Fig Balsamic.

For the month of November, when you can get 20% off any bottle of Fig Balsamic and I will give you a slew of ideas/recipes to go along with it.  I have started stocking up the store for the onslaught of Thanksgiving and Christmas shoppers, as I hope to see your lovely faces in the coming weeks.  I have new kitchen towels from Oh Little Rabbit, some new packaging for salts, Taza chocolates, and Charlito's Cocina handmade dry-cured sausages.  I'm mostly excited for the Charlito's.  They just got a fantastic write up in last month's Bon Appetit and the American charcuterie scene is really starting to flourish.  We carried their sausages last year and if you didn't get a chance to try them, now is the time.  You won't regret it, I promise!

We're also going to try and make your lives easier this year, with pre-packaged/wrapped bottles of our most popular oils and vinegars.  You can also give us a call ahead of time and we can have your order ready to pick up when you get here.  I know part of the fun is coming and tasting everything, but every now and then you're in a hurry and need to scoot.  I get it!

Oh, our holiday hours are going to change up a bit as well.  For the week of Thanksgiving, we will be closed Thursday and Friday, but plan on us being here with bells on for Small Business Saturday.  We will be open from 9:00-5:00 Saturday, November 26 and those will be our Saturday hours throughout the holiday season.  We'll also be hosting an after hours shindig on First Thursday (December 1) from 6:00-8:00, so stop by for food and drinks and a door prize or two!

Back to things I'm thankful for: food you can eat with one hand.  I have been eating a lot of things that look like this.  But!  Thanksgiving should change all of that.  The recipes I'm giving you are actually from our archives, but they are so good I thought they deserved a revival.  

First, Caramelized Garlic.  This simple recipe will give you a whole new appreciation for how garlic goes in a dish.  I use this on pizzas (prosciutto, arugula, etc.), in quiche, tucked into breads, or made into paste and spread on a sandwich.  It's fantastic.  The Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Braised Brussels Sprouts are both excellent side dishes for Thanksgiving.  Nobody thought that B. Sprouts would be the most coveted item on our family's menu, but there was nary a leaf left of that sweet, smoky, crispy delight when it was all said and done.  Do me a favor and make them this year using the Black Mission Fig Balsamic.  Just...just trust me on this.

Here are the recipes' links.  Happy November!

Cheers,
Andrea

Recipes:
Caramelized garlic
Caramelized Onions in Black Mission Fig Balsamic
Balsamic Braised Brussels Sprouts
Fig and Cheddar Grilled Cheese

My new obsession

Hello, friends!

I hope this finds you well and that you have been enjoying this fantastic weather. This, right now, is the time of year that I live for.  October is the best month there ever was, in my humble opinion.  I can start eating soup again! And I can steal all of my child's Halloween candy! And wear my 25 different cardigans! And all the mosquitoes are dying! Oh, and football, if you're into that sort of thing.

What's going on here at the store, you ask? Cayenne Olive Oil.  It is my new obsession.  And it is also this month's featured oil!  That means that bottles 200 ml and above are 20% off.  Just look at it.  It's so pretty.  And it is hot.  Like, kick you in your pants hot.  I use it on everything now.  I added some to the top of my biscuits and gravy this weekend, just because I can't stop.  I'm planning to make my favorite Chicken Gumbo tomorrow and use a tiny bit of it in the roux, because I. Can't. Stop. I am truly in love, friends.  I think you'll find that it becomes a kitchen staple for you as well.

I just placed an order for some good ole Extra Virgin Olive Oil that racked up medals at the Los Angeles International EVOO Competition.  We are getting the Best of Show Chilean Koroneiki as well as the Gold Medal Picual.  They are beautiful.  Keep in mind, these are still the Southern Hemisphere oils.  The Northern Hemisphere will start crushing their olives in the next couple of months. But the where doesn't matter so much as weather conditions for the growing season, how quickly the olives are pressed, and the manner in which they are pressed (i.e., cold pressed), etc.  Any way you shake it, we make it a point to provide you with the best olive oil available in the world.

Oh, and we have some really tasty new chocolates from Taza.  These are stone ground and minimally processed, so they are a little gritty, not too sweet, and perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up.

I feel like it has been a really long time (3 and a half months, approximately) since I have seen your lovely faces, but now I'm back in the store with a baby in tow.  We're going to see how it works bringing Little Miss up here in the afternoons.  She may be screaming, or she may be totally into chatting with you.  We'll find out!


Now that I'm back to being a (sort of) working mother, I feel like I should become a crock potter.  But let me tell you, I have failed at every single crock pot recipe I have tried.  I have Pinterest boards with crock pot recipes abound, and I have yet to find one that I can get behind. (But I'm open to suggestions.  If you have a good one, send it my way!) I have mastered this brown rice recipe, because it's really hard to mess up rice. I have taken to making a big batch of it at the beginning of the week and then eating it for lunch and dinner.  My favorite quick lunch is sauteed spinach and a fried egg with the brown rice, soy sauce, Toasted Sesame Oil and Cayenne Olive Oil (no, really, I can't stop). My dinners have consisted of a very fast stir fry of sorts, really a variation of the aforementioned lunch.  But if you have a batch of rice hanging out in the fridge, it makes this month's recipe come together in about 10 minutes.

The recipe I'm going to share with you is easier than making Hamburger Helper (is that still around?) and has no frills about it.  It is called...Stir Fried Beef with Chili Oil and Basil. It calls for Fish Sauce, and if you have never cooked with it before, I will warn you, you may open it and think, "Dear God, this smells like cat food!"  You wouldn't be wrong.  The ingredients are anchovies, water, and salt.  Smell aside, it can transform a dish.  I urge you to try it in your next Asian fare, such as this one.  If you really don't want to do it, use a good Soy Sauce or just mince up an anchovy and go about your merry way. I like to eat this with a side of steamed or roasted broccoli and bell peppers, if I have them.

That pretty much sums us up!  Now get out there and enjoy this lovely autumn day.

Stir Fried Beef with Chili Oil and Basil
Adapted from Orangette
Notes: You can use the Cayenne Oil for the stir fry, the egg, or just as a drizzle over the top as a finishing oil, depending on how spicy you want this.  You could also use the Basil Olive Oil, Garlic Olive Oil, or Extra Virgin Olive Oil and throw in a chopped chili for the heat. This comes together really quickly, so have everything you need close by.  This recipe can be doubled very easily.  I do it regularly.

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil, divided (Cayenne Chili or EVOO or Garlic or Basil)
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 Tbsp. Fish Sauce
pinch of sugar
1/4 c. chicken stock or water
Handful or 2 of fresh whole basil
2 eggs
limes wedges
cooked rice

Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat, add 1 Tbsp. oil, add the garlic and stir fry for a few seconds, until fragrant.  Add the beef and continue to cook, stirring regularly, until the beef is cooked through.  Add fish sauce, sugar, basil and chicken stock and stir until basil is wilted.

