Happy Spring

Happy Spring, everyone!

I think we can officially say that it is spring.  Off and on rain, wild temperature mood swings, and the incessant blooming of the Bradford Pear Trees have made their appearances.  By the way, who thought it was a good idea to plant these awful trees every two feet in our town?  They smell awful and make everyone's eyes water and nose run. Blech.  But for all that complaining, I really do love this season. Want to know one of my favorite things about it?  The Farmer's Market, of course!  It's like everyone emerges from their winter hideouts and I see all the lovely, smiling faces that make this community so wonderful.  I love strolling down to the square and listening to the banjos, seeing the tents of farmers with their tender greens, fragrant flowers, and wares, and saying "hello" to all of you!  That's what is coming up this weekend (rain permitting).

On these glorious Market Saturdays, our fair store opens at 9:00 to catch you early(ish) morning shoppers.  Come on in and see what new goodies we have.  I restocked our Taza chocolates just in time for Easter.  We have a new Raspberry Crunch bar and a Wicked Dark Chocolate with Toasted Coconut that only has 2 grams of sugar per serving.  That's practically healthy!  We still have the old favorites Sea Salt and Almond, Toffee Crunch, Espresso Buzz, and Wicked Dark with Candied Ginger.  We also just got a fresh (can you call cured meat fresh?) batch of Chorizo Seco from Charlito's Cocina and it is oh so tasty.  I must admit that thinly sliced Chorizo with some fancy crackers and smokey cheese along side a jar of olives and nuts takes me on a mini European vacation.  It's like that old Calgon commercial, but with food instead of heavily perfumed bubble bath. Chorizo, take me away!

I noticed your eyes light up when I mentioned the word "olives."  I have good news, people. I placed an order for 4 cases of olives.  There are the Abuela Recipe pitted gordal olives with onions, green chili stuffed gordal olives, and red chili and garlic stuffed gordal olives coming our way.  They *should* be here today.  Probably.  Maybe.  I have no control over this.  But do you know what else is going to be on this magical shipment that may or may not be here today?  ROSEMARY FUSED OLIVE OIL!!!  That's right.  It's back.  Our distributors have been out of this wondrous oil since December.  But no longer, friends, will you have to wait.  I'm so excited!  I'm interested to try the Rosemary Oil paired with our Lavender Balsamic, which was just put out for spring.  I usually prefer the Lavender paired with our Eureka Lemon Fused Olive Oil, but I like to try new things.  I'll let you know what I think.

See my hands?  It's like I'm waving hello!

Speaking of new things, there is a new recipe that I tried out and I can't stop thinking about it.  It's a Banh Mi Bowl.  (Collective groans, "why does she always write about weird, unpronounceable things??" See Past Blog Posts to fully appreciate my readers' plight.) Banh Mi are Vietnamese Sandwiches that typically involve crispy roasted pork with pickled crunchy vegetables inside a crispy Baguette that is altogether a flavor and texture explosion that I highly recommend.  But I can't just leave well enough alone.  I had to turn that crispy pork into flavor-packed meatballs and the bread into rice or rice noodles.  The pickled vegetables had to stay, because there is no messing with perfection there.  I will quick pickle any vegetable in my refrigerator if it sits still long enough.  And soon you will, too!

Let's start with the meatballs.  If you don't eat meat, have no fear.  This Crispy Peanut Tofu is a 100% acceptable substitution.  But the meatballs, you guys.  They are so good.  Garlic, cilantro, chili paste, sesame oil, and fish sauce make these things the bees knees.  Fish sauce?  Get you some fish sauce.  You can find it in the Asian Section of most grocery stores.  My favorite brand is Red Boat, but any will do.  You can swap it out for soy sauce, but only if you absolutely have to. If you have ever made homemade Pad Thai or Red Curry and wondered why it doesn't taste the same as take-out, it's because you're not using enough fish sauce. Anyway, you make the meatballs like normal meatballs, bake them, and try not to eat them all at once, straight from the oven, whilst burning your mouth.

Beautiful pickled vegetables

While they are baking, make your rice or rice noodles and do your Quick Pickles. I suppose you could do the pickles before you start the meatballs. It's up to you.  Once you start doing Quick Pickles, you will always have some on deck.  I put them on my salads, my sandwiches, my Bloody Mary's.  Really, anything.  My favorite things to pickle are carrots, red onions, cucumbers, cabbage, radishes, and bell peppers.  The key is to thinly slice them.  You want them either in ribbons or disks, the better to soak up your vinegar solution.  What vinegar should you use?  Ironically, anything but Balsamic.  Do. Not. Use. Balsamic.  I use red wine vinegar mostly.  When I'm doing an Asian-style dinner, like Banh Mi Bowls, I use rice vinegar.  You can absolutely use the cheap old Distilled White Vinegar that you'll have left over from dying Easter Eggs and that'll work just fine.  You combine equal parts vinegar and cold water (I usually use 1/2 c. each, but make enough that your veggies are submerged) and equal parts salt and sugar (1 Tbsp. each, if using 1/2 cups of liquid) then stir in your vegetables and set them aside for 30 minutes or so.  That's it!  Cover them and stick them in your fridge for up to a week.  No scary canning, or cooking the solution or anything like that.  This is how you'll make your coleslaw all summer.

Anyway, you take your crispy meatballs and pickled vegetables and put them over a bowl of rice or rice noodles or a cubed baguette and top it with a bit of cilantro, chili paste, our Honey Ginger White Balsamic (wink! It's our sale vinegar for this month!), a drizzle of Toasted Sesame Oil, a bit of soy sauce, a handful of peanuts, chopped fresh jalapeno.  Really, whatever your heart desires!  You can turn it into a salad or lettuce wrap, if you want to. But however you make it, this will become one of your Top 10 thrown together meals for weeknights or busy weekends.

Thanks for reading along.  Oh, and for shopping with us.  We love you!  Cheers!

