1) Frog Hollow Farm Dried Fruit
A few weeks ago, my son and I were casing the Campbell Farmers’ Market and we came across Frog Hollow Farm’s tent. Their dried plums and nectarines are so tender and flavor-packed, my eyes ricochet around in my brain when I eat them. I used to wait impatiently for fresh stone fruit to come back into season, but these dried fruits keep me grounded and in the moment.

2) Irish Breakfast Tea from World Spice Merchants in Seattle
When I was in Seattle for a food conference a few years ago, my friend Dana took a few of us on a tour of her favorite local shops. We stopped at World Spice Merchants, and while my friends were oohing and ahhing over the spices upstairs, I was losing my mind among the tea selection downstairs. I’m now hooked on the shop’s loose leaf Irish Breakfast Tea, which I mail order every time I run out. I steep it until it’s tar black (I know, I know, this is totally inappropriate) and every morning, I become a person only once the first sip hits my mouth.

3) Chaparral Gardens Winter Ambrosia
My friend Clare once brought me a bottle of this vinegar as a hostess gift. I splash it on salads every chance I get, and sprinkle it on simply-cooked vegetable and grain dishes that need a boost. It’s sweet-ish but not syrupy and completely different from the other vinegars in my cupboard. Made with vinegar, sugar, pears, apples, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom, I’ve even considered dabbing some behind my ears. Anything with cardamom is a win in my book.

1) Cup4Cup
I LOVE the new gluten-free flour from Thomas Keller of French Laundry fame. It’s an incredible all-purpose flour. Simply substitute this gluten-free mixture for all-purpose flour in recipes and it makes the most glorious cakes, cookies, and waffles. I even made a perfectly flakey buttermilk pie crust using this flour. I couldn’t tell the crust was gluten-free… not even when I was rolling out the dough! That’s how good this flour is. Cup4Cup makes gluten-free baking incredibly approachable!

2) Savannah Bee Winter White Honey
I’m a sucker for warm scones spread generously with thick honey. This Winter White Honey from the Savannah Bee Company is a new favorite. It’s thick, creamy, and tastes of wildflowers and happy bees. The Savannah Bee Company also has some pretty incredible body care products. I use their lotions after bouts of heavy-duty dish scrubbing.

3) Farmer’s Egg Crate
If I’m going to buy expensive (though incredibly delicious) eggs from the farmer’s market, I’m going to need a fancy tray to store them in in my refrigerator. This pale blue ceramic egg crate from Anthropologie is just the ticket. It’s a delightfully feminine touch to my otherwise bonkers fridge. It also helps distract from the six jars of random mustard I also store in the fridge.

Porcini Polenta with Wild Mushrooms and Poached Egg
Adapted from The Spinning Plate

Ingredients:
- 8 oz mixed wild mushrooms, cleaned and separated
- 1/2 cup Wine Forest Porcini Polenta
- 2 c. chicken stock, preferably homemade, plus 1/4 cup
- 2 eggs, poached
- 2 gloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 2 Tbsp plus 1 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Chopped parsley
- Kosher salt and pepper

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan, boil the stock with 1-½ tsp salt. While whisking,  slowly pour in the polenta. Bring to boil again, put lid on slightly ajar, and turn heat down to simmer. As it starts thickening, thoroughly stir all sides and bottom of the pan. Repeat every 5 minutes. Cook 35-40 minutes total.

Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbsp of butter with olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and stir occasionally until browned, about 7 minutes. Taste and season with salt. Add the garlic and lemon juice.

When the polenta is almost done, add 1 Tbsp of butter and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese. Poach the eggs in simmering water 2-3 minutes, until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still soft. Add 1/4 c. chicken stock to the mushrooms and simmer until mostly evaporated. Toss mushrooms with parsley and more salt and lemon juice, if necessary.

Ladle the polenta onto a dish or shallow bowl, and add a generous pile of mushrooms and the poached egg on top. Sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper.

The Spinning Plate was started by three college roommates who shared a small kitchen and a taste for good food. Blogger Angela Mears keeps it alive. It started as a blog about food, and it is still, but now it’s about other things too, the loves and appetites that move her.

Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate

OXO Garlic Press
I know it’s probably not foodie-cool to admit that I prefer to extrude my garlic cloves rather than expertly chop and mince them with my huge chef’s knife, but I refuse to give up press. Given how much garlic I mince daily, it saves me so much time and also squishes out precious, tasty garlic ooze.

Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Kale
I just discovered this box of nutrition at Whole Foods, though I think it’s been around for almost a year. Fairly late to the kale fan club, I was looking for something (anything!) that would finally convert me. These greens are tender, pristine, and so lovely in a salad or garnish: conversion complete.

Greenwell Farms Kona Coffee
Where would I be without my roasted fuel? Slumped in a corner, most likely. We’ve tasted around and smooth, rich Full City Roast is our favorite blend, though we also indulge in Private Reserve on special occasions.

We can not continue to make Foodzie better without your input, so thank you for taking the time to share. We would especially like to thank and congratulate Rebecca Schock as the winner of a three-month Tasting Club subscription. Rebecca has been a Tasting Club member for over a year and loves sharing her Tasting Box with her family each month.