Meanwhile, heat another Tbsp. oil and fry your eggs.  You want the egg white part crispy and the yolk runny.

Scoop rice into bowls, then pour the beef and broth over the rice and top it with an egg.  Give it a squeeze of lime and you are set!

I hope you like it.

Cheers,
Andrea

My lunch...every day....

Dog Days

Well, hello there!

As I sit here typing, a cicada the size of a hummingbird just flew into my window.  That's where we are at this point in the summer, the good ole "dog days."  And, if you are reading this, you have survived the first back-to-school week. Congratulations!  I have recipes specifically for you.  Even if you don't have children in school, if you live in Fayetteville, you can commiserate with the locusts/students, descending once more.  In all fairness, I was a locust once, too.  Oh, did you know that locusts and cicadas are totally different creatures, with locusts being a form of grasshopper and cicadas being a sort-of cousin to crickets?  There is your mini entomology lesson, brought to you by Google.

If you are new or new-ish to receiving these emails, you can look back on old posts from our blog caskandgrove.blogspot.com or visit our website (www.caskandgrove.com) to see more recipes. If you guys haven't been into the store in a while, the next couple of weeks are a good time to make an appearance.  Why?  Several reasons.  First, you'll notice that the Wild Blueberry and Dark Chocolate Balsamics are on sale for 25% off! We are making room for a new spicy Cayenne Fused Olive Oil that will be in the store by this Saturday.  Yes! You read that right! It won the Silver Medal at the Olive Oil Olympics, or at least at a big olive oil competition in L.A.  This oil should be super spicy and versatile.  I'm thinking Cajun, Middle Eastern, and Tex Mex.  We're saying goodbye to the Champagne Vinegar once more and getting an A-Premium White Balsamic, which many of you have been asking for. It is sweet, tart, and going to be a favorite addition to your salad repertoire.

I just ordered an incredibly robust South African extra virgin olive oil called "Don Carlo."  If you didn't think we were in the mafia before, you do now!  If I say anything about fishes, just assume I'm talking about a recipe.  Got it?  Anyway, this oil has one of the highest polyphenol scores to date (556 ppm!), which makes it very pungent, but with a low bitterness score.  Some tasting notes: bitter herb, grassy, pine, green apple, pungent.  This is a rare single cultivar, grown exclusively for our distributor, Veronica Foods. I'm excited!    

We are now doing a "Flavor of the Month" that corresponds to the recipe I send out.  This month is Butter Infused Olive Oil, which is discounted 20% (excluding 60 mls), so you can make your popcorn and soft pretzels with even less guilt! Hooray!  Each month you now have another reason to come see us.  On your way out, you should grab one of our new little Tazitos chocolate bars.  They're exactly what you need for a tiny pick me up, also without too much guilt!

I feel like dorm room RA's would probably buy Butter Olive Oil by the gallon and provide a hot-air popper for each floor to cut back on the 2:00 a.m. smoke alarms going off.  If memory serves, the "popcorn" setting on microwaves is not entirely accurate, but those smoke detectors don't care one bit.  And of course everyone knows which room set it off because of the awful burnt popcorn smell wafting out.  "Thanks a lot, Becky.  I was trying to sleep." Lots of glares and eye rolls.  Can you tell I lived in an all-girl dormitory for a while?

I don't have a precise recipe for my favorite popcorn.  How do you measure greatness?  But it does consist of a 1/2 cup popcorn kernels, a constant (thin) stream of Butter Olive Oil (2-3 Tbsp.? More?), about 3/4 tsp. Black Truffle Sea Salt, 1-2 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast, and fair bit of black pepper.  This popcorn makes the perfect after school snack.  Or 2 a.m. snack, if you're in college.

The Soft Pretzels and Nacho Cheeze Sauce is for my own self interest.  I want to eat junk food, but I also want to fit into my pre-pregnancy pants some day soon.  (Never mind that I have been making this chocolate cake every chance I get. Stay away from this cake, it is dangerous.)  And have you noticed that every place you may need to go for back-to-school shopping seems to smell like hot, buttery, salty pretzels (I'm looking at you, Target, Sam's, and the mall)?  Get behind me, devil! So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make them at home using healthier ingredients. Now I have six pretzels (much healthier than one pretzel, wouldn't you agree?) with which to dip into my Nacho Cheeze while I binge watch Stranger Things on Netflix.  If only I had some chocolate cake to go with it.  Oh well.

The pretzels are really easy to make.  They require 1 bowl and 1 hour to rise.  The dough is a blank canvas for you to do with what you will.  Want them spicy?  Add some chopped jalapenos and cheddar to the mix.  Or use the Baklouti Green Chili Oil instead of, or with the Butter.  Want them sweet?  Skip the salt on top and add cinnamon and sugar.  You don't even have to form them into pretzel shapes.  Turn them into 2-inch pretzel bites, you rebel! Anyway, I'm giving you a bare bones recipe to play with.  If you want a plane Jane buttery, salty pretzel, follow it as written and enjoy.

The Nacho Cheeze Sauce is fantastic.  It's actually a vegan cashew dip, disguised as cheese dip.  Hear me out!  It is everything you want in a can of Cheese Whiz, but not gross.  You can use it for nachos, dipping soft pretzels, Mexican 7-layer dip for your next 80's themed party, etc.  I really, really love it.  It calls for raw
cashews, Nutritional Yeast, salt, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salsa and/or chipotles in adobo, and olive oil.  It requires a food processor and nothing else.  You must try it. You also must watch Stranger Things.  I am fairly certain that Netflix is going to take over all of television, as I have yet to watch a series of theirs that I haven't loved.

Anyway, enough about weird/awesome tv shows.  Here are the recipes.

Soft Buttery Pretzels
Adapted from Averie Cooks

2 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. (or 1 packet) instant dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. warm water (bath tub temp. If you like it, yeast will like it)
1/4 cup Butter Infused Olive Oil (more or less, to taste)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, food processor, or just a big bowl if making them by hand, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and water.  Mix thoroughly, about 1 minute.  Add the salt and mix again.

If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and knead for 5 minutes, until a smooth, shiny ball forms.  If using the food processor, process until a smooth, shiny ball forms. If kneading by hand, knead until a smooth, shiny ball forms.

Place dough ball in a large, lightly greased bowl and cover.  Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size and puffy.

Preheat oven to 425 and separate your dough into six equal parts.  Roll your dough into long ropes (14-16 inches maybe?) and make them into pretzel shapes.  Place them on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.  Brush/drizzle on 2 or so Tbsp. of the Butter Olive Oil and sprinkle with Kosher Salt.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  When you pull them out of the oven, brush on the remaining Butter Olive Oil and more salt, if you want.  Enjoy!