Banh Mi Bowls
Adapted from Pinch of Yum

Meatballs or Crispy Peanut Tofu
Quick Pickled Vegetables
Rice or Rice Noodles or Cubed Baguette
Cilantro
Jalapenos
Peanuts or Peanut Butter, if you want
Drizzle of Honey Ginger Balsamic (Sale!) and Sesame Oil and Soy Sauce
Sriracha or Chili Paste


Meatballs

Not beautiful vegetables.  But tasty meat!

1 lb. ground pork (or ground chicken or turkey, I guess)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (I guess you could use soy sauce instead, but go for the fish sauce)
1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
1 Tbsp. chili paste (OR 1 tsp. chili flakes)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/4 c. panko or regular (not Seasoned) breadcrumbs (OR 2 tsp. cornstarch)
Healthy Drizzle of Toasted Sesame Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1.  Combine all the ingredients into a large bowl, mix well with your clean hands.  Form into meatballs around the size of a walnut, or 2 Tbsp. and place them on an unlined baking sheet. You should get about 24 meatballs.

2.  Bake meatballs about 25-30 minutes (I forgot to time it, but this is probably right), until they are cooked through with crispy edges and smell divine.

While they are baking, make your Quick Pickled Veggies

Quick Pickled Vegetables
1/2 c. vinegar (red wine, rice, or white vinegar, depending on the cuisine your pickles are going with)
1/2 c. cold water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt

3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

(Really, you can do any vegetables. Cabbage, bell peppers, radishes, jalapenos...)

1.  Whisk together the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a medium sized bowl until the sugar and salt are dissolved.

2.  Add your vegetables and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer, or in the refrigerator for hours.  They will last, covered, for several days.  The vegetables will be less crispy, but more pickled, the longer you leave them.

P.S. Happy Easter! Happy Passover!  Happy Spring! (I can't tell if this photo filter is supposed to be  a bunny or a cat.  Matilda did it.)

Cat or bunny? You decide.

I Dare You To Hate This Salad

Hello, friends!

How are you?  It's been a while since I have written, so bear with me while I catch you up.  Well, I survived my No Sugar January Challenge and guess what?  I'm still (mostly) doing it!  I really enjoyed taking a step away from the refined sugar and processed food cloud that surrounds me (I blame my children) and found some really good ways of snacking mindfully.  My grocery bill did increase a little, but my waistline went down a little. So, it balanced out.  My tooth stopped hurting, I have been sleeping better, and I expanded my cooking repertoire. I found some really great recipes and some not so great recipes. But I appreciate you guys sticking around and asking how it's going. Thanks for all your support!  Also, there are a lot of new people reading, so if you want to read any of the older posts, you can find them at caskandgrove.blogspot.com.

And now, the store! We finally (Finally!) have some Northern Hemisphere extra virgin olive oils.  I ordered two Italian oils, two Spanish oils, and three Organic Californian oils.  I have high hopes for these guys.  They're chemistry is outstanding and the Oro Bailen Picual from Spain racked up on the awards last month.  Last year's Southern Hemisphere Harvest wasn't one of my all-time favorites.  I felt like there were good mild olive oils and decent robust olive oils, but nothing really available in the medium intensity.  It looks like this won't be the case for this harvest.  We should have all the olives represented now!  We'll have those coming out in the store throughout the next few weeks.

Speaking of olive oil, let me say that I am profoundly impressed with this magical substance, and not just because I peddle it.  Right around Christmas time,  I noticed that my sweet little baby had some angry red patches of skin on her chest.  I didn't think too much about it, and suddenly her whole body was broken out.  Being a rookie with treating skin problems (my son never had any), I bought pretty much anything I could find in Target/Walmart/Walgreens that was for eczema.  Nothing put a dent it.  For about a month, she would break out in a new spot every few days.  My pediatrician prescribed a steroid cream, but I couldn't put that on her continuously. I could use it on break outs, but how should I prevent them? Then I went into our local baby store, Terra Tots and bought Birth Song Botanical's Healing Salve, per Jennifer's recommendation.  MAGIC! It worked better than anything else in clearing her up.  First ingredient?  Olive oil.  Now that she has stopped breaking out, I am preventing more angry skin by using the olive oil soap we carry at Cask & Grove and by smearing her with our Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil after her baths at night. It is amazing.  Gentle and effective with no weird ingredients.  Winning! Anyway, just thought I would share that nugget of info. (Also, if you ever have baby/kid questions, the folks at Terra Tots are a great resource.) Moving on...

We have more jars of olives, for all you olive aficionados out there.  I have the small almond stuffed kind and the Abuela Recipe that is the large pitted, Gordal olives with onions.  We should have some stuffed with green chilies as well.  I also ordered more pesto, since my homemade pesto from the end of summer has long since run out.  The pesto we carry is the next best thing to homemade, in my opinion.  I like to add a tablespoon or two into my Pasta Primavera or use it, thinned with olive oil, as a pizza sauce. It's good stuff. Again, no weird ingredients or fillers!

Have you guys ever met someone who says, as a blanket statement, "I don't like salads?"  Well, friends, I am here to dare that someone, no, I double dog dare that someone to say, "I don't like this salad."  This, is the King of All Salads.  It's basically your appetizer, main course, and dessert rolled into one.  This is the Honey Mustard Cobb Salad.  I don't know if that's the actual name, but it's the one I'm giving it.  It has the following: crunchy Romaine, juicy cherry tomatoes, crispy bacon, pungent red onion, creamy avocado, perfectly hard boiled egg, and (insert adjective) grilled/baked chicken, topped with a sweet and tangy Honey Mustard Dressing.  Yes.  It's happening. 

