July 2012

Staff Picks: Guest Blogger Jessie H. brings the Mediterranean home

by Elizabeth on July 23, 2012

Jessie H and her CMB Products One of the qualities we look for in a potential employee at CMB is an interest in specialty foods and enthusiasm about trying new things in the kitchen. To encourage a growing knowledge of food, and especially the products we carry, if a staff person is curious about a product at CMB, we have a tendency to give them the product (great perk!), and then ask them to bring in the results of their labors for our weekly staff meeting (or at least be ready to share some thoughts with the rest of our staff). This week on the CMB blog, I am thrilled to share the reportings of Jessie H. who has recently joined us from England and splits her time working in the store and answering the telephone downstairs. Jessie was quite taken with the idea of easy summer meals- and she has a serious thing for garlic- so we packed her bags with new Mediterranean products, and without more ado, here is what she thought of CMB’s newest offerings (in her own words).

This week, I was lucky enough to be asked to test out two of our new products; Les Moulins Mahjoub’s Sundried Garlic Spread ($8.95), and La Cabra Verde’s Medallas de queso joven en aceite de oliva (goat’s cheese medallions in olive oil, $18.00). These were pretty appropriate samples for me, because I rarely cook without garlic and my feelings on Cheese have been aptly addressed by Tim Minchin in a Music Video posted on YouTube.

Les Moulins Mahjoub grow all their products in Tunisia, and oft quote the Roman natural philosopher Pliny Les Moulins Mahjoubs Sundried Garlic Spread when discussing their business inspiration, “Here under exceptionally tall palm trees grow olive trees, under the olive trees grow fig trees, under the fig trees grow pomegranate trees and below them vines. And under the vines cereals are sown, to be followed by legumes, then vegetables, all in the same year, and all feeding on the shade provided by another tree or plant.” A pretty stunning image, if you ask me.

La Cabra Verde Goat Cheese Medallions When speaking of the Mediterranean, I should mention La Cabra Verde’s Medallas (see Previous Blog Post: Cheese Please: Le Chevre (Decoded)) are immersed in organic extra virgin olive oil of the highest quality- from the Sierra de Cadiz – with spices and herbs, to give their goats cheese such a unique flavor (so unique, that it has in fact, won four awards throughout Europe).

Salami Lunch I first tried the two of them, for a light lunch on Olive Oil Crackers, with Salami, and a sprinkling of dried herbs. It was divine, the perfect summer picnic lunch. I was even able to use my math enthusiasm to try all possible combinations of the three main ingredients (Garlic, Cheese, Salami), the best grouping, were all three together; a choice I will definitely be repeating. [click to continue…]

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Cheese Please: Le Chevre (Decoded)

by Elizabeth on July 11, 2012

Culture Summer 2012 Cover On my way home from the Fancy Food show, I was going through my collected product literature- all sorts of fliers, printed tri-folds, and booklets from people we had purchased from or I wanted to remind myself of later, and I came across the most recent issue of Culture Magazine (Summer 2012 “Spread the Love: Amazing American Butters”). In a way, I started reading it to procrastinate from the actually sorting I needed to do, but found myself both learning and completely entertained, and when I realized how long I’d been engrossed, we were touching back down in New York!

We happen to carry Culture at Chelsea Market Baskets, but I rarely have time to read it cover-to-cover, and when I’m shopping for cheeses, I am happy to rely on our in-house cheesemongers for their recommendations. Discovering something new that you really like is such a pleasant surprise!  I’ve learned that, starting with a fairly well-known flavor or type of cheese can lead to tasting more unusual, rarer varieties, and I’m no longer as intimidated by our cheese case. For example, I love our Fleur Verte (“Green Flower”) Fleur Verte Slice which I took home a wedge of in my first few weeks of work at CMB. It is a young, herb-covered goat cheese from France. It doesn’t have a rind per se, but it is dusted in dried thyme, tarragon, and pink peppercorns, and the herbs enhance the tang I’ve come to expect with a chevre: overall this cheese is part crumbly, part creamy and almost citrus in its “brightness.” I appreciate that goat cheese on a baguette with some barely dressed leafy greens becomes dinner in the warmer months, and I so this summer, armed with my knowledge of Fleur Verte, I can help the cheesemonger guide me to something else I might really enjoy and I’ve found two new go-to goat cheeses that I’m excited to share with you! [click to continue…]

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Serious Picnicking!

by Elizabeth on July 5, 2012

High Line Picnics When the weather is blazing hot, I find it so hard to be inspired in the kitchen and my thoughts turn to picnicking (how funny is that verb and spelling?!) and small meals alfresco.  We are so fortunate to have the High Line right out the backdoor at Chelsea Market Baskets, so I can grab some snacks (or more substantial pupus) and go enjoy a gorgeous summer sunset from the elevated park.

Luckily also for me, CMB has some prepared picnic baskets that are easy to grab and go, and the only items that I add to make it a meal versus a snack are 1) extra drinks from the fridge case (you can never have too much water or Luscombe Organics), and 2) cheese (because CMB has recently started carrying Brooklyn Salvatore Ricotta and I could eat it by the half pound!).  Here are my top two picks for Summer Picnic Baskets from CMB (plus a few handy picnic accessories): [click to continue…]

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