What’s In The Box? October 23-29

Fall in Abundance
This week marks the return of a cherished Northwest delicacy: fresh Porcini mushrooms locally-foraged from our area forests. Earthy and woodsy, these meaty mushrooms define fall eating, acting as a wonderful compliment to seasonal favorites like soup, risotto and wild rice pilaf. Enjoy our favorite version of the latter this week, served alongside a beautiful salad topped with pears, blue cheese and hazelnuts, plus a medium-bodied Italian red wine, warm garlic bread with Porcini compound butter and an abundance of produce.

Here’s what you’ll find in your box this week:

Fresh Porcini Mushrooms

Italian for ‘little pigs’, the meaty Porcini mushroom is rich in taste, imparting a pungent, woodsy flavor to any number of dishes, from risotto to soup. Available only in late spring and fall, these seasonal beauties are locally-foraged and harvested at the peak of freshness. This week, enjoy sautéed in butter and herbs, then served over a bed of wild rice pilaf for a true taste of the season.

Wild Rice Mix

Nutty with an earthy complexity, our wild rice mix is a wonderful compliment for heady porcini. Check this week’s recipes for our favorite version, crafted with our own chicken stock and topped with butter-browned mushrooms, fresh Italian parsley and chopped hazelnuts.

Housemade Chicken Stock

Made from roasted Bella Luna chickens, our housemade stock is simmered with carrots, onions, parsley and celery and seasoned with just a dash of sea salt.

Garlic Fougasse Bread

Baked just for us at a small bakery in Snohomish, this rustic flatbread is ideal for sharing. Similar in style to traditional foccacia, the artisanal-style loaf is studded with fresh garlic to give it extra depth and flavor—tear off a piece and spread with Porcini compound butter.

Porcini Mushroom Compound Butter

A decadent compound butter flecked with shallots, parsley, and fresh Porcini mushrooms.

Orin Swift Locations Italian Red

Well-loved Californian winery, Orin Swift, is breaking into the European market with their newly minted “Locations” wine, a beautiful and easy-to-enjoy bottle of Italian red. To find the best grapes possible for this blend, winemaker David Swift Phinney started in the region of Puglia, toward the South, and worked his way all the way up to the village of Alba in the Northerly Piedmont region. The result is a creative blend of traditional Italian grapes—Barbera, Nero d’Avola, and Negroamaro—the latter of which is dark, inky, and robust. A near-opaque shade of magenta in color, this wine exudes hints of black raspberry jam, dried blackberries, fresh lavender, and hints of rich organic potting soil on the nose. The palate is medium bodied, with chewy tannins which will soften significantly within another 3-6 months. There are vibrant flavors of baked plums, juicy huckleberries, hints of quince and chestnuts, with whispers of smoke and dried leaves, tar, and vanilla, finishing with fresh acidity which helps keep everything lively.

Farm Fresh Eggs

Our small flock of heritage breed laying hens are on an early-to-bed, later-to-rise schedule as the weather cools and the daylight hours shorten. As they spend more time in their coop to stay dry, the “girls” are enjoying an extra helping of grain to supplement their diet, continuing to give us fresh eggs in beautiful shades of brown, blue and green.

Westward Blue Cheese

A gorgeous, marbled soft cheese with a creamy tang— try crumbling a helping over salad greens and sliced red pears, finishing with dried cranberries, toasted hazelnuts and a drizzle of our pear-hazelnut vinaigrette.

Farm & Larder Pear-Hazelnut Vinaigrette

Crafted from Holmquist hazelnut oil, pear purée, champagne vinegar and shallots, this light, fall dressing is the perfect foil for peppery arugula greens.

Dried Cranberries and Organic Hazelnuts

This dynamic duo balances each other beautifully in salads, adding both tartness and crunch.

Fresh-Picked Pears

A wonderful assortment of Red Crimson and Red Bartlett pears.

Organic Fruits & Vegetables

This week’s produce selection also includes Red Kuri Kabocha squash, Poblano peppers, Romanesco broccoli, Cippolini onions, green beans and Nelson carrots.

Seasonal Organic Greens

Peppery arugula, mizuna and baby Deer’s Tongue lettuce.

Fresh Garden Herbs

Italian parsley, shallots, sage, thyme and garlic from the Walled Garden at Bella Luna Farms.