It seems like it will take a lot of prep, because it does.  But it's 100% worth it.  And I'll present you with some short cuts.  First, preheat your oven to 400.  You're going to bake your bacon.  If you have never made oven bacon before, this will forever change the way you make bacon.  Line a baking sheet with foil, put a wire cooling rack on top of your foil lined baking sheet.  Lay your bacon out flat on the rack. Stick it in the oven for 35-40 minutes, rotating it if you have a hot spot in your oven.  No splattering grease, no messy clean-up, perfectly even doneness. You're welcome.  While you're bacon is baking, go ahead and bake your chicken, too!  Grab another baking sheet, drizzle your chicken with (Garlic Infused) Olive Oil, salt and pepper and now you are free to prep the other items.

Make 4 hard boiled eggs, which ever way you prefer to do that.  I am Instant Potting anything that will stand still, so that's how I did mine.  (I can't help myself!  I need to write a love poem to Instant Pot.)  Wash and chop your lettuce, slice a 1/4 of a red onion, grab a handful or two of cherry tomatoes, and halve and slice an avocado.  Throw your salad all together and move on to your dressing.

Friends, this is the easiest, most addictive dressing I make.  You take honey, mustard (I use two kinds because I have to make things a little bit harder), Garlic Infused Olive Oil (or regular olive oil plus 1 clove garlic, minced), and either Apple Cider Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar and whisk it all together.  By now your bacon and chicken should be finished baking, so you take those out, crumble up the bacon, slice up the chicken and revel in the perfection of the King of All Salads.  This recipe makes a lot.  It could easily feed 4 adults.  And it makes a wonderful left-over lunch.  I hope you enjoy it.

By the way, the Garlic Olive Oil is the Flavor of the Month, so 20% off!  Use it in anything you can dream of.  I made a Cacio e Pepe Popcorn that was delicious.  Air popped popcorn, Garlic Olive Oil, finely grated Parmesan Cheese, salt and black pepper.  It was intense. 

Well, enjoy your rainy rest of the week!  I'll leave you with the recipe for Honey Mustard Cobb Salad so that the next time you hear, "I don't like salads," you can slap this together and say, "Oh yeah? Try this!"   P.S.  I bet if you wanted to make this a vegetarian salad, it would still be amazing with crispy baked tofu and chickpeas instead of the chicken and bacon.  Any who, see you guys soon!

Honey Mustard Cobb Salad, aka "The King of All Salads"
Adapted from Cafe Delites and NY Times

10 oz. bacon, cooked and chopped
1 lb. chicken breasts or thighs, cooked and chopped
4 eggs, hard boiled
1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1 c. cherry tomatoes
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced

Honey Mustard Dressing:
1/3 c. honey
3 Tbsp. Spicy brown mustard or Grainy mustard
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. Garlic Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Apple Cider or Red Wine Vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400.   Line a baking sheet with foil, put a wire cooling rack on top of your foil lined baking sheet.  Lay your bacon out flat on the rack. Bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating if necessary. When finished baking, transfer the bacon to paper towels until cool enough to crumble. 

2.  Drizzle chicken with Garlic Olive Oil, season with salt and pepper and grill, pan fry, or bake along side the bacon.  (They bake for approximately the same amount of time, so it makes good sense to bake the chicken and bacon at the same time, but I understand if you prefer it grilled.) When chicken is cooked through and cool enough to handle, transfer to cutting board and slice thinly.

3.  Bring a small pot of water to a boil.  Gently lower in 4 eggs.  Boil for 8 minutes, remove from heat, drain and run under cold water until ready to peel them and add them to the salad of your dreams. (Or Instant Pot: 1 c. water, rack insert, place your 4 eggs on insert, close the lid, cook on Manual 4 minutes.  Manually release the steam, run under cold water and peel.)

4.  Prep all other salad ingredients.  Wash and chop your lettuce, then slice your tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.

5.  In a small bowl, whisk together all the Dressing ingredients until smooth. 

6.  Assemble your salad either in individual bowls or on a gigantic platter and dig in with gusto. 

Cheers,

Andrea

Anti Resolutions

Hello, hello!

Before I write anything else, let me say, "Thank. You."  Thank you so much for shopping with us this Holiday Season.  It warms my heart on this chilly day to think of how many people came out and shopped local this year.  You are the reason small businesses thrive in this fair town of Fayetteville.  So...thanks!  We love you all! Also, thanks to Dirty Apron Bake House for providing amazing bread to our late night shoppers at our Holiday Open House. If you haven't gotten a loaf of Nick's bread yet, you're missing out.  Find them on Church and Dickson Street on the backside of The Garden Room.  They're pretty great.  (I think they are closed until January 2, though.  FYI.)

Okay, now that I got through those warm and cuddly feelings, let's move on.  What's new and interesting in the store, you ask?  Not much, just switching over to the Northern Hemisphere olive oils at a snail's pace.  I just ordered two new Portuguese oils.  One is a robust Cobrancosa and the other is a mild/medium Chiquitita.  Those are the only two available to us at this moment. The minute the Spanish, Californian, and (hopefully) Italian and Greek oils make their way into the market, I will get them into our store.  I say "hopefully" about the Italian and Greek oils because the 2016 harvest was "catastrophic" due to a severe drought in Europe.  This year the drought has continued and a hail storm punched through Western Greece a few weeks prior to their harvest and devastated some groves, so....we'll see! You'll be glad to know that the wildfires in Northern California did not affect most of the growers' harvests and the trials at UC Davis Olive Center have shown that the flavor of the olives does not seem to have been impacted by the smoke. Hooray!

Olives!  Yes!  I just ordered some new jars of the Spanish Medley olives with pits, the green chili stuffed olives, and the red chili and garlic stuffed olives.  I know a few folks have been asking after them.  They should be in next week, weather and holidays permitting.

