Posts categorized 'Foodie Faves'
Pucker Up for Fun This January at Central Market Houston
Last week flew by in a blur as most of us were just getting our bearings in the new year. But now we’re ready to share delicious new products and ideas all year long!
Aside from aisles and aisles of the best local and imported foods, this month we’re shining the spotlight on citrus. And, with all the predictions about what’s on the horizon in 2012, we decided to share some of our favorite culinary and food trends that you can find right here at Central Market!
Although it’s been around for a while, you’re going to see the heirloom designation being used on many more products. Come taste the difference during Citrus Fest. Start by sampling from our new shipment of heirloom navel oranges. They’re among the 40+ varieties of citrus featured.
Bite-size desserts continue to be a trend. At the top of our list: French macarons, which we make in our Bakery.
Each year it seems one culinary craft becomes the “it” Foodie profession. This year epicurious.com puts the cheesemonger front and center. We are lucky to have talented culinary stars represented in our various departments, and the cheese shop is definitely one of them! Ask our experts for advice and recommendations any day of the week, here at Central Market.
Whatever your level of kitchen expertise, there’s always new and exciting things to learn in our cooking school, from hands-on classes with our talented chefs to guest appearances and special dinners with regionally and nationally known instructors. There are still a few spots left for Tapas and Wine with Chef Daniel Olivella on January 26. Reserve now!
Time To Break Out the King Cake
Mardi Gras season is here, and that can mean only one thing: king cake. (Well, it could mean a lot of things, but this is a food blog, you know.) The king cake is a ring of twisted sweet bread topped with a trio of icings, in purple, green and gold to symbolize justice, faith and power, respectively. Aside from the carnival of colors, the king cake is known for the plastic baby hidden inside. Whoever ends up with the baby is crowned king or queen of the party. And who doesn’t like to be royalty for a while?
Central Market has been making king cake for years, for the days leading up to Fat Tuesday, which this year falls on February 22. In addition to the king cake, the Bakery department has introduced a new dessert for the season: galette des rois. The puff pastry cake filled with a lightly rum-flavored frangipane is the French version of the American king cake.
Like its American counterpart, galette des rois has a porcelain feve (trinket) hidden inside, and whoever unearths it is crowned king or queen—literally, as the cake includes a paper crown, too. Look for the galette des rois in our Bakery department until the end of January.
New In Stores: Central Market All Natural Virginia Peanuts
You’re probably asking yourself, why are the Foodies at Central Market talking about plain old peanuts? Let us explain. These are no ordinary peanuts. These are super extra large Virginia peanuts; they are the largest and best-tasting peanuts available anywhere. They’re so big they should be called Texas peanuts.
Okay. So they’re big. What else makes them great? For starters, we begin with the top 2 percent of the peanut crop. Then we water blanch them and oil roast them, which produces unique and unusual blisters on the peanuts. These blisters give our peanuts a crisp, crunchy taste.
Honey roasted your flavor? This variety is roasted in all-natural peanut oil after they are coated with pure honey, evaporated cane juice and a pinch of salt. The result is the perfect honey roasted peanut, natch.
Looking for more than just peanuts? Try our new deluxe mixed nuts, an eclectic collection of nuts from all over the world: California almonds, Southern pecans, Indian cashews, Brazil nuts and Virginia peanuts blended together with a few shelled pistachios. Only the finest grade and quality nuts are selected for this mix.
Chozen Ice Cream Has Chutzpah
Hanukkah is here, and we have a great way to end every evening of the festival—or any evening of the year, really. New York City-based Chozen creates quality ice cream inspired by the best desserts from the Jewish holidays. Using tried-and-true family recipes and hormone- and antibiotic-free dairy from a local farm, they churn out original and delicious ice creams with ingredients like caramel-coated matzoh, homemade rugelach and toasted coconut.
All Chozen ice creams are certified kosher and available exclusively at Central Market. Read on for a sneak peek at the flavors. And, now until December 27, save $1 on all varieties.
Ronne’s Rugelach
Rugelach translates to “little twist” in Yiddish. So this is Chozen’s twist on Ronne Fisher’s (aka “Mom’s”) famous recipe. Rugelach made with chopped walnuts and golden raisins meets cinnamon ice cream flavored with fresh cream cheese and apricot jam.
Matzoh Crunch
Matzoh is a simple combination of water and flour, and it’s eaten all eight days of Passover in many forms. Here matzoh is coated in caramel, layered with bittersweet chocolate and sprinkled with kosher salt.
Coconut Macaroon
Italians began eating macaroons for Passover because they have no flour or leavening. Made with the simplest ingredients—almonds and toasted coconut—macaroons prove that sometimes less is more delicious.
Chocolate Gelt
Gelt is the Yiddish word for money but also refers to those chocolate coins that are given out during the festival of Hanukkah.
