Watch Out! Some new players in the freezer and ice cream case!

Where to begin...






How about Organic Bistro Wild Alaskan Salmon?? With cranberry pilaf and broccoli. yumm....
TV Dinners have never gotten so healthy!





Everyone has been going (lady) gaga over Annie Chuns seaweed snacks, well now you can get your WON-TON fill with Annie Chuns Cilantro and Chicken Wontons, right next to the Ling Lings.





Pizza Pizza! No, it's not Little Caesars... it's Tofurky Cheese Pizza, made with Daiya Cheese!! Sayonara Amy's Rice Crust Pizza (sorry you Amy-Lovers... dont worry, there's still the single serving version).


Whew!

On a sweeter note,



Get this summer treat (year around really) before Haagen Daz decides to pull it! My favorite of the season, Haagen Daz 5 Lemon has little lemon zest with a delectable creamy taste. Give it a whirl!

Lastly,

Daphne's Baking Company- Chocolate Rasberry and Lemon Tarts




These little delicatessens pack a punch, let me tell you. they come two in a box and can be found in the middle shelf in the ice cream case. They're a perfect little dessert for the new season.

Anton's Bavarian Red

Anton's Bavarian Red - a luscious creamy washed rind cheese from the Bavarian Alps in Germany. Enjoy with a heady red beer.

Thanks to Lauren Lewis for modeling this fine cheese.

Larchmont Charcuterie returns, bearing frankfurters

Daniel, master sausagemaker of Westchester county, ranks #3 in the "charcuterie" section of the 50 Best Website. His beef and pork saucisson chubs disappeared from our meat case after he made a decision to cut production, leading our members to fear the wurst. But, ever the culinary experimenter, Daniel turned his talent from terrines and pates to the humble tube steak. Now his magie de saucisses returns to the Coop's shelves in the form of one of the best hot dogs we've ever tried. Break out the moutarde et cornichons.

-- Bill the Butcher

Hepworth Farms damaged by hail

Allen reports: Most of you know that Amy Hepworth is our most important farmer. Yesterday afternoon severe weather (some hail and 70 mile an hour winds) ripped through her fields. She estimates a potential loss of about $200,000. on tomatoes alone. I'm only reporting this so that you all know a little more about what a local family farm may have to struggle with to survive. I haven't learned about neighboring farms yet, some of whom we deal with as well.

New Fair Trade chcolate: Caramels & salt chocolate--

Equal Exchange introduced two new chocolate bars this week at the Coop: Organic Dark Ecuador 65% and Organic Chocolate Caramel Crunch with Salt 55% cacoa. Initial reviews are very favorable.

Coop chocolate lovers are sophisticated--the best sellers are the very dark chocolates and chocolate with salt is second.

The bearded Mast Brothers in Williamsburg used to have a corner on the chocolate w/salt market--pricey at $5.57 per 2.5 oz. Chocolove recently introduced a very popular chocolate (55%) with almonds & salt= $1.89 per 3.2 oz. Lindt's Excellence dark chocolate/touch of sea salt = $2.12 for 3.5 oz. Equal Exchange rings up at $2.84 for 3.5 oz. and is the only fairly traded chocolate in this group. (These are current August prices.)

What's with this eating 24/7?

Are you really going to faint if you are unable to eat those chocolate almonds before you make it through checkout? (And this was one of those slow summer days with no wait at checkout.) You say you'll pay at checkout--but it is so easy to forget that wrapper in your pocket. And it is pretty hard to weigh those cherries once they are in your stomach.

How do you feel about your checkout worker handling your organic peaches while eating fishy sushi? Not to mention spilled sticky beverages ruining scales and other checkout equipment.

If you need to eat frequently, please have a snack before you start shopping. And if you do need a snack while working, please tell your squad leader, step aside from your work station, and purchase your snack.

Thanks.

Watermelons----

We've got lots of watermelons--on Julie's left: the striped one is yellow seedless; in the middle, two types of red with seeds--Sangria and Moon & Stars; and on her right, the round Sugar Baby. The early a.m. produce workers taste-tested them all and gave their seal of approval.

We have so many watermelons, Allen didn't know where to put them. Help! Buy watermelon so Allen can go home this weekend.

(Click on photos to get the big picture.)

Summertime Brisket

Brisket. At holiday times, we can't keep it on the shelves. But in the August heat Coop members are likely to overlook some big, beautiful briskets of beef in search of quicker-cooking cuts. It's sad to think that we Brooklynites don't know how to eat brisket in the summertime like they do in Texas...