We now have on tap a Black Cherry Dark Balsamic per several customers' requests.  I was hesitant to get this one because I generally think of Cherry anything as cough syrup.  Boy was I surprised to find that I really REALLY like this Balsamic!  It is sweet, but it's also quite tart and it makes the most amazing vinaigrette when mixed with the Roasted Almond Oil.  I think it would make a killer glaze on a Pork Tenderloin.  It's challenging my world view of "cherry."  It does help that it's not artificially flavored and so dark that it is truly Black Cherry.  No red food coloring for us, if you please!

I am going to replace the Passion fruit White Balsamic with the beloved Grapefruit White Balsamic for the winter.  I love how zippy it is!  Citrus in the winter is where it's at, people.  Welcome back, Grapefruit.  We have missed you.

Sadly, we are temporarily out of the Rosemary Infused Olive Oil.  We'll get it back, too, don't worry!  Our distributor is out of it, thus we are out of it.  Patience, my friends, and apologies.  They will hopefully have it back in stock mid-January.

Speaking of January, do you want to know a secret?  I hate New Years' Resolutions.  No, I really hate them.  I have never done one in my life.  I am the person that scoffs at the crowded gyms and empty produce isles and thinks, "we'll see how long this lasts."  So I am hesitant to say that I am doing a Resolution for the New Year.  It is a coincidence that I am giving up sugar for a month and that month happens to be January.

That's right, my dears, no sugar for one month.  What does that entail, you ask?  No: refined sugar, corn syrup (that pretty much rules out any packaged snack foods), no sweetened drinks (including coffee and tea), white rice, white flour, white bread, PASTA, and alcohol*.  Yes: honey, pure maple syrup, balsamic, whole fruit, dried fruit, whole grains, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, dark chocolate, and weekend red wine*.

How will you survive, you ask?  Air popped popcorn with our Butter Olive Oil, kale chips, Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts, Granola, and lots of smoothies.  Meals won't be too difficult.  It's snacking that gets in my way.  With my two small children around, Goldfish Crackers are basically a food group at our house.  Which brings us to the "why".  Why are you doing this, you ask?  Because.  For the first time in my entire life, I have a cavity.  I have a CAVITY! In my tooth! What the heck?! I could be a professional electric toothbrush reviewer and I have a cavity?  I don't think so.  As you can see, I take this very personally. So, I am going to be eating mindfully for the following month in an attempt to recalibrate my taste buds and my way of thinking of snacking.  My dentist told me that it's not Halloween candy or even the sweets around the Holidays that cause cavities, it's the every day simple carbs that break down into sugar in your mouth.  We don't go around eating candy all day, but we do snack on *ahem* Goldfish/Wheat Thins/Crackers, etc.  So....here we go!  Time to cut that out!

I have a few tricks up my sleeve, though.  I'm keeping Dark Chocolate on my acceptable foods list.  And guess what we just got in from Taza?  Their Wicked Dark (95% cacao) Ginger Bar.  It is DARK and I love it.  I'll allow myself a square or two if I just need a buzz every now and then.  Also, any one of our Balsamic vinegars is acceptable.  It has no added sugar or corn syrup!  All natural, my friends.  I can add a splash of Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic to my fizzy water and kale salad and get that hint of sweetness without a bit of white sugar.

And just like that, I decided that Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic is going to be our sale Vinegar for the month of January.  Boom!  A stroke of brilliance.  Today I am going to give you the bare bones tools to make a massaged kale salad.  What's that, you ask?  It is my new obsession. You take a bunch of kale, tear off the leaves, wash it, dry it, then throw it in a large bowl.  Next you take a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil and pour it over your kale.  Now massage the kale.  You don't even have to be good at it.  You just work the kale around until it wilts a bit.  The rest is up to you.  You can add strawberries and a dark balsamic, or (my favorite) Sicilian lemon balsamic (or lemon juice, honey, and rice vinegar) with Toasted Sesame Oil and a splash of soy sauce or Bragg's amino acids, and any combination of seeds or nuts.  There you have it.  It's almost too healthy, you know?  I will call this my Anti-Resolution Salad.

Thank you all for shopping with us and I look forward to seeing you all in 2018!

Cheers,

Andrea 


Massaged Kale Salad

1 bunch kale, washed and dried
2 Tbsp. EVOO
1 tsp. Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic
1 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1 tsp. Soy Sauce or Bragg's Amino Acids

Anything else you want: chickpeas, avocados, tomatoes, almonds, pepitas, etc.

1.  Place kale in a large mixing bowl.  Add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and massage until the leaves are wilted, about 3 minutes.

2.  Mix in the remaining ingredients and enjoy!

Expanded Horizons

Hi!

Dear readers, if you don't mind, today I would like to talk to you about some things that are near and dear to my heart: camping and cooking.  This is my season, people.  It's finally cool enough to run my oven without abandon, do my yearly massive cardigan/winter wear washing, and leave the windows open until it's just too chilly to continue with this insanity.  We can go out into the woods and not immediately be eaten alive by mosquitoes and other horrible biting things.  I can curl up in my sleeping bag and not wake up sticky and sad because it is still somehow 90 degrees at 6 a.m.  No, friends.  Last weekend we went camping and I woke up because my children stole all the blankets and I was freezing.  It was glorious. 

Do you know one of my favorite things to do this time of year, whether it is in the fire pit in the backyard, or a campfire, or just a plain old grill?  Make Foil Dinner Packets.  If you have never made these babies, then let me guide your gentle soul in the ways of campfire cooking.  You take approximately a 12x12 sheet of foil, throw down some sliced potatoes, onions, and peppers and whatever other vegetables you want (squash, zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, etc.) add whatever meat you want (smoked sausage is my favorite, but ground beef, chicken and shrimp are all delicious, too), drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, fold up your foil packets and throw them on the fire.  No really, you just stick them right on the burning logs and cook them for 20 minutes.  You then eat your dinner directly from the foil packet, while you sit around the fire that just cooked your most delicious meal. It's a thing of beauty, I tell you.  Here is the recipe for some Shrimp Boil Foil Packs from Le Creme de la Crumb that are out of this world.  And I have my go-to Foil Dinner Packet recipe below, which brings me to our Sale Oil of the month. 