Apples & Honey
What better way to celebrate Rosh Hashanah than by dipping apples into honey? This tradition is meant to symbolize the hope for a sweet year ahead filled with success, good health and lots of laughter. And, hopefully, ice cream.
Secret No More: Ines Rosales Olive Oil Tortas
It occurs to me that I am remiss in sharing a story regarding one of the most amazing items in our store, and I would like to remedy that now. I’ve personally been enjoying these delicate, crisp rounds of perfection for a few years. I just haven’t bothered to tell anyone else about them, and for that I feel truly guilty. But what’s the holiday season without a little guilt?
As I write this, my coworker sits next to me, scarfing his way through the entire package, so I feel certain that you will have a similar reaction. I was hoping there would be one left for me to enjoy with coffee this afternoon, but it looks like I’ll miss out if I don’t grab one from his clutches now. I guess that’s my payback for trying to keep them under wraps all this time.
Ines Rosales Sweet Olive Oil Tortas are imported from Seville, Spain, and they are worth every drop of fuel it took to get them here. They are made with 24% extra virgin olive oil and unbleached wheat flour and flecked with tiny anise seeds. Then they’re baked to a gorgeous golden brown and topped with sugar, which is then caramelized perfectly and drizzled with more oil.
Each torta is handcrafted and lovingly wrapped in tissue by women in Spain (or so claims the website). As you may imagine, they are extremely delicate. Serving suggestions include cheeses, but use only the softest and most supple varieties like Brie or Camembert. A hard or heavy cheese will not do, as these precious gems will crumble under the pressure. Nor would you want a pungent or garlicky dip or spread, which would overwhelm the beautiful ingredients. These tortas are equally delicious solo, with a cup of the aforementioned coffee or hot tea.
How I love to eat them: with delicately smoked salmon, real honey, whipped cream cheese (regular cream cheese is not soft enough) and capers. You can blend the salmon into the whipped cream cheese if you prefer, but I find that leaving the salmon in large pieces and using it to surround the cream cheese is a more dramatic presentation. I like honey with the comb intact (Goya makes an excellent and reasonably priced version available at CM), which I drizzle over the plate, leaving pieces of comb.
For garnish, sprinkle a few salty capers and break the tortas into large, manageable pieces for your guests to use for dipping. Stack up the tortas around the edges of your platter, or stage them in a lined basket.
Ines Rosales also makes an orange-flavored variety that is equally fabulous. Try a wedge of it next to your favorite vanilla bean gelato. These and the original flavor can be found in your local Central Market in the Deli department, next to the flatbreads and fruit spreads.
Now that I’ve gotten this off my chest, I’ll serve these up guilt-free this holiday season and hope that you and yours are doing the same.
Happiness in a Cup: Dreaming Cow Yogurt
Perhaps you’ve strolled through the yogurt aisle at Central Market, mesmerized by the quality and selection. (Here’s hoping.) Should you suffer from decision paralysis, let us introduce you to Dreaming Cow New Zealand-style artisan yogurt, which is available exclusively at Central Market in Texas.
Dreaming Cow cream-top yogurt comes from happy, grass-fed Jersey cows roaming freely on family-owned and responsibly run Georgia farms. The custard-like yogurt is all-natural, non-homogenized and minimally processed. That means no refined sugars, stabilizers or starches and a distinct, tart taste.
It’s important to note these folks take “grass fed” very seriously. In fact, Dreaming Cow Creamery is one of the only year-round grass-fed dairies in the country. Many dairies claim grass fed but may only feed their cows a partial diet of grass in the late spring and summer. Dreaming Cow’s cows feed on grass—even in the winter.
So why is grass feeding important? In addition to being high in vitamin A and beta carotene, grass-fed cow’s milk has something in it called conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), which are cancer-fighting fatty acids. The takeaway: these are good fats! Plus you can feel good knowing that the cows producing the milk that went into your cup of Dreaming Cow yogurt live long, healthy lives.
Dreaming Cow yogurt is available in five yummy varieties: plain, honey pear, strawberry pomegranate, vanilla agave and maple ginger. Here’s the cool part: if you like Central Market on Facebook, you can download and print a coupon for a free Dreaming Cow yogurt, good December 19-26, 2011. One spoonful and you’ll be hooked.
Entertaining Is Effortless With New Central Market Puff Pastry Appetizers
Every good hostess has a few tricks up her sleeve, and now Central Market has one more for effortless entertaining: bite-size puff pastry appetizers, available in our Frozen department.
These savory starters are handmade with all-butter puff pastry that browns to a delicate crisp when baked. Fillings are inspired and on-trend: balsamic onion and Gorgonzola or cream kale and piquillo pepper. Packaged in a ready-to-bake tray, they make even an impromptu dinner party possible. You can have catering-quality appetizers on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Drinkable Decadence: City Bakery Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate may be a year-round treat for some, but others save their splurging for the holidays, when indulgence is absolutely acceptable if not preferred. And when it comes to hot chocolate, New York’s City Bakery knows how to do it right.