Nacho Cheeze Sauce
1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and drained
4 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 chipotle in adobo, or 1 tsp. smoked paprika
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (Extra Virgin, Chipotle, Garlic or Baklouti Green Chili)
1/2 cup hot water (or a combo of salsa and hot water)

Put the soaked and drained cashews into the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a blade.  Run until the cashews are mostly smooth.  Add in the remaining ingredients, except the water/salsa and run until smooth. Keep the food processor running and slowly add the water/salsa until your desired consistency of dipping sauce.  I like mine thick, so I only added 1/2 cup water and a few spoon fulls of salsa.

Well, I hope you all love these recipes as much as I do.  I hope you love Stranger Things as much as I do. I hope to see you in the store soon to try our new stock.  (That's a lot of hoping!)  Good luck with back to schooling and avoiding the University traffic nightmare.

Cheers,
Andrea

Stop and Go

Hi, friends!

Introducing Matilda! 

Whew.  Sorry it has been a while since the last newsletter.  Things like childbirth, taking care of an infant plus a toddler, mountains of laundry, etc. have made my writing, and more importantly, my cooking rather stop and go.  (I wrote this paragraph a week ago).  Besides which, Summer time always makes me lethargic when it comes to feeding myself.  Most days, if I can't grab it out of the refrigerator and eat it cold, or throw it on a grill and eat it warm, meals just don't happen.  If no one is watching, truth be told, I make the old PB&J stand-by; and that has nothing to do with the infant or toddler.  I made these noodles the other day (now last week) and they are so good, I just slurped them out of the one pot I cooked them in.  It was a new low, but I don't regret it.


Anyway, for your recipe this go-round, I am going to plagiarize from the latest issue of Bon Appetit.  It seems like every other recipe from this issue requires lots of olive oil, and I happen to know where there is lots of olive oil.  And it reminded me that I love making cold brew coffee, which I had somehow forgotten about this summer.  By the way, did you guys read this NY Post Article on all the fake food we eat?  Give it a quick browse and then bring in your store brand EVOO to try next to ours.  Heck, bring in your Balsamic, too!  We love taste tests.  August is also, according to BA, "Sandwich Month", and since I am almost to the point of graduating from making PB&J's to something more adult-like, like a Muffuletta, I thought this recipe was appropriate.  I'll get to it in a minute, but first...the store.

We have a new shipment coming in today!  We're going to put out the first round of Southern Hemisphere olive oils and start the old switch-a-roo. I'm really going to miss the Northerners, but am excited to try the two Medium oils (Arbosana and Arbequina) from Chile and a mild Pendolino from Australia.  Also, we have phased out the Spring-time favorite Lavender Balsamic and now we will have a beautiful new Neapolitan Herb Dark Balsamic.  Here is the description from the fusti tag:

Zesty and versatile, our Neapolitan Herb Dark Balsamic has just the right amount of acidity to shine in a multitude of culinary Applications, especially where a savory characteristic is desired.  Made from traditional herbs long used in Neapolitan cuisine, including rosemary, marjoram, thyme, garlic, and sage, it will launch your next salad, marinade, or BBQ to the next culinary level.  Try drizzled over roasted vegetables or fresh sliced summer heirloom tomatoes.  Use to marinate poultry, spike a Bloody Mary, glaze Portabello mushrooms, pork or a thick rib-eye steak before grilling.  Fantastic in dressings, with pasta, rice, quinoa, drizzled over cucumbers and tomatoes, brushed on bruschetta or paired with creamy cheeses.  We’ve found it to be fantastic paired with Garlic Olive Oil, Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil, Lemon Fused Olive Oil, Lime Fused Olive Oil, Tuscan Herb Olive Oil, any UP Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and much more.

Yep. Intriguing.  We also have more of those fantastic Spanish green olives coming in.  If you didn't get a chance to try them at our last happy hour, don't worry.  We are hosting another one Thursday, August 4th from 6-9 pm.  This coincides with First Thursday on the Square, so head downtown and hang out with us for a drink and a bite, then cruise over to the music and festivities.  It will be grand!  It will also give you a chance to try some new things and say "Hello" to new Cask & Grove Baby Matilda and "Goodbye" to Tami, who is headed back to South Carolina until Christmas.  (Insert sad emoji here.)  We will miss her terribly!

Well, I think that is all of our store news.  On to the sandwich.  You guys, this is not your everyday, thrown together, meat and cheese ordeal.  This sammie sings to me.  It says, "I am Sandwich.  Love me."  The olive salad is a perfect conglomeration of pickly, salty, oily, tangy, spicy perfection.  You could eat the salad alone and be happy.  But, I recommend that you add the provolone, prosciutto, Genoa salami and Hot Soppressata piled on beneath a nice, crusty bread and now you're talking. It is super easy to throw this together, but it requires a bit of planning, because you want to let the sandwich sit out for a few hours to let the olive salad work its magic. For the olives, please, please don't use the canned variety.  The taste from a good jarred olive (our olives are delicious) or olives from an olive bar (Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Harp's) just can't even compare. It will make you cry. You'll notice for the olive salad, that everything says, "drained and chopped," which means I drained it and then threw everything in the food processor.  Super easy, no excuses.  (Note:  I used our Garlic Stuffed Olives, took out the garlic cloves of half, then omitted the fresh garlic in the recipe.  If you wanted to, you could use the whole jar with the pickled garlic and omit the fresh shallot and fresh garlic altogether.)  The Muffuletta is an ideal picnic or potluck sandwich, because it gets better with time.  So, make this sandwich and enjoy the rest of your summer!

The Muffuletta, Cask & Grove Style
Adapted from August 2016 Bon Appetit

Olive Salad
1 fresh Fresno chili, chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 jar Spanish Green Olives, from Cask & Grove OR
2 c. assorted good quality olives, drained, pitted and chopped
1/2 c. jarred roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1/3 c. robust Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tbsp. capers, drained and chopped
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
couple shakes dried oregano, salt and pepper (Taste before salting. It's pretty dang salty and then you add salted meat)

Assembly
1 large ciabatta loaf, or other soft yet crusty bread
4 oz. thinly sliced Genoa salami
4 oz. thinly sliced Hot Soppressata or Capocollo
4 oz. thinly sliced Prosciutto or Jamon Serrano
8 oz. thinly sliced Provolone or Mozzarella, or a combo of both

1.   Combine everything for the olive salad in a large bowl and stir together, or all together in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined.  Cover and chill, up to one day ahead.