We're doing 20% off Harissa, folks! I rediscovered my love of Harissa Infused Olive Oil this month.  It has been a while since I've used this one and, for the life of me, I can't figure out how I have forgotten about it.  Harissa is a spicy red chili paste spiced with garlic, coriander and cumin that is extremely popular in the Middle East, especially in Tunisia (a country which provides yours truly with its most delicious Baklouti Green Chili Oil!).  But right now, Harissa is making its way into the U.S. Culinary scene the same way Sriracha did 10 years ago.  Every food blog I follow and cooking magazine I read has at least one Harissa recipe thrown in.  But how do you cook with Harissa Olive Oil, you ask?  Let me bombard you with examples.

Drizzle it over any bowl of chili or bean soup, Foil Dinner Packets, on popcorn, to make spicy mixed nuts, this Shredded Carrot Salad with Harissa, Feta and Mint, or a quick black bean and cheese quesadilla. And Shakshuka. 

Have you heard of Shakshuka? "Bless you!"  No? It's not nearly as scary as it sounds.  It's eggs poached in a spicy, savory tomato sauce.  It's what you're having for brunch this weekend. This recipe for Shakshuka with Feta is from Melissa Clark, who is an absolute genius when it comes to simple, wholesome, delicious meals. (Her Red Lentil Soup with Lemon featured here on the Orangette blog is perfection.) Instead of using Extra Virgin Olive Oil (which, of course, you can use and we have some beauties in the store right now), I would suggest trying it with the Harissa Infused Oil, both for the Shakshuka and Lentil Soup.   

I'm giving you the recipes for one of my family's all-time comfort foods.  Chana Masala.  "What is with all these nonsense words today," you ask?  I'm expanding your horizons in the most delicious way.  This is the ultimate week night dinner.  You can make the whole thing in 30 minutes, everything you need is probably already in your pantry and spice cabinet and it makes for fantastic leftovers. Vegan, gluten free, and so flavorful and filling that you are completely satisfied.  It's onions, ginger and spices, garbanzo beans and crushed tomatoes served over Basmati or whatever rice is in your cabinet.  I like to eat a side of Harissa Roasted Cauliflower with mine.  I start the cauliflower roasting and rice cooking before I begin sauteing my onions and then, magically, everything is done at the same time!  This is like the Indian version of Spaghetti and Meatballs.  If you don't have all the exact spices, no big deal.  Add something else, or leave a spice or two out.  If you hate garbanzo beans (we can't be friends), make Chicken Tikka Masala instead.  The point is, if you want a wonderfully easy, cheap, tasty meal, these recipes are for you.  

Anyway...what's going on at the store?  Well, we're starting the less then glamorous process of stocking up for the Holiday season.  We got in a shipment of approximately 1 million bottles.  Not really, but it certainly felt like it as we were unloading the pallets.  We have some cute new kitchen towels in for Thanksgiving.  My favorite one says "Love Thy Neighbor" and another has a recipe for a Honey Pecan Pie that I might have to test out next week.  

We're heading toward the last few months of having Southern Hemisphere Extra Virgin Olive Oils.  Spain has already pressed their olives and their oils are coming our way soon.  I'll let you know when we make the switch, but for now we still have the tastiest olive oils Australia and Chile have to offer. When that shipment comes in, we'll also have a new dark balsamic to surprise you with, but I'm keeping it a secret until it gets here, which will be within the first few weeks of November.    

Yikes! I almost forgot!  We are not going to do the 3 for Thursday deal from now until March or April, when Farmer's market starts again.  Instead, we're going to help you get stocking stuffers by having a sale on our gift packs.  If you buy 3 of the 60 ml gift packs, you get the 4th one half off. It's that time, people. Well, almost that time of year.  Let me have Halloween first.  

For now, enjoy these recipes, enjoy the weather, come down to to square for Trick or Treating next week and pick up your bottle of Harissa!  

Cheers,

Andrea

Foil Dinner Packets

4 sheets of Aluminum foil

1 large russet potato or several new potatoes, sliced thin

1 onion, sliced

1 bell pepper, sliced

2 zucchini, sliced 

6 oz. mushrooms, sliced

1 lb. Smoked Sausage, sliced 

4 Corn on the Cobs

cherry tomatoes, optional

1 Tbsp. Harissa Infused Olive Oil per packet, or 4 Tbsp. total

1.  Have a hot camp fire or preheated grill.  

2.  Lay down a sheet of aluminum foil and start layering: handful of potatoes, then onion, then bell pepper, then zucchini, then mushrooms, then sausage, then tomatoes (if you want them).  Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper.  Tightly fold up your foil packet and then keep making packets until your use up all your fixings. (Note:  The way I fold my packets is: long right side over the toppings, followed by long left side over the folded right side.  Smash down a bit.  Roll up the ends, making sure there isn't much of a gap along the folded pieces.) (Also note:  I make my corn separately.  Just wrap them in foil, too.)

3.  Throw those foil packets right onto banked coals or a good flat log on your fire, or onto the hottest part of your grill.  Throw the foil wrapped corn on a lightly less hot part of the fire or grill. Walk away.  Grab a s'more.  After about 15 minutes, flip them over. Take the corn out of the fire.  (I suggest using long grill tongs to do this.) Give the packets another 5 minutes or so.  Take one out of the fire and carefully unwrap it, once it's cooled enough to do so.  If it is done, with the potatoes tender and slightly charred, it's ready to dig into.  Take the others out of the fire.  Add more Harissa or spicy mustard, if you want to, and enjoy this beautiful weather!

Chana Masala

1/4 c. EVOO or butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated

1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

Cilantro, optional

1.  Heat oil over medium high heat in a large, heavy pot or skillet and add onion.  Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the onion is nice and browned with bits of black here and there.  