Every February the famed bakery, café and coffee bar holds a hot chocolate festival to celebrate this thick and creamy treat made from pure melted chocolate bars. Festival-goers savor hot chocolate flavors ranging from banana peel to bourbon. But if you can’t make it to NYC to drink this decadence at the source, take comfort in knowing that City Bakery hot chocolate can be found on the shelves of Central Market—and it’s the only place in Texas you can get it.
Just like the hot chocolate served at this New York City institution, the take-home variety is pure liquid chocolate. Drink it after dinner in lieu of dessert, or start your morning on a sweet note. Share it with family and friends or keep it all to yourself. We won’t judge.
A Cook’s Best Friend: Farmhouse Kitchens Hand Rolled Butter
At Farmhouse Kitchens, a third-generation creamery, they’ve been making hand rolled butter with Wisconsin grade A milk for more than 60 years. What does that mean, you ask? It means the butter is taken from the churn manually—as opposed to pumped mechanically—and hand rolled and wrapped in paper in the traditional way.
This process preserves the dense milk fat structure for a creamy, old-fashioned texture that makes baked goods flakier and lighter and sauces silkier. The flavor is zesty and cultured, and the butter is available salted or unsalted. From now until December 24, this Central Market exclusive is $5.99/each, so you save $1.
Holiday Gift Ideas: For the Chocoholic
Part of the fun of gift giving is presenting the recipient with something he may not buy himself. Case in point: do not buy your wife a toaster, or a set of towels, even if she needs them. She can do that herself.
This is why we love the idea of gifting chocolates—especially high-quality, splurge-worthy bars and truffles that never make it on the regular grocery list. We offer a swoon-worthy selection of chocolate, from single-origin bars made by bean-to-bar producers to festive molds that capture the spirit of the holidays, and many are available only at Central Market.
Patric Handcrafted Chocolate Bars
Alan “Patric” McClure is a leader in the new industry of American craft chocolate. He started with the aspiration to create scratch-made chocolate as good as you could find anywhere. His philosophy: keep it simple. Use minimal, high-quality ingredients, starting with cacao. No vanilla or soy lecithin. Then make it interesting and delicious. Mission accomplished: In 2011, Patric won a Good Foods Award for the In-NIB-itable bar made with 70% Madagascar chocolate and crunchy nibs.
Askinosie Chocolate Bars
Shawn Askinosie, former criminal defense lawyer, applies his wits to the art of chocolate production, resulting in award-winning bean-to-bar chocolate. He works closely with farmers on four continents. “Flavor begins with knowing the farmers,” he says. “Regardless of the kind of bean, I can make a good chocolate if I can connect with the farmer and teach them how I need them to grow the beans.” But it’s not just about making a great chocolate bar. Askinosie profit shares with these farming communities. “You don’t have to wait until you’re a huge company to have an impact,” Askinosie says. How’s the chocolate, you ask? The white chocolate with pistachio is a mind-blower. Also look for single origin dark four-packs, which are exclusive to Central Market in Texas.
Zaabär Chocolate Bars
Created in 2007, the Zaabär name was inspired by the Spice Bazaar of Istanbul. The innovative concept developed by founder François-Jean Decarpentrie pairs Belgian chocolate with spices from all over the world. Think cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, clove and ginger, which are as aromatic upon first tearing into the package as they are lively on your tongue.
Akesson’s Single Plantation Chocolate Bars
Bertil Åkesson fell in love with exotic food, travel and plantation life as a child, thanks to his Swedish diplomat father who settled the family in Madagascar in the 1970s. His philosophy is to produce the most tasteful, authentic and ethical products, sourced from some of the best farms around the world (including his own in Madagascar and Brazil). Akesson makes single-origin bars and marries chocolate with pepper to create unique flavor profiles. Three of the single-origin bars recently were honored at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in London.
Coco André Chocolate
Andrea Pedraza began her career more than 25 years ago as an apprentice at Dallas-based Morgen Chocolate, where she learned to make handmade European-style truffles and molded chocolates. In 2009, Andrea opened up her own shop in Oak Cliff with her daughter, Cindy, called CocoAndré, where she specializes in hand-rolled truffles and specialty molded chocolates. This year she has created spectacular Santas and Texas-themed goodies using Belgium couverture. These CocoAndré chocolates are available exclusively at Central Market for the holidays.
Central Market TrufflesWe have partnered with a longtime family-owned Texas chocolatier to create a line of all-natural, handmade truffles exclusive to Central Market, in flavors like dark coconut, double latte, fudge love, sea salt caramel and dark raspberry. Boxed in a beautiful textured box and finished with a green ribbon, gifting has never been easier. Or leave them as favors at your next holiday dinner party.