Okay, first you put together your dry-rub:
1/4 cup paprika
2 tblsp Kosher salt
2 tblsp sugar
2 tblsp ground chile
2 tblsp black pepper
1 tblsp granulated onion
1 tblsp granulated garlic
1 tsp cayenne

Massage the mixture into the beef, all over. Wrap in foil and let rest in the fridge overnight. Meanwhile, make your mop sauce:

12 oz. beer (any cheap brew works fine)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, monced
2 tblsp of the dry-rub
1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

Get a good low smoky fire going and grill the brisket, covered, for several hours, brushing every 15 minutes or so with the mop sauce. You can also roast the brisket in in the oven at 200-250 degrees for several hours. Slice the meat against the grain and serve in sandwiches with a good BBQ sauce, or just a bit of the drippings.

-- Bill the Butcher.

Coop T-shirts are here

Hundreds of Coop t-shirts arrived this week. Every design: soup cans, I Work for Food, the oldie but apparently still beloved cornucopia and the carrots. Women's and men's cuts plus kids. Wide choice of colors. Thinking gifts: buy now at the rare moment when you have full choice.

and hey, this is not the Gap. Please refold the t-shirts. Thank you.

Stone fruits...

This has definitely been the Summer of the Peach. Despite the drought, peaches have been very juicy and sweet. Probably because of the drought--the sugars are concentrated. Nectarines have also been great, and I like plums to take on a hike because they don't wind up smashed in my backpack. My favorite was Burgundy plum, but that harvest is over. I'm switching to pluots (plum/apricot hybrid) and there are 3-4 varieties, in a range of colors. Try them all--find your favorite.

Another interesting new fruit: Bella Cerise apricots--dark red, look more like a nectarine than an apricot. Looking closely, the downy skin is apparent, but it is not as fuzzy as an apricot. They appear to be a plum/apricot hybrid, with more apricot than is typical in pluots.

And everyone has been raving about the blackberries. A fragile fruit with a limited local season--now's the time!

Smoked duck breast

Craving something special, too hot to cook and too poor to eat out--try Trois Petits Cochons smoked duck breast. It is not cheap, but sliced it makes a very special addition to a salad, sandwich or sauteed greens and a grain. Although Trois Petits Cochons duck rillettes are award-winning, I have found them too fatty. The duck breast comes with a thick layer of fat, but it is easily separated from the lean meat. Possibly you (definitely not me) could add that solid fat to lentils, etc. I love duck, am too lazy to cook one and found this smoked duck breast to be an easy and delicious treat.

New Nonfat Greek-style Yogurt

Our good friends at Liberte, the artisans of nature, have crafted a new line of yogurt for us all to enjoy - a strained Greek-style yogurt . Made with milk from a Vermont dairy cooperative, this yogurt brings all the goodness of Liberte without the fat. We're carrying all 4 nonfat flavors - Strawberry, Peach & Passion fruit, Honey and Date & Fig. Let's see which we love the best and we'll keep carrying 'em forever and ever...

Bye Bye Mendon, Hello Hillcrest (butter)

Lovers of the delightful Mendon Creamery butter will be saddened to hear that we are no longer able to get this product. Can't even get in touch with the folks who make it. The empty space in the butter case has instead been filled with 1-pound tubs of butter from Hillcrest Dairy. also local and made from rbST-free milk.

Susie's Seitan

Folks who already eat seitan may be interested to know that the Coop now has sliced seitan that is made locally (in Ithaca). Still haven't tried seitan? Turned off by the amorphous brown-ish blob floating in liquid with occasional green bits (it's actually seaweed)? Meet the charming & attractive Susie. Susie's Seitan comes in about 12 different flavors, for now we have Original, Portabella Mushroom, and Sundried Tomato. From Susie's website:

Susie's Seitan provides a simple solution for vegan & vegetarian entrees. Seitan (pronounced say-tan) is a vegan wheat gluten based product. Susie's seitan is similar to precooked deli meat. It has a hearty texture and comes ready to eat.

Look in the Egg/Tofu Case on the seitan shelf.

Alfredo step aside

The fromage blanc from Bellwether Farms in Sonoma, CA caught my eye last week. I knew it had a lot of potential--with fresh blueberries or peaches for breakfast or as a cornerstone ingredient in a quick, seasonal pasta dish made with ripe, local tomatoes and lots of herbs. I chopped up more than a cup of herbs at hand: garlic chives, mint, basil and parsley. I was disappointed that I didn't have any sage. Crushed a dried red pepper in a tablespoon of olive oil heated in a pan, threw in the herbs and let them sizzle, added the tomato, the cooked pasta, the fromage blanc and voila! creamy and delicious. And this is despite the unappealing 8 whole grain rigatoni sample I used--I couldn't even give the box away. Quick and lo-calorie (compared to Alfredo) and pleasingly tangy.