2.  While you're cooking the onion, grate your ginger into a small bowl, then add all the spices together into that bowl.  Once the onion is caramelized, decrease your heat to medium and add the spices and ginger to your skillet.  Stir quickly, and add your garbanzo beans.  

3.  Stir everything around for a minute or two, then add about 1/4 cup of water to your pan.  That will steam off pretty quickly, then add your crushed tomatoes.  Bring to a nice simmer, reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook, stirring every now and then, for 20 minutes.  Top with some fresh cilantro and serve over Basmati Rice and along side Harissa Roasted Cauliflower. 

Harissa Roasted Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower, washed and chopped

3-4 Tbsp. Harissa Infused Olive Oil

Salt and pepper (1/2 tsp. each?)

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  

2.  Arrange cauliflower on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  

3.  Roast cauliflower for 35-40 minutes, flipping/stirring after 20 minutes.  

Dropping You A Lime

Well hello!

Have you ventured downtown lately?  Say, to Dickson Street?  If you have, you would have undoubtedly noticed the entire parking lots being taken up by tents and marquees and large stages, which all suggest that Bikes, Blues and BBQ is upon us.  That means our sleepy, quaint Ozarks town is going to be a rumbling Mecca for all things Harley Davidson.  We take this time, dear friends, to close our humble store and take a fall vacation.  Sadly, we will be closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week in honor of the 18th Annual BBBBQ. Ride on, folks! Ride on.

But, hey!  When we do open back up on Tuesday, we have a few new goodies for you to try.  First, there's a Passion Fruit White Balsamic.  You guys, I got totally brainwashed by watching "The Great British Baking Show", where they somehow manage to work in passion fruit onto every single episode, and I got really giddy when our distributors came out with this new flavor.  And I just said, "take my money!" without ever having actually eaten said passion fruit, hence not having any idea what a passion fruit balsamic would potentially taste like. And, boy, let me tell you, I'm glad I did.  Those Brits are on to something.  It kind of tastes like the Ripe Peach White Balsamic, but with a bit less sweetness and a little zippy twang at the end.  It pairs well with any of our citrus olive oils (especially the Persian Lime, wink!), the spicy Picholine EVOO, and the Chipotle olive oil.  I think it would be dreamy with any salad, mixed drink, fruit, avocado, straight from the bottle...it's really just a lovely flavor.  

We also just put out a new, extremely tasty, Wild Rosemary Infused Olive Oil.  Let that sink in. And now let your mind wander toward all the things you can do with that.  Especially this fall.  I'm there with you.  Cornbread stuffing, focaccia, all the soups, roast chicken, pork chops, potatoes! I'll stop.  Honestly, I held off on ordering this one for a while and I'll tell you why.  I secretly cringe when I see "rosemary" anything on a menu or recipe.  I associate rosemary (along with McCormick Lemon Pepper seasoning and Mrs. Dash) with early college cooking, when that was really the only herb anyone used, since they had heard of it, and it overpowered the whole dish to the point of inedibility.  I remember picking little brittle shards of it out of my teeth after one particularly rosemary-y chicken my roommate made and vowed to never use it again.  But I asked for a sample of the oil from California, tried it, and have come around.  Used in the right quantities, rosemary is a very nice herb.  And the Rosemary Olive Oil has just the right amount of herbaceous notes blended with a green olive oil to make it noticeable, but not overpowering.  We've had it out for less than a week and it's already half gone.  It's that good.  

Let's see...what else is new?  Well, all of our Extra Virgin Olive Oils are new.  We only have one Northern Hemisphere oil left, and the rest are all Southerners.  And they are delicious!  We have a mild Hojiblanca, medium Arbosana, robust Picholine and Favalosa.  The Southern Hemisphere had an impressive harvest, and we are reaping the benefits. Sadly, when we order new things we have to let other things go.  So, for now, we say good bye to the Gravenstein Apple White Balsamic, the Lavender Dark Balsamic and the A-Premium White Balsamic.  But don't worry!  We may get them back again some day.

Oh! And we're doing something new with our store hours.  Starting next week, we are going to be open from 10:00-5:00 on Saturdays. Stop in and say "hello!" and forgive us for the ongoing construction and for closing this week to escape the bikes blues.

Our sale for this month is going to be the Persian Lime Olive Oil.  This one was one of my first loves and, paired with the Blackberry Ginger Balsamic, was probably what convinced my husband that we were not crazy people for wanting to open an oil and vinegar store three (3!) years ago.  But, favorites come and go.  We got a little wild with the peppery and smokey oils and I always fawn over the EVOOs and, I admit, the Lime fell out of my favor.  But, you guys, there is a soup that I make.  A humble soup.  And it needed the Persian Lime Olive Oil for perfection.

This is the easiest soup, aside from Ramen Noodles, that you could make.  It's Carrot Coconut Soup

and I know you'll adore it.  You cut up an onion.  You peel and slice up a 2 lb bag of carrots.  And that's it.  Well, that's basically it.  Saute the onions and carrots in a generous 4 tablespoons of Persian Lime Olive Oil, or regular olive oil, or butter, or coconut oil, or whatever floats your boat (but try it with the Lime one, wink!) for about 15-20 minutes.  Then add it two cans of coconut milk, 4 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock or water (it's a very forgiving soup), and you drop the heat to low and let it simmer for 45 minutes.  Use an immersion blender, if you have it, to puree your soup.  You can do this with a regular blender, too, but be very careful because hot liquids like to splatter and expand and leave a huge mess all over your counter top when you forget to check that the bottom of your blender is correctly screwed on. Ah, memories. Blend until it's all smooth and thick and luxurious.  Squeeze in the juice of one lime, a tablespoon or two of Sriracha, add some salt, if needed and love that soup for all it's worth, because, like the Persian Lime Olive Oil, it's a keeper.

