It's to freshen up our pantries! Cold weather calls for warmer clothing, but also for heavier ingredients, new flavors and heartier textures. Discover our favorite and most essential ingredients for the upcoming season and give your kitchen a much-needed seasonal makeover.
Creamy Cheeses
Luscious, uber-meltable cheeses that melt in the mouth and feel like velvet on the palate are just the thing for chillier weather. We can't think of anything more appropriate for this season's cheese board than our richest, creamiest cheeses. Think unctuous double cream and melt-in-your-mouth triple cream cheeses, perfect to pair with fall's heavier wines and brews.
Try: Cremeux de Bourgogne- $11.50 for 7 oz.: a voluptuous pillow of a triple-cream cheese. Jasper Hill’s Harbison - $14.74 for 10 oz: an aromatic cheese that almost oozes out of it’s spruce bark casing, perfect to dip and smother.
Truffles and Mushrooms
Aromatic porcinis, plump Portobellos, exotic shiitakes…fall is THE season par excellence for mushrooms. If you don’t have the fresh ones handy, there’s nothing easier than rehydrating dried mushrooms and adding them to stocks and broths, stews and soups, risottos, pastas, roasted meats and poultry and an endless array of dishes. And of course, don’t forget the star of the mushroom world, the aromatic, pungent fresh truffle. Perfect to shave over the simplest of dishes, like a weekend brunch omelets, or give your favorite childhood comfort food dish a grown-up taste with a truffled mac and cheese recipe. For something incredibly delicious (and easy), try a truffled polenta, loaded with fresh truffles and meaty mushrooms.
Try: Porcini Mushrooms - Dried, Super Grade AA - $67.75 for 1lb. bag: super large, meat and deliciously aromatic, easily re-hydrated. Shitake Mushrooms – Dried, Medium Cap - $23.00 for 1 lb.: a smoky flavor makes this a natural match for meat stews and roasts. For fresh truffles, check out our seasonal fresh truffles section here.
Risotto
Risotto (and rice in general) is our favorite go-to-meal for when we’re short of ingredients. It is essentially the little black dress of foods – it goes with everything! The rich but simple flavor and the wonderful creamy texture makes it a match for the heavier ingredients we’ll be reaching for this season – try a mushroom risotto loaded with seasonal mushrooms, sprinkle it with crushed walnuts or chestnuts, load it up with roasted vegetables, add some meaty scallops, or go for the ultimate in luxury and shave fresh burgundy black truffles for an aromatic and luxurious dish.
Try: Acquerello Carnaroli Rice - $13.80 - 1.1 lbs.: an unhusked white rice grown in Italy that cooks to creamy perfection every time.
Venison
Hearty and lean venison is great to get protein, flavor, without any added fat (because let’s face it, our workouts, like the days, tend to get shorter in the fall). Lamb is ideal for crockpot and slow cooker chili recipes, bountiful stews brimming with vegetables and tubers, and even tasty meatballs to pair with a generous plateful of your favorite pasta. Need a recipe? Try our Venison Meatballs Strogoniff recipe, Venison Chilli plus more delicious venison recipes here.
Try: Cervena Venison Strip Loin - $123 for 4 lbs. and Cervena Venison Tenderloin, $54.75 for 2 pieces, 0.75 lbs. each. Free range, hormone free venison from New Zealand.
Spices
Perfect for the season: ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Drizzle over ricotta, your morning oatmeal or even fresh seasonal fruit like apples and pears. Season your salads for lunch and dinner to extra warmth and a boost of flavor. Great to season roasted in-season vegetables like pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. The fragrant smells of spices wafting in from the kitchen is the quintessential perfume of fall!
Try: Whole Cinnamon Sticks 10” - $16 for 1 lb. bag: intense, sweet and aromatic, add these lovely sticks to a latte or hot tea, or grind into powder. Ginger Powder - $3.75 for 4 oz. : this hot, warming spice will be your best friend this season. Whole Nutmeg – 8.75 for 4 oz. bag: longer lasting than the powder, this is essential for your fall and winter baking.
Nuts
Meaty, calorie-rich nuts are perfect to warm up and get a boost of energy when it gets chilly. Toss a handful in a Ziploc bag and carry them as a healthy snack for in between meals or before a workout. Do a powerful seasonal combo by spicing a bowlful of nuts with cinnamon and sea salt. Or crush them to coat salmon and chicken, or into healthy salads.
Try: Pizzuta Almonds from Scicili - $16.25 for 8 oz.: a delicious Italian almond with an intense sweet flavor. Whole Hazelnuts - $8.00- 8 oz.:perfect for adding flavor and texture to both sweet and savory dishes. (comes in a resealable bag).
See our full gourmet nuts selection >
Honey
Antibacterial, anti-fungal, antioxidant AND deliciously versatile, what’s not to love about honey? Head off those seasonal colds – we all get them – by drizzling honey into your morning greek yogurt, give a boost to your breakfast oatmeal, use it for glazes and marinades for chicken, duck and pork, and of course, pair it with fragrant green tea, fresh ginger, and freshly squeeze lemon juice for the ultimate beat-the-sniffles remedy.
Try: French Lavender honey by Gabriel Peronmeny - $20.50 – 8.8 oz.: a creamy, amber-colored honey harvested in lavender fields in France. For a burst of honey on the go, try Lavender Honey Drops by Gabriel Peronmeny- $14.25 for 8.8 oz.:sweet candy made with the same floral honey.
NEED SOME DISH IDEAS WITH THESE FAB INGREDIENTS? RECIPES BELOW!