2.  Split bread in half along the equator line.  Divide olive salad, including any liquid, between halves.  Lay down all the meats and cheese.  Close sandwich and wrap tightly in plastic.  Place between two baking sheets and weigh it down with a heavy pot (I used a cast-iron skillet) to flatten.  Let sit at room temperature, turning over halfway, 1-3 hours before serving.  Cut into wedges and serve!

Well, friends, I hope you enjoy.  See you soon.

Cheers,
Andrea

Happy Father's Day

Hi everybody!

Mmm...kale chips

First off, Happy Father's Day, you dear old dads out there.  Secondly, how is it already mid-June?  What is going on here?  Suddenly it is really and truly summer time in our sleepy little town.  I tend to greet the heat with enthusiasm at the beginning (swimming! long days! the coconutty smell of sunscreen!), followed by a waning interest in mid-July (gah, why are there mosquitoes and flies everywhere?  But I love peaches, so carry on!), and by the end of August, I'm totally over it (I just want to go outside without sweating to death, please.  Also, this swimming pool feels like a bathtub).  This summer is starting out on a less friendly note, since I am currently enormously pregnant and not at all amused by the heat.  Which leads to a current rule in my house:  do NOT turn on the oven.  At all.  Except for Kale Chips and Granola, because I can't find a way to make them on the grill.  Grill everything else! So, here you will get my Grilled Pizza 101.  But first, the news...

Tami's back!  I'm taking my maternity leave for the summer, so my mom is here to help you lovely people with all your olive oil and balsamic vinegar needs.  We are currently waiting on our distributors to release the olive oils from the Southern Hemisphere harvest, which should be wrapping up right about now.  Soon enough we'll phase out our Northern Hemispheres (CA, Italy, Spain, Greece) for the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, South Africa, Chile, Peru) oils.  If there is an olive oil you are particularly attached to, come by and claim it!  Also, we just reordered the Champagne Vinegar that has been out of stock for a while.  And we're going to be carrying olives!  Makes sense, right?  These olives will make your summer antipasto plates and martinis absolutely divine.  They should be here next week!  Okay, that is all.

Grilled Pizza.  I may enjoy grilled pizza more than oven baked pizza, especially since there is no indoor cooking involved.  I don't turn on a single burner to make the sauce, nor do I crank my oven to 500 degrees to preheat a pizza stone.  The instructions seem daunting, but they are really simple.  There are just a lot of them. I will stress to you only two things:  1. Have everything you need perfectly in place, because the process goes really, really fast once you start. 2.  Less is more.  Do not (NOT!) pile on toppings.  You will have a burned bottom crust and uncooked toppings.

So, start with your dough.  You can absolutely use store bought dough and I won't judge you one bit.  However, this recipe makes an exceptional grilling dough and I can't vouch for Pillsbury or anyone else.  Be sure to plan ahead a bit to give it time to rise, but that's pretty much the only work involved (waiting) after you dump all the ingredients together.  This recipe makes 4-5 small pizzas, which are the only kind of pizzas you can grill.  Don't make the mistake of making a large pie.  It won't work.  The dough flops over onto itself, breaks in half when it's time to turn it, etc.  Learn from my mistakes, people.  Don't make a large pizza.

Next, make this sauce.   It consists of 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, a shake of salt, oregano and basil, and a drizzle of oil.  The end.  Again, you can 100% use store bought sauce.  Do what you will, but give this one a try once and see if the jarred kind doesn't taste like ketchup the next time you use it.  And there's no cooking involved.  No! Cooking!  You can also use our Delizia brand pesto for an absolutely amazing Margherita pizza.  It is by far the best jarred pesto I have ever had.

Get your toppings all in order.  Be sure any meats you use are cooked. Shred or thinly slice your cheese (mozzarella, goat cheese, Fontina, etc.) and have everything within reach of your grill when you start.  My favorite combos are:  pepperoni, jalapeno, pineapple; crumbled Italian sausage, onion, red bell pepper; arugula, olive, sliced tomato; and (most favorite) pesto, sliced tomato, mozzarella.  But remember to keep it light.  Don't do extra cheese, no matter how tempting it may seem.  You will have soup in the middle of your pizza.

So, preheat your grill.  If you have a small pizza stone or cast iron griddle, use those.  They can be beneficial to cooking your pizza, but they aren't necessary. I have a gas grill, so if you have charcoal, give yourself enough time to get it really hot.  We're talking 475 ish.  Roll out your pizza dough into 10-inch or smaller rounds/oblongs/shapes.  Have several baking sheets or a table on stand by.  Drizzle your dough rounds (sort of round?) with olive oil.

Drop your dough, oiled side down, onto the hot grill/pizza stone, wait for small bubbles to form (2 minutes, maybe), Use tongs to move pizza to the set aside baking sheet or table, flipping it so the charred side is face-up.  Create your pizza: sauce, toppings, light cheese.  Slide it back on the grill, lower the heat, close the lid and let it go for 5 minutes or so, until cheese is melted.  Remove from the grill and enjoy while hot!  I can usually make 2 pizzas at a time comfortably.  If I get ambitious, someone usually ends up getting burned.  Isn't that just life for ya?   You can watch this video for a walk through if my directions don't make sense.  But don't spray your dough with Pam.  I will hunt you down.  Use olive oil, it tastes good.


Grilling Pizza Dough
Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz

2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
Generous squeeze of honey
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 c. warm water

1. Make the starter by mixing together the yeast, 1/2 c. warm water, honey, 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, and 1/4 c. whole wheat flour in the bowl of a stand mixer (or just a large bowl, if mixing by hand, or a large food processor bowl). Let stand 10 minutes, undisturbed, until foamy.

2.  Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and knead, using the dough hook attachment (or by hand or food processor blade), for 5 minutes, or until a smooth, yet slightly sticky ball forms. Add a bit more flour, if necessary.

3.  Lightly grease a large bowl and put the ball of dough into the bowl, then flip the dough over, so that the greased side is facing up.  Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 1/2 hours.

No-Cook Pizza Sauce

28 oz. can Whole Peeled Tomatoes

1 clove fresh garlic, peeled
Drizzle of Olive Oil (Extra Virgin, Garlic, or Tuscan Herb are all good)
Shake of Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Basil

1.  Drain your can of tomatoes; try to get all the juice out.  I usually put them in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and let them sit for 20 minutes or so.

2.  Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

Anyway!  I hope you give this a try, but if it is too fussy, make some simple kabobs instead.  I like Lamb with our Harissa Olive Oil and fresh mint, Chicken with Wild Fernleaf Dill Olive Oil and lemon juice, Shrimp with Persian Lime Olive Oil and fresh cilantro, or Steak with Garlic or Tuscan Herb Olive Oil.  Ease enough.  Just don't turn on your oven!  Unless you are making kale chips or granola for me...

I hope everyone has a fantastic Father's Day weekend.  Enjoy your Grilled Pizza!