“I love Foodzie! My kids and I get really excited when it comes every month and we make a little ritual out of opening it and looking over all the products. I love the fact that it exposes me to things I may not have bought on my own but then end up loving. For example, I literally eat kale chips every day now since I got a bag of them in a tasting box.” – Rebecca S.

Congratulations to Rebecca on the win! And please continue to send your questions and love to support@foodzie.com!

This week we’re checking in with Andrea Nguyen, one of the country’s leading voices on Asian cuisine and the author of the acclaimed “Asian Dumplings” and the James Beard and IACP-nominated “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.” Andrea’s latest book, “Asian Tofu,” has just been released. Here’s what she’s hooked on these days.

1) Essential Pepin
Whenever I have a spare moment, I sneak reads of Jacques Pepin’s latest book. It’s devoid of color photography but decorated with illustrations by the food master himself and packed with culinary wisdom in 700 recipes. I find myself paging through the entire book and reading each recipe. There are simple, homey French recipes as well as “Hanoi soup” (a loose rendition of pho) that his wife makes. Pepin’s writing is unpretentious, charming and full of insights and inspiration. There’s a 3-hour DVD of techniques but I’m fixated on the recipes for now, reading them like a novel.

2) Cuisinart GreenGourmet Nonstick Dutch Oven and Stockpot
For years, the only nonstick pans I had in my kitchen were skillets. After having to scrub umpteenth stainless steel pots clean of soymilk residue, I decided to give nonstick pots another try. Holy beancurd, the 4, 6 and 8-quart pots are now my best friends for not just making soymilk and tofu, but also for preparing big pots of stocks and soups. Clean-up is now truly a snap.

3) Laura Soybeans
I’ve been obsessed with soybeans for the past couple of years while writing the Asian Tofu cookbook. After trying various kinds from health food stores and Asian grocers, I returned to Laura soybeans grown by the Chambers family in Iowa. The handsome, non-GMO soybeans produce soymilk that’s rich and flavorful – important factors in making tasty tofu. It’s akin to using Jersey cow’s milk for cheese. I started out ordering the smallest quantity and after I burned through that, I bought 20 pounds. It’s an excellent single-source soybean from the American heartland.

But for many with high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, moderating sodium is not a choice, it’s a necessity. The American Heart Association says that there is “overwhelming evidence…that reductions in sodium consumption are linked to improvements in blood pressure and reduced risk for a number of chronic diseases.”

This doesn’t mean that those avoiding sodium must live a dreary, bland existence. There are plenty of ways to infuse flavor into your dishes without picking up the shaker, and you can even enjoy some sweet stuff as a treat. We’ve rounded up a few items from our current Marketplace offerings suitable to the LoSo diet.

INNA Jams
Sure, jam’s great on rice crackers and toast, but it makes a great compliment to savory dishes as well. Treat it as you would a chutney: Pair raspberry and blueberry with steak and pluot with pork for an unexpected sweet surprise. A little dash of hot pepper won’t hurt either.

Justin’s Nut Butters
Stuff these individual packets in your bag for a low-sodium S.O.S. The Classic Peanut and Chocolate Hazelnut butters each have 0mg of sodium per packet, so they’r perfect for sandwiches (did we mention INNA Jams? Oh yes, we did.) or just straight-up snacking for a protein boost when you need it. Or use the Classic Peanut Butter to make a LoSo peanut sauce for greens, or Thai dishes like pra ram chicken.

Crown Maple Petite Trio
Think beyond the pancakes and waffles. Use maple syrup in lieu of molasses in this BBQ sauce, and glaze up ribs, chicken, pork loin or even tofu!

Bourbon Smoked Paprika
Spice is the absolute best way to deliver a flavor punch to any dish, and this sweet and smoky spice is an absolute must-have for low-sodium eaters. Use it as a rub to season meats before grilling, or pop a pinch into your favorite pasta sauce or that maple BBQ sauce that you’re now hot to try.

Pu’er Loose Tea
Of course this is great for a morning cuppa, but you can also put it to the use in low-sodium culinary projects. Add a dash to shortbread cookies for unexpected flavor. Or use it to poach chicken or smoke fish, letting the tea leave add a light but intriguing taste.

Papabubble Fruit Mix and The Lovelies
Hey, we’re cutting sodium here, not sugar. Papabubble’s amazingly delicate handmade hard candies are made with sugar, natural coloring … and no salt! And Droga’s chocolate-covered raisins have just 15mg sodium per serving of 24 pieces, making them decidedly very low-sodium nibbles. Lovely, indeed!

This week, we thank a family who has been sharing their Tasting Experience with us every month since they joined the Tasting Club in June. For Bella, Sophie, and Erika, each Tasting Box is a mini Christmas. The excitement doesn’t end at the opening; it continues as they discover the contents and share the Tasting Experience together. This month, Bella opened the Movie Night Tasting Box. We hope you enjoyed the gummy bears, Bella!