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.
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Cheers,
Andrea