Cheers,
Andrea

Brunch for all!

Hello, and welcome to my last minute, thoroughly procrastinated Mother's Day Edition post.

Better late than never, right?  Sure.  There are quite a few new and exciting things that are already here or are making their way to the store.  I think you'll approve.  We have brought back the Olive Oil soap in Peppermint, Lavender, Manuka Honey, and Citrus Bloom.  I really like these soaps because, in a world where I cannot pronounce most of the 30 odd chemicals that appear in bath/beauty products, they only have 2 ingredients: olive oil and whatever essential oil scents them.  I like simplicity.  Also, did you know that your skin is your largest organ? There's a fun Science Friday fact for you.  Moving on.   We are freshly stocked with Tapenades for your anitpasto, wine and cheese nights.  We have Smoked Artichoke Tapenade, Sun dried Tomato Tapenade, Roasted Red Peppers, and the best jarred Pesto you'll ever eat.  Also, give the Taza Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds or Chocolate Covered Cocoa Nibs a try.

We finally, really and truly, got the Coconut White Balsamic in and this may become my most used Summer Balsamic. Seeing as we just put it out yesterday (and me being a genius forgot to order labels for it, so those will be here next week.  Sorry. I would blame my third trimester "Mommy Brain," but that would be a lie.), I haven't cooked with it yet.  But!  I envision grilled shrimp with Persian Lime Olive Oil and a generous dose of Coconut Balsamic.  I will concoct some sort of frozen drink with it before long.  It goes well with the pleasantly spicy Bakouti Green Chili and Chipotle Olive Oils.  I'm sure I'll come up with more as time goes on.

We're moving into our last round of Northern Hemisphere Olive Oils, as the Southern Hemisphere should be crushing their olives this month and next.  So, if there is an oil you love and can't live without, make sure you get it while you can.  For me, that is the Athinoelia from Greece.  I can't think of when I have reordered an EVOO so often.  I ordered two more cubes, just in case they stop exporting it.  You guys, I'm addicted.  We're about to put out some new faces as well: medium Hojiblanca and "Melgarejo" Frantoio from Spain, robust Coratina "Grand Cru" from Italy, and robust Organic Chemlali from Tunisia.  I'm interested in the Chemlali, as those are the same olives that make our Baklouti Green Chili Olive Oil and that is one of my favorites.  Those will be making an appearance throughout this week and next.

And in order for us to put out new stuff, we have to put some of our old stuff on sale! Look for these guys to be on the 25% off shelf:  mild Sevillano from CA, medium/robust Frantoio from Chile, and robust "Melgarejo" Hojiblanca from Spain.  Oh, and the Mango White Balsamic will be on sale, too.  Get them while they last!

Probably the most exciting new thing is our updated website.  We have a snazzy new "Recipes" tab that contains all of the recipes from this blog!  Check it out.  In fact, two of the recipes I'm giving you today are oldies that you may have missed.  They should not be missed.  I present to you, everything you need for an amazing Mother's Day Brunch: Butter-Garlic Shrimp and Grits, My Go-To Granola Yogurt Parfaits, and Olive Oil Morning Muffins. The muffins, guys, are ah-mazing.  In fact, maybe don't make them because you will eat all of them before they even have a chance to cool.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's start with the Shrimp and Grits.  I love them.  They are easy as can be.  You could set up a grits bar with crumbled bacon, chopped tomatoes, green onions, grated cheese, fried eggs or what have you.  But be sure to include these shrimp.  Your mom will thank you.  The granola is really just a breakfast game changer.  I eat it pretty much every day with plain yogurt, honey and sliced berries. I have been into a coconut chip/almond/dried cherry combo, but you can do whatever you want.  I like coconut/pecan/cranberry, pecan/almond/walnut combo.  I tend to throw in whatever nuts I have stored in the freezer and dried fruit I have in the pantry, add some nice fruity Olive Oil and that's that.  To make the parfaits, layer some yogurt (drizzle with honey if it's plain), berries of your choice, handful of granola, and repeat once more.

The muffins. I have a thing for Lemon.  I have a thing for Olive Oil. I have a thing for all Breakfast Bread-type things.  When one of my favorite food writers posted this recipe a few weeks ago, I knew I was a goner.  For my version, I used our Eureka Lemon Fused Olive Oil, lemon zest, the juice of said zested lemon and Grand Gala Liqueur.  However, you could use Blood Orange Olive Oil, orange zest, and orange juice/Gran Marnier and they would be quite tasty.  I fortuitously had everything to make these muffins lying around the house, so I whipped up the batter in a minute flat only to realize that I had no muffin liners.  I'm not sure how that could happen, as I feel like I buy a new pack every time I make cupcakes and they tend to pile up.  Anyway, I decided to spray my already non-stick muffin pan and figured all would be well.  Here is the ugly truth.  Whatever.  They tasted great.  Make them this weekend, with muffin liners.

 The recipes!

Butter-Garlic Shrimp and Grits

Adapted from Food Network

Grits:

3 c. water

3/4 c. instant or quick-cooking grits

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese (I suppose you could use cheddar instead) (or smoked gouda!)

1 Tbsp. Butter Infused Olive Oil

Shrimp:

2 Tbsp. Butter Infused Olive Oil

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 large cloves garlic, minced

Pinch cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp. water

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley

Heaven

1.  Bring 3 cups of water to boil in a medium sauce pan.  Whisk in grits, salt and pepper and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about 5 minutes).  Stir in parmesan cheese and Butter Olive Oil.  Turn off heat, but cover to keep warm.

2.  Pour 2 Tbsp. Butter Olive Oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the shrimp, garlic and cayenne to the pan and cook, tossing every now and then, until the shrimp are pink (5 minutes?).  Add 2 Tbsp. water, the lemon juice and parsley and give them another quick toss.  Season with salt and pepper  Turn off the heat.

3.  Divide the grits into shallow bowls and top with shrimp and sauce. Serve with lemon wedges.

My Go-To Granola

6 c. old fashioned rolled oats
2-3 c. unsweetened coconut chips (found at ONF/Whole Foods in bulk)
3-4 c. chopped nuts of your choice or a dried fruit/nut combo
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. pure maple syrup
2/3 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil)

1. Preheat oven to 300.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Dump everything into a large bowl and mix well.

2. Bake for 40 minutes, flipping the granola every 15 minutes, so that it doesn't burn.  It should be lovely and fragrant and nicely golden when it is finished.  Let it cool before putting it in an air-tight container.

This will keep at room temperature for a couple weeks.  However, I freeze mine and grab handfuls out of the freezer bag in the morning.  Which ever you prefer!