Carrot Coconut Soup with Chili and Lime
From Orangette

4 Tbsp. Persian Lime Olive Oil or butter
2 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
2 cans unsweetened, full fat coconut milk
1-2 Tbsp. Sriracha
1 lime, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onions and carrots, with a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 15-20 minutes.

2.  Add the broth and coconut milk, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft and the liquid is slightly reduced, about 45 minutes.

3.  Puree using an immersion blender, or in batches, (carefully) with a regular blender.  Stir in Sriracha and lime, and add salt to taste.  Serve along with crusty bread and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy the soup and that you, too, take a vacation this week or go downtown to partake in a smoked Turkey leg and the sight of leather chaps.

Cheers,
Andrea

Hail, Caesar!

Hi, friends!

Here it is, the end of summer. A lot of you are gearing up to transition back into school mode and for that, I wish you luck.  Truthfully, I always looked forward to the fresh start of a new school year.  Or at least I looked forward to buying new school supplies, because in my heart of hearts, I am indeed a nerd and I love nothing more than a new pack of pens and fresh notebook.  But aside from school, the end of summer means that produce is in abundance.  Tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, basil, etc. are all around us. And soon, apple season!  My favorite!

We are getting ready to stock up the store in tandem with all of your school supplies. We are now carrying the local chocolate "Hello, Cocoa!" Did you know that they use our Basil Olive Oil in their seasonal Spring Bar?  How cool is that?  It's also delicious.  We are phasing out the Gravenstein Apple White Balsamic to be replaced by Passionfruit White Balsamic.  We're also going to replace the Herbes de Provence Olive Oil for a Rosemary Infused Olive Oil, but we still have a bit left, so that will happen gradually.  And it's now time for the 2017 Southern Hemisphere Extra Virgin Olive Oils to make their appearance.  They had a really fantastic harvest this year, so I am excited to have these award winning oils in our humble store.

I have noticed that one question that comes up again and again is, "what do I do with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil?"  The answer to that is: anything.  They only thing I haven't done with an EVOO is deep fry with it.  And that's mostly because I don't own a deep fryer.  Yes, you will get the most health benefits using it at room temperature or slightly warm on salads or tossed with pasta or veggies, because heat will begin to break down the Omega-3, 6, 9's and what have yous.  But you can absolutely cook with it in any capacity. The smoke point for most of our olive oils is around 400 degrees, but I consistently roast my veggies at 450 and have never had a problem.   (Fun fact, Avocado Oil has the highest smoke point of 520 F.)   I use EVOO in my pizza dough recipe, granola recipe, as roux for gumbo, oily Pasta with Swiss Chard. Pretty much you name it! Don't be shy with them just because they're extra virgins.

So, for this month our sale is going to be 20% off all of the 2016 Northern Hemisphere Extra Virgin Olive Oils.  This serves double duty to make way for the new 2017 harvest from the Southern Hemisphere and to give you all a nudge to try new things with them. My suggestion is to swing by Dirty Apron Bake House and grab a loaf of their fantastic Sourdough (if you haven't tried Nick's bread, you are missing out), then mosey to Farmer's Market and get some late summertime tomatoes and basil, and then come to us for a large bottle of zingy olive oil and maybe some Traditional Balsamic.  Go home and use half of your bread to make croutons for the Caesar Salad that will change your life (recipe to follow) and the other half to make bruschetta.  Because, by golly, this is what the end of summer is all about!  Cooking, but not really.

Let's move on to the aforementioned Caesar Salad.  I have a confession to make.  I still have a bottle of salad dressing in my refrigerator.  It's Newman's Own Caesar Dressing and this has been my go-to Caesar dressing for about a decade. I have tried making my own, but there has never been a recipe that just fits the bill, if you know what I mean.  But the other day I opened my battered Emeril's Delmonico cookbook to find my favorite Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo recipe and saw the photo of a beautiful Caesar Salad that was begging to be made.  Lo and behold, I had everything I needed to make the Creamy Parmesan Dressing to go on top of a bed of crisp Romaine lettuce and I thought, "okay, I'll give it another shot."  I'm so glad that I did.  It was perfect!  Thick, but not too thick.  Garlicky, but not overpoweringly so. Nicely pungent with the anchovies and robust olive oil, but not so pungent as to scare away my kids. You know...perfect.


Friends, I challenge you to step away from the bottled dressing and give this recipe a chance. It comes together quickly, in the bowl of a food processor or with an immersion stick blender, or just a plain old bowl and a whisk.  Boil some water, and assemble everything else while that gets going.  Juice 1/2 a lemon, peel a clove of garlic, get out that tin of anchovies hiding in the pantry, toast your bread for croutons, etc. Put an egg in that now boiling water and coddle it for 45 seconds.  Mix all of your ingredients and slowly add in your Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and I give you home made Creamy Parmesan Dressing for your fantastic Caesar Salad.

Enjoy! Happy back to school week! And see you soon!

Caesar Salad 
Adapted, slightly, from Emeril's Delmonico

One 18-oz bag Hearts of Romaine lettuce, torn or left whole
1 recipe Creamy Parmesan Dressing (recipe follows)
1 batch Croutons (recipe follows)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Put the lettuce in a large bowl, toss with the dressing, and divide into 4 bowls  Top with croutons and cheese.

Creamy Parmesan Dressing

1 large egg
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2-4 anchovy fillets, drained
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire
2 Tbsp. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 dashes of hot sauce

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.  Add the egg and cook for 45 seconds, until coddled.  Drain.  Let egg cool slightly.

2.  Throw everything except the egg and the oil into the bowl of a food processor or the tall cylindrical container that comes with your immersion blender. Blitz it until combined.  Crack your egg into the bowl and, if you're using the food processor, add the oil in a steady stream with the motor running.  If you're using an immersion blender, crack the egg, add the oil, and use the stick blender to mix it all together for about 30 seconds.  It should look like runny mayonnaise.  Refrigerate until ready to use (will keep for 1 day int the fridge).

