Spanish holiday turron and cookies arrive! Ethan, pictured here, unloaded a pallet of Spanish holiday sweets yesterday including Alfajores de Almendra, Roscos al Vino, Peladillas (candied almonds), Mantecadas and Polvorones and boxes of mixed holiday cookies. We now have Turron Jijona and Alicante, Chocolate-Almond Turron, Mazapan, Tejas de Tolosa (crisp almond cookies) and Turron de Crema Catalana. We’ve also restocked Cola Cao, Jamon-flavored potato chips from Spain, pre-sliced and packaged Cinco Jotas Iberico de Bellota Jamon. We’re fully stocked on churros from Spain (look in our freezer case), and hot chocolate from Blanxart, Valor, and La Casa.
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We are now taking orders for fresh, hormone-free, premium turkeys. Don’t wait as the most popular sizes sell out early. These birds are the best you’ll ever eat, delivering an incredible depth of rich flavor and moistness.
Diestel Free-Range Turkey $4.19/lb, 10-12 lbs; 14-16 lbs; 16-18 lbs.
(antibiotic free, hormone free, gluten free, California raised.)
Mary’s Non-GMO, Free Range Turkey $3.79/lb, 12-16 lbs; 16-20 lbs; 20-24 lbs.
(antibiotic free, hormone free, gluten free, California raised.)
Northwest Natural Whole Turkey $2.84/lb, 10-12 lbs; 12-14 lbs.
(these are natural but NOT free range. Hormone Free, gluten free, Minnesota-raised)
Premium Specialty Free-Range Turkey $3.39/lb, 10-12 lbs; 12-14 lbs; 14-16 lbs; 16-18 lbs; 18-20 lbs; 20-22 lbs; 22-24 lbs.
(free range, hormone free, Gluten Free, Minnesota raised)
To order, you may call the shop at 206.682.0679 or reply to this e-mail with your order. We’ll need the size and type of turkey, your contact information, the date you’d like to pick it up and credit card information to confirm your order.
Brining your Turkey: Use our delicious French Harvest salt blend and Aneto chicken or vegetable broth to make a stellar and juicy gobbler. Many brining mixtures include sugar which just helps the bird to brown. We think too much sugar is added to food and beverages and our turkey always browns without the use of sugar, so we have omitted it from our recipe.
Brine Ingredients: 1/2 cup of our French Harvest salt blend (contains French grey sea salt, basil, thyme, marjoram, oregano, sage, minced garlic and rosemary), 1/2 cup plain salt, 1 gallon Aneto chicken or vegetable broth and 1 gallon ice water.
Instructions: In a large stock pot, combine the broth and both types of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water.
Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight.
Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.
Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge.
Comptoir de Cacao French chocolates – We recently discovered these incredible chocolates made by a family-run artisanal chocolate factory, located about 100 km south of Paris. Son Benjamin, who develops all of the chocolate recipes, trained with renowned masters of the chocolate profession. He was awarded Une Meilleur Ouvier de France, (“one of the best craftsmen in France”), a grueling competition judged by 40 exacting French chefs. Comptoir de Cacao selects the best quality raw materials and create one-of-a-kind gourmand chocolate bars. We’ve got 72% Dark Chocolate, Ruby chocolate with Raspberry and Dark chocolate with caramelized pecans.
Kopke Colheita Tawny ports – Our stock of vintage tawny ports was greatly expanded this week with new arrivals! (We received more vintages than what is pictured). If you’ve been looking for a bottle from a particular year, now is the time to stop in and purchase it as the supply is limited and they will sell quickly. These vintage tawnies make excellent birthday or anniversary gifts!
Beaujolais Nouveau Day is November 21st – Beaujolais Nouveau Day is almost upon us! Traditionally created as a wine that could be consumed early to celebrate the end of harvest, Beaujolais Nouveau is released on the third Thursday every November. Here in the US, it could not arrive at a better time, as Beaujolais Nouveau pairs perfectly with Thanksgiving food. The bright fruit flavors and freshness are sure to please everyone in the crowd. We are big fans of Domaine Dupueble and Vignobles Buillat’s cru Beajolais wines which are are made naturally and are real wines, compared to the artifical and over processed Beaujolais Nouveaus that were hyped in the past and gave this wine a terrible reputation. Try one of the following stellar Beaujolais Nouveau wines, which will be available on November 21, to celebrate the season in French fashion!
2019 Domaine Dupeuble Beaujolais Nouveau – ($18.99) Dupueble’s distributor aptly says: “How about ‘grower nouveau’? As the natural wine craze continues, for better or worse, I think we all now have an opportunity to renew a historical tradition that for too many years had mass-produced and over-marketed swill being shoved down consumer’s throats by a few, ok…mainly one, rather large factory. Dupeuble Nouveau is as natural as a wine can be…whole cluster fermentation resulting from native and wild yeasts, no pasteurization, no filtration, and nothing else added. Unlike our factory-made counterparts, this foot trodden wine actually takes a normal time to ferment and evolve into an alcoholic beverage, resulting in a purple, frothy, and aromatic bottle of deliciousness that is air-shipped to the US for the 3rd Thursday of November celebration.
2019 Vignobles Bulliat Beaujolais Nouveau ($15.99) In 1978, Noel Bulliat started with 4 hectares in the very heart of the Beaujolais region in Villie Morgon. In 2005, Noel’s son Loic joined the family estate. Loic restructured the winemaking and viticulture, converting to organic growing. The Beaujolais Nouveau is 100% Gamay from 30 year old vines, grown in granite soil in a south-east facing plot. The grapes are manually harvested and vinified using whole cluster fermentation with indigenious yeast. Carbonic maceration takes place in stainless steel tanks over 10-15 days. Very light filtration, and very low dosage of sulfites (under 15PPM) at bottling. Certified organic.
If you’re looking for a bolder wine, consider a Gamay from one of the ten Beaujolais cru, such as Moulin-a-Vent or Morgon. The Beaujolais cru are known to rival some of the best wines of Bourgogne with amazing aging potential. These wines have deep notes of redcurrant, raspberry, violets, and spice and they represent astounding values! Give these amazing wines a try with an herbed turkey or Thanksgiving duck with cranberry sauce:
Domaine de Thulon Morgon “Les Charmes” 2016 ($14.99) “The Morgon Les Charmes has a clean and vibrant bouquet with perfumed dark cherries, redcurrant, and a touch of gravel and rose petal. The palate is nicely structured, brimming over with energy. The acidity is very well-balanced, but without the hard edges. Abundant mineral-laced raspberry, boysenberry and violet pastille flavors are supported by a subtle white pepper quality that builds on the back half.”
Yohan Lardy 2017 Moulin-à-Vent Vieilles Vignes de 1903 ($30.00) James Suckling 97 points. A single vineyard planted in 1903 with very qualitative rootstocks “Riparia Gloire” highly adapted to the soil. Thanks to manual work over generations, the old Gamay vines are still here. Whole cluster fermentation with semi-carbonic maceration for 20 days followed by 12 months aging in barrel. The wine is neither fined or filtered. “There’s a very impressive sense of balance here, thanks in part to the more than 100-year-old vines. Dark fruit, earthy notes, chocolate and spice all here in abundance. The opulent tannins are captivating.”