The Savory Pantry Guide to Dijon Mustard

Dijon has long been a staple of our pantry.  But dijon has come a long way and with more flavor infusions than ever before!  Below you'll find all of the varieties we carry and some of our favorite ways to use them. From salad dressings to meat dishes you'll get alot of mileage out of each and every option. 

Fall Cocktails: The Hudson Standard Old Fashioned

While we do love bourbon, something about a traditional Old Fashioned has always seemed a bit overpowering. The addition of the Hudson Standard Apple Coriander Maple Shrub seems to add just enough flavor to balance out the strength of the bourbon and bitters, and make this fresh take on a classic cocktail far more palatable.  

Hudson Standard shrubs & bitters are made in the Hudson Valley region of New York state, where the leaves are showing their most vibrant fall colors.  We can't think of a better way to celebrate this time of year than with a cocktail infused with the flavors of the season.

Hudson Standard Old Fashioned

• Fresh orange wheel
• 2-3 dashes aromatic bitters, such as Fee Brothers or Bar 40
• 2 oz Bourbon
• 3/4 oz The Hudson Standard Apple Corriander Maple Shrub
• single maraschino cherry (optional)

1. Muddle orange and bitters in an empty glass to release the essential oils.
2. Fill glass with ice.
3. Add Bourbon and shrub.  Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
4. Stir and Enjoy! (DO NOT SHAKE - this will bruise the liquor causing it to get cloudy and bitter)

Cranberry Pepper Jelly Cups

We're combining two of our MOST popular products into one easy entertaining recipe. Savvy cooks start stocking their pantries in the early days of fall with New England Cranberry Pepper Jelly .... perfect for the upcoming holidays, but a product versatile enough to use year round!  As the label says, this pepper jelly is "spicy but not too hot" and includes whole cranberries suspended in the most wonderful mixture of sweet and savory jelly we've ever tasted. 

Clever hostesses keep our miniature pastry shells on hand for last-minute entertaining and unexpected guests.  We've shared sweet and savory recipes that make great use of these pastry cups, but the potential fillings are endless!  Since the cups freeze well, and our jams and jellies have an extended shelf life, you'll never regret keeping both in your own pantry!

Cranberry Pepper Jelly Cups

• 20 Miniature Pastry Shells
• 6 oz cream cheese
• 4 oz plain goat cheese
• pinch of salt & pepper
• 5 or 6 fresh sage leaves, minced
• New England Cranberry Pepper Jelly

1. Combine softened cheeses, salt/pepper, and sage in a bowl.
2