Olive Oil Muffins
Adapted from David Lebovitz

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. Eureka Lemon Fused Olive Oil (or Blood Orange or a mild, fruity EVOO)
3/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/3 c. mixed: half fresh lemon juice, half orange liqueur

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line a standard 12 muffin tin with paper liners. (My batch had a bit of left over batter, so I made 6 mini muffins just for fun.)  

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, milk, eggs, zest and juice/liqueur.  

3.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined, but do not over-mix.

4.  Fill the muffin molds 3/4 of the way full (these don't rise too much) and bake until the batter has set in the center and tops are golden brown, about 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and try to let cool before serving/eating them all.

I hope you all have a great Mother's Day weekend, final's week, upcoming graduation season, and generally beautiful spring.  Take care and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Cheers,
Andrea

Now Trending...

Hi there, my lovely people!

I hope you are enjoying this fine Arkansas spring (occasionally summer or winter, depending on the day) weather.  That's how we roll around here.

How trendy is Fayetteville these days?  We got ranked as the #3 Best Place to Live by U.S. News and we have a shiny, fancy new Whole Foods.  In regards to said Whole Foods, let me be the first to say that I was a cynic.  "I mean, come on, people, it's just a grocery store, right?!  We're not country bumpkins, we have Crystal Bridges, for crying out loud!"  And then I went in, spent $100 and walked out, blinking into the sun, having just spent 30 minutes (maybe 3 hours, who can say?) inside a black hole that sucked away all thought processes.  Well played, Whole Foods.  Well played.

Any who, I like them.  They're cool.  They can stay.  That's also how I feel about our Athinoelia Olive Oil.  Have you guys tried this?  It's perfect in every way and I just ordered more because I am addicted.  I also ordered a new mild(ish) olive oil from Portugal that should be smooth as smooth can be.  It's called Galega (I feel like that was a character on Dr. Who, but that's not a bad thing.  I hope they were green.) and it should be here next week.

That's really all I have new coming in.  We're well stocked and ready for Farmers' Market to begin the first weekend of April.  Don't forget to pop on in to say "hi" when you're out buying greens and lovely bouquets!

Now, recipes.  Living in a trendy place and seeing lots of bike riders out and about in between weeks of rain made me nostalgic for the time we spent living in Eugene, OR. There are some things I really miss about Oregon.  I miss the coast and the fresh sea food that comes with it, the wineries, and the plum trees/cherry trees/blackberry bushes that lined our neighborhood.  And I really, really miss a restaurant called Cafe Yumm.  It was one of the first places we ate when we moved there, as it was in a shopping center across the street from our little apartment, along with a Trader Joe's (when are we getting one of those?).  

Let me tell you about a little thing called a Yumm Bowl.  It is a super filling, healthy little flavor bomb.  Even devout meat eaters will fall for this. It is as follows: brown rice, black beans, chopped tomatoes, a little salsa, sliced avocados, black olives, shredded cheddar cheese, and cilantro.  Throw on some jalapenos and/or those pickled onions I talked about last blog post, if you wish.  Be sure to top it with a generous spoon full or two of Yumm Sauce and you are set. The flavor of the Yumm Sauce is really what makes it so amazing.  You can't put your finger on the exact spices and combos, but you also can't stop eating it.  And I have finally (!) perfected a copy cat recipe.  Yumm Bowls are gluten free, vegan (if you don't top it with cheese), and protein packed. If you don't like it at first, that's fine.  Try 3 more bites.  It grows on you, just like the mold and fungi did when we lived in Oregon.

I have been eating the Yumm Sauce all week.  I use it in place of hummus, and just dip baby carrots and cherry tomatoes in it as my snack.  I made a little cheese omelet with sliced avocados on the side for breakfast and added a dab of sauce since, hey, why not.  (Don't eat the banana and strawberry with the Yumm Sauce.  It would not be delicious.  I just added those to my plate because my son didn't finish his breakfast.  I am a scavenger and proud of it.)  And left over Yumm Bowls make excellent lunches, because you don't really need to heat them up.  I guess you could heat up the brown rice and beans if you want to, but I just threw everything together in a to-go container and went on my merry way.  The recipe looks weird.  Try it anyway.

I also made my first truly successful batch of brown rice. I have always loved the idea of brown rice, but it never cooks the way it is supposed to for me.  After an hour, I either have soup or a dried up mess that vaguely resembles rice.  There is no in between.  But!  This time, I won.  And I did it in the crock pot, which was great because I didn't have to worry about it boiling over and making a glutinous mess all over my stove!  Winning!  It goes like this.

Crock Pot Brown Rice
From CD Kitchen

2 c. Brown Rice (I used short grain brown rice from the bulk section at Whole Foods *wink*)
5 c. water
2 tsp. salt

1. Place all ingredients in the crock pot.  Stir, cover, and cook on High for 3 hours without removing the lid.  Perfection!

Yumm Sauce
Adapted from This site and this site and multiple trials and errors over the past 7 years
Makes about 2 cups

1/4 c. raw almonds or almond meal
1/4 c. EVOO (use a milder one, like Sevillano)
1/2 can rinsed and drained garbanzo beans
1/2 package of silken tofu
1/4 c. water
Juice of 2 lemons
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. fresh cilantro
2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. nutritional yeast (NOT baking yeast! Find nutritional yeast in the bulk section of Whole Foods *wink* or ONF.)

1. In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, put in the almonds and process until fairly fine.  Add the oil and garbanzo beans.  Pulse a bit, until smooth.  Add in everything else and process until really smooth.  You may need to add a bit more water or lemon juice, depending on your personal tastes, and if you like a thinner sauce.  It should be fairly thick, like hummus.

2. Put it in a covered container and refrigerate for an hour to meld the flavors.  It will last in the refrigerator for a while (1-2 weeks?) and I have had success with freezing it before.  It might not last you that long, though.

Well, friends, I hope you have a great Spring Break, if you get that sort of thing.

Cheers!
Andrea

Salty Pickled Things

Hi there!

As I sit here eating the most pungent salad you could dream of (the type of salad that might scare you away, should you walk in the door right now), I thought I would share a few recipes with you along with some updates.  But first let me have a mint.

So, what's going on around here?  A lot!  We have some crazy new salts, chocolates, Northern Hemisphere Olive Oils, a Walnut Oil, soon to be put out Lavender Balsamic and Blueberry Balsamic. I'll tell you a bit about each of these things in a minute.

