What’s In The Box? Thanksgiving 2014
THANKSGIVING 2014
Holiday Appetizers & Accoutrements
It’s turkey time—allow us to lend a helping hand with the big meal with a beautiful assortment of housemade appetizers and farm-fresh accoutrements. Welcome guests with creamy Butternut squash soup topped with toasted pumpkin seeds, savory mini galette tarts, and a stunning platter of cornichons, chicken liver mousse and pickled raisins. Also included: provisions to incorporate into your most classic Thanksgiving dishes, from a turkey brining kit and port-infused cranberry sauce to cornbread stuffing mix and seasonal produce including Brussels sprouts and turnips. Here’s to a happy holiday—and a satisfied appetite, too!
Here’s what you’ll find in your box this week:
Appetizers
Butternut Squash Soup
Creamy and buttery, our handcrafted soup makes for wonderful first course to greet your guests in from the cold, made from roasted Butternut squash and seasoned with sea salt, fresh-cracked pepper and herbs.
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
The perfect finishing touch for our Butternut squash soup—just sprinkle over top.
Savory Galette Filling & Dough
Complete with our buttery dough and a savory filling of hearty Swiss chard, pancetta, plus onions and Chanterelles, these rustic tarts are both stunning and simple to assemble—see this week’s recipes for instructions.
Chicken Liver Mousse
Made with top-quality liver from Bella Luna Farm chickens, this French country-style mousse is seasoned with fresh thyme and flavorful sherry. Set out alongside our cornichons, duxelles, pickled raisins, pumpkin jam and raisin bread crostini for an easy appetizer.
Chanterelle Duxelles
With a firm texture and light, delicate flavor, local Chanterelle mushrooms shine in this finely chopped mixture of shallots and herbs sautéed in butter and wine.
Petite Cornichons
Our housemade cornichons are made using a traditional French recipe, crafted with Mathilde cucumbers and tarragon, with a grape leaf added to each jar during pickling to keep these crunchy snacking pickles nice and crisp!
Pickled Raisins
A farmhouse favorite, these juicy raisins are pickled in apple cider vinegar with fresh herbs and French shallots.
Pumpkin-Pecan Jam
Housemade preserves crafted from puréed fall pumpkin and crunchy pecans.
Accoutrements
Brining Kit
Our signature dry-brine mixture crafted from fresh farm herbs, kosher salt and aromatic spices. See this week’s recipes for full brining instructions, the key to an incredibly juicy turkey.
Housemade Turkey Stock
The key to rich, flavorful gravy? Incredible turkey stock. Crafted from roasted turkeys, our housemade broth is simmered slowly for hours with carrots, onions, parsley and celery and seasoned with a dash of sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Cornbread Mix
Our housemade mix produces an old-fashioned-style cornbread with the natural sweetness of corn, making it a great base for stuffing. See this week’s recipes for our favorite version, fragrant with fresh sage and caramelized onions.
Housemade Cranberry Sauce
Tart-sweet cranberries with port wine and a hint of spice.
Savory Hazelnut-Cranberry Topping
Adds a nutty-sweet crunch to roasted Delicata squash.
Dried Cherry & Walnut Filling
A unique filling for baked apples, sweet-tart and crisp.
Sage Compound Butter
Sweet, creamy butter flecked with garden-grown sage and shallots.
Fresh Bread
A dozen fresh dinner rolls and a loaf of raisin bread from our favorite local bakery in Snohomish.
Jean Marc Burgaud Beaujolais Villages
This lovely red is made using the traditional Beaujolais grape, Gamay Noir, which is similar to Pinot Noir, but a bit lighter and with tendencies for more spiciness and hints of gaminess. These old vine Gamay Noir plantings are from 50-year-old vines grown on the granite hillsides in the most southern reaches of Burgundy. The wine shows notes of bing cherries, and wild strawberries on the nose with hints of bouquet garni. The palate is light to medium in body, white nice acidity and an earthy finish. A great pairing with Thanksgiving turkey, especially dark meat.
Farm Fresh Eggs
Fresh eggs in beautiful shades of brown, blue and green from our small flock of heritage breed laying hens.
Organic Fruits & Vegetables
This week’s produce selection also includes organic Brussels sprouts, Delicata squash, German Butterball potatoes, Cipollini onions, New England pie pumpkin and yellow Ball turnips, plus fresh-picked Lady apples from the trees at Bella Luna.
Fresh Garden Herbs
Fresh garlic, thyme, sweet bay, oregano and Italian parsley from the walled garden and greenhouse at Bella Luna Farms.