Croutons

2 cups cubed Sourdough or French Bread
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp. Cajun Seasoning or whatever you want

1.  Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400.

2.  Place the bread on a baking sheet and toss with the oil and seasoning.  Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 minutes.  Let cool slightly, then add to your salad.

Cheers!

Strawberry (Balsamic) Cupcakes

Hi guys!

Whew.  Umm.  I don't know how things are looking from your end, but I am just going to say, I survived.  Two kids and two adults playing Russian Roulette with a stomach virus makes for an interesting (read: exhausting) week.  But I am here! I lived! And to prove that I am 100% back to normal, I'm going to talk to you about food.

Last time I told you that I ordered a new Olive Wood Smoked Olive Oil (among about 15 other things) and that I would update you on how I like it.  So here it goes.  Friends, I am not kidding when I say that I love this oil.  I have used it on my salads with the Serrano Honey Vinegar and it tastes like bacon bits and heaven. I drizzled it on a plain old avocado with our new Sriracha Sea Salt and thought that I reinvented the wheel. Try making these Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts using the Smoked Olive Oil for Smokey, Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts because you will never go back to anything else.  For Father's Day (Happy Father's Day, by the way!), make these Shrimp and Grits.  Saute the shrimp in the Smoked Olive Oil instead of the Butter Olive Oil and stir in pimento cheese instead of Parmesan into the grits and you will be the savior of breakfast.  I really can't tell you enough how much it really adds a smokey, bacon-y-ness to any dish you're making. I hope you love it as much as I do.  It pairs really well with Ripe Peach White Balsamic or the Serrano Honey Vinegar.  What a Father's Day gift!

Not as innocent as she looks.

What else is new in our humble store, you ask?  Not much.  Just some new employees!  We have welcomed Bre and Emily into our midst.  I think you'll really like them. They're lovely! If one of them is working the next time you're in, say "hi" and they'll get to know our regulars soon enough. I am sorry to say that I have been spending a bit less time up at the store lately (stomach bug notwithstanding).  Matilda is nearly 1 year old and is an unruly sort of girl (don't let her sweet face deceive you), so she won't be on site as our little shop baby for much longer.  I'll still be here on Thursday mornings and on random Saturdays.  But never fear!  I'm not far away and you can always reach me via email, Facebook or Instagram.

The boy is Four!

Any who.  What is our sale of the month, you ask?  Strawberry Balsamic!  I know it seems sort of retro, as we've had this as a staple forever, but I rediscovered my love for it in the form of Strawberry Cupcakes.  For William's 4th (4th?!) Birthday, I wanted to make Strawberry Cupcakes from scratch, but that tasted as awesomely strawberry-y as the boxed kind (minus the artificial colors and flavors).  Lo and behold, the answer came to me as I was reaching for the strawberry extract in the baking isle.  Why not use Strawberry Balsamic?  Eureka! I tell you what, these little gems came out nice and fluffy, not too dense, pleasantly berry flavored, but not too sweet.  You should bring these to your next summer gathering, especially since the bake time is under 30 minutes.

The list of ingredients seems kind of daunting, but they're all pretty much pantry staples. The recipe does call for sour cream, but you could totally swap it out for yogurt.  I used Lemon Olive Oil for the 1/4 c. of oil called for, which I think added a nice brightness to it, but use whatever oil speaks to you.  Also, bring the butter, eggs, and sour cream all to room temperature before mixing and it will make for a nice, lump-free batter. Or just set them outside for 5 minutes because this heat is out of control and it'll have everything up to temperature in no time.  Oh and just so you know, these are not technicolor pink like the boxed kind, so if you're into that, add a few drops of red food coloring to your batter.  (Fun little tidbit, for every birthday I can remember I asked for Strawberry Cake From The Box with Funfetti Frosting.  This is the first recipe that even holds a candle to that strawberry goodness of Duncan Hines.) And, hey, you can use any leftover Strawberry Balsamic in a nice little martini while you wait for your cupcakes to bake!  I give you, Strawberry (Balsamic) Cupcakes. Enjoy, my friends!

Strawberry (Balsamic) Cupcakes

Strawberry (Balsamic Cupcakes)
Adapted from Grandbaby Cakes

Cupcakes:
1 3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 c. fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and pureed (I food processored it)
3 large eggs, at room temperature

3 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. sour cream, at room temperature

1/4 c. Lemon Olive Oil (or vegetable oil)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 tsp. Strawberry Balsamic

Buttercream:

3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1/4 c. pureed strawberry 

1 tsp. Strawberry Balsamic, or more to taste

1.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Line two 12-well muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2.  Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer, or just in a really large bowl if you're doing this by hand, on medium-high speed for about 6 minutes, or until pale and very fluffy.
3.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each one.
4.  Reduce your speed to low, add the strawberry puree. Scrape down sides.
5.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Slowly add half of this flour mixture to your egg mixture.  Mix on the lowest speed until just combined.
6.  Add in your sour cream and Lemon Olive Oil.  Mix until combined..
7.  Add in the remaining flour mixture on low speed until combined.  Then add the vanilla and Strawberry Balsamic. Be careful not to over mix.

8.  Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, fill your lined muffin tins 3/4 of the way full.
9.  Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when pushed into the middle of a cupcake,
10.  Let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  In the meantime make your martini.  I mean, frosting. Make your frosting.

For the Buttercream:
1.  In the bowl of your stand mixer, or a large bowl if you're doing this by hand, mix together your powdered sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy.
2.  Add the strawberry puree and Strawberry Balsamic and beat again until fully combined.
3.  Once cupcakes have fully cooled, pipe them with frosting and serve.

Okay!  That's all for now.  Take care out there and see you soon.

Cheers,
Andrea