You may have noticed that our sign outside of the store is gone.  We haven't moved or anything; the wild wind blew it away last week.  A new one will be up soon, but if you were just cruising by and didn't see it up, that's why. Also our open sign fell down and was out of commission last week.  It really did look like we were closed, but we weren't!  We're here! Except from 5:00-5:15 on Wednesdays and Fridays.  I have to go pick up my dear son from day care during that time.  If you come by and I'm not here, there is a sign in the window saying I'll be right back.  I will be! I will be right back with a small boy and his stuffed penguin in tow.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

The salts.  We have a new salt bar, so to speak.  My favorite is the Cyprus Flaked Salt, which has really large, crunchy flakes that are perfect sprinkled on the NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies and on roasted asparagus. (Disclaimer about these cookies: if you make them, you will forever be a changed person.  No other cookie can compare.  I insist that you use Kerry Gold Butter and Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Chocolate Disks.  And the Cyprus Sea Salt.)  But there is also Fleur de Sel, Sel Gris, Himalayan Pink Salt, and Hawaiian Black Salt to try.  And then you can get crazy (think rimmed drinks and baked goods and meat rubs) with Espresso Brava Salt, Habanero Infused Salt, Hickory Smoked, Mesquite Smoked, Sun Ripened Tomato Infused, and Thai Ginger Infused Salt.  Check them out, they are really fun.

Don't worry, we still have the infamous Black Truffle Salt and Seasonello Salt. Those guys aren't going anywhere.  The same goes for the Theo's Chocolates.  We have a great stock of Theo's going, but now we've added on Taza Chocolate.  This chocolate is really interesting.  It is Mexican-Style stone ground, so it is fairly unrefined and minimally processed, resulting in a somewhat gritty texture that is strangely addictive.  It's also organic and fair trade.  We have it in five flavors, all of which are dark chocolate: Coffee, Chipotle Chili, Guajillo Chili, Salted Almond, and Cinnamon.

Salt?  Check.  Chocolate? Check. Now let's talk oils and vinegars.  We're at that time of year again when we have the Northern Hemisphere lineup.  From Greece, I bring you the perfectly balanced medium bodied Athinoelia. The Coratina Grand Cru and Favolosa are both medium/robust and back from Italy.  Our Spanish beauties include the Melgarejo Frantoio (robust), Melgarejo Hojiblanca (very robust), and Oro Bailen Picual (also robust), our all-time favorite.  We are also home players and have a super mild Sevillano and medium Organic Arbequina from California.  Our new, amazing!, Roasted Walnut Oil is also from California.  The Walnut Oil is so dang smooth and lightly nutty that I don't even know where to start.  Actually, I do.  I'm going to start by pairing it with our Raspberry Balsamic and it's going to be heaven.  I should have most of these guys out by Tuesday, if you can wait until then.

As for the balsamics, I'm swapping out the Vermont Maple for Lavender and the Pumpkin Pie White for a Wild Blueberry.  Those two are still on clearance for 25% off.   I'll probably switch them over on Monday, so if you NEED Maple or Pumpkin Pie Spice, speak now or wait until next fall when we get it back.  I think that's all that we have new in that department.

Okay! If you've been by lately while I'm here, you will have undoubtedly seen that there is to be a new baby here in the store sometime Mid June.  Hooray!  Well, I'm in that lovely phase of pregnancy when anything salty or pickledy is the bees knees.  Which is actually a gigantic step ahead of hating the smell of anything at all!  And I finally (finally!) want vegetables again.  So for the past week solid, we have been having some version of salad around my house.

My true love lies with a Falafel Salad.  Stay with me.  This is one of my top ten meals, maybe even top five.  I could eat one of these every. single. day. and not get sick of it.  I bake my falafel instead of frying it, so I don't feel too greasy and weighed down.  I do a quick pickled red onion that I use throughout the week on unsuspecting salads like Panzanella (I'll get to that later) or on burgers and other sandwiches.  Marinate and grill chicken, so if (a toddler sized) someone in your house doesn't like falafel (heathen), they can have that instead.  Then you just add normal salad fare: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce/greenery, feta, pepperoncini, and dressing of your choice.  If you're feeling lazy and want to go with a bottled dressing, I recommend Newman's Own Family Italian recipe. Or just a good EVOO.  Either way, you will no stop wanting to eat this salad.

But then you move on to the more adult, more pungent Panzanella.  I didn't write out the recipe, but here's a link to a decent starting point.  I use Ina's recipe for the vinaigrette, which is spot-on and can also be used for the Falafel Salad. However, I make a few changes to suit my tastes. I don't use cucumber or basil, but Arugula and anchovies instead.  And I probably use more like 1/4 c. capers.  I also throw in cubed mozzarella or the little mozzarella pearls if I'm eating the salad as a main course.  I had my Panzanella with a side of roasted asparagus and leftover grilled chicken.  It's also what I was eating when I started this email. You'll love it.  Try it this weekend.

Here are the recipes.

Baked Falafel
Adapted from Epicurious

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. baking powder
4-6 Tbsp. flour (if you are gluten free, use chickpea flour or other substitute)
1/4 c. or so EVOO, divided

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, put in the onion and garlic and pulse until well chopped.  Add in the chickpeas, salt, pepper, and cumin and process until blended, but not pureed.  Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 Tbsp. flour and pulse until it forms a ball and is no longer sticky.  Add more flour, if necessary, but make sure it doesn't get too crumbly.  Put it in a bowl, cover it, and refrigerate it for an hour or so. (Start marinating the chicken and pickling onions)

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.  Form falafel into walnut sized balls, flatten slightly and place on lined baking sheet.  Continue until all the mixture is used.  Drizzle half of your 1/4 cup EVOO over the falafel.

Put them in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Flip your falafel, drizzle on the other half of your EVOO and stick back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until they are golden brown and smell heavenly.  If they are too dry, add a bit more olive oil.  Serve these guys in a falafel salad or in a pita. Falafel Salad: tender greens, tomato, cucumber, feta, falafel and/or grilled chicken, pickled onions and/or pepperoncini, vinaigrette or Greek or Italian dressing of choice.

Chicken Marinade/Grilled Chicken
3 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/4 c. plain yogurt
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. EVOO (I use Wild Fernleaf Dill Olive Oil for fun)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a gallon Ziploc bag, add the chicken and smush it around so that it all gets covered.  Stick it back in the refrigerator and marinate for about an hour, while you move on to other things (like pickling red onions and slicing tomatoes and cucumbers).

When you're ready, preheat your grill to medium flame (?).  Remove chicken from the bag and shake off excess marinade.  Place your chickens on the hot grill, close the lid, and leave them alone for about 5 minutes.  Flip them over and cook for about 5 more minutes (depending on how thin you pounded them and how hot your grill is).  When your chicken is cooked through, but not yet a dry, tough bird, remove and set aside until cool enough to slice.

Quick Pickled Red Onions
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/2 c. Red Wine Vinegar or Champagne Vinegar
1/2 c. cold water
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and set aside for at least one hour.  These guys gets better with time, so you can cover the container and keep it in the refrigerator to use on sandwiches, in Panzanella, and in any salad.

Roasted Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus, washed and woody ends trimmed
4? Tbsp. EVOO
1 tsp. or more sea salt (Cyprus Sea Salt, that is)

Preheat oven to 425.  Place washed asparagus on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake for about 30 minutes, flipping once.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in the store soon!

Cheers,
Andrea

Takeout at Home (and Happy New Year)

Hello there and Happy (Belated) New Year!

That, my friends, was one crazy holiday season.  Thank you all for being such wonderful people and coming in to hang out with us, shop local with us, and (most importantly) bear with us as we navigated that crazy Christmas thing.  Between one shipment getting lost en route, one getting utterly destroyed somewhere in L.A. and then hoodlums vandalizing the building we're in, we decided we earned a break.  We took a vacation for the first week of January, so we're sorry if you came by and we weren't there.  We'll be happily back at the shop on Tuesday, January 12, restocked and rested from the madness. When we reopen, you'll notice a new face among us.  A lovely lady named Connie is going to be our Tuesday/Thursday and some Saturdays helper and she's great.  I think you'll like her.

What I'm doing on my vacation. 

Many of you rushed to the call and purchased our Denissimo Ultra Premium Balsamic and now I'm sure, like us, you're wondering how to get the dang stuff out of the bottle.  Well, you have to heat it up a bit.  Put your bottle in warm water or hold a blow dryer to it, because these cold days make that thick beautiful balsamic quite unwilling to move.  I know the feeling. If you have any questions about it, shoot us an email or give us a call.

So, it's that time of year again.  We are switching over to Northern Hemisphere Olive Oils!  We already have two Californian EVOOs: the mildest Sevillano I have ever tasted and a perfect (perfect, I say!) medium bodied Arbequina.  Soon we'll have some Spanish varieties (Hojiblanca and Picual for sure) and, later, some Italian and maybe a Greek oil.  I'll keep you posted.  It's also time to swap out the Vermont Maple Balsamic for the Lavender Balsamic and I'm taking it upon myself to introduce a Champagne Vinegar instead of our Red Wine Vinegar.  I hope you don't mind.

I don't know about you, but I really, really like the restaurants in Fayetteville.  I mean, we're across the street from A Taste of Thai and Petra Cafe, so it's a wonder I haven't gained 20 pounds this year.  But I never go for Chinese Takeout.  I think I have maybe eaten at one Chinese restaurant in the 10 years I've lived here, and that was because I was with a group of starving males who could truly put a hurting on a buffet. But I kind of love it and it's quite nostalgic for me, as my grandparents often took my sister and I out to eat Lo Mein and Wanton Soup.  So I decided to make my own Chinese Takeout at Home.  All of these recipes are fairly easy, although making the dumplings is a bit time consuming. And each of these recipes features our Toasted Sesame Oil, which is darker, richer and nuttier than any sesame oil I've bought from a grocery store.  Not to brag or anything.

First we'll start with the Pork Dumplings/Potstickers/Jiaozi, whatever you want to call them.  The filling comes together really easily.  It's like making meatballs, you just throw everything into one bowl and mix it around.  The filling and folding is also easy, it just takes time.  Words of warning: don't get overly ambitious and try to stuff in lots of filling because that will lead to heartache when it won't fold and then you lose all of that filling when you cook them.  Not that I learned from experience or anything.  There are tutorials on YouTube (isn't there a tutorial for everything now a days?) if you want a perfect technique.  I will say that I lay out all the wrappers first, then dole out all the filling, and then I fold them all.  It seems to be easier that way.

Then you go for the Orange Chicken.  I decided to do this instead of my favorite Cashew Chicken because 1) oranges are in season and 2) I thought my son would be more likely to eat it. The recipe I'm giving you is fine.  The marinade/sauce is actually really tasty, but the next time I make this I'm not going to fry the chicken.  Gasp!  I know!  I went for the more authentic takeout experience, but I think this recipe would be truly delicious with grilled chicken instead.  Which is great for all of you ambitious, brave souls who made healthy New Years Resolutions.  I would still marinate it the same, but leaving the chicken breasts whole, then draining the marinade and grilling them.  Make the sauce the same way, though.  And maybe add some spicy pepper, which I couldn't do to my child.

The green beans I made are not really a "recipe".  I'll just tell you, take a pound of green beans and roast them or sautee them in a little EVOO.  Once they are to your desired crispness or charred-ness, add equal parts soy sauce, Toasted Sesame Oil, Honey (1 Tbsp. each?) and 2 cloves crushed garlic and toss them all around.  Cook for a few minutes to get them glazed and that's that.  Easy peasy.

Without further ado...the recipes.

Chinese Pork Dumplings
Adapted from All Recipes

Filling:
1 lb. ground pork
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. chives or scallions, chopped
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
50 dumpling wrappers
1 c. vegetable oil, for frying
1 quart water

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp. Sriracha

1.  Mix together the pork, garlic, egg, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.  Set out wrappers on a lightly floured surface (or wax paper or a Silpat liner) and spoon 1 Tbsp. filling onto each wrapper.  Wet the edge with a little water and crimp together (as per whatever YouTube video you watch) to seal the dumpling. Repeat until all are sealed.

2.  Heat 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Place 8-10 dumplings in the pan and cook until browned, about 3 minutes.  Pour in 1 c. water, cover, and steam until dumplings are tender and pork is cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Repeat for the remaining dumplings.  Serve with the dipping sauce.

Chinese Orange Chicken
Adapted from Damn Delicious
*Again, next time I would grill the chicken.  Then I would feel healthier and my house wouldn't smell like KFC for two days. It would probably also taste awesome.

1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch cubes, if frying)

Marinade/Sauce:
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. fresh orange juice
1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. distilled white vinegar or rice vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil (optional)
1 tsp. Sriracha (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. orange zest
1/2 tsp. ground ginger or 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger
1/4 tsp. pepper

If frying:
1 c. cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. vegetable oil

1.  Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl.

2.  In another bowl, combine chicken and 2/3 c. of the marinade; let marinate at least 30 minutes (the perfect amount of time to cook the dumplings!).  Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding that particular marinade.

3.  If frying, dip the chicken into a bowl with the beaten eggs, then dredge it in cornstarch.  Heat 1 c. oil in a large pan and, working in batched, fry the chicken until golden brown.  Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.  Discard excess oil.

4.  Heat the remaining marinade in large pan (I used my same chicken pan, wiped out) and add 2 Tbsp. cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. water to it.  Cook until thick and bubbly.  Throw that chicken back in the pan, stir it all around to coat and voila! Orange Chicken! Sprinkle on some sesame seeds and scallions to make it look fancy and serve with white or brown rice.

Don't forget to make the green beans, too.

Thanks for shopping with us and for reading until the end.  You're the best!

Cheers,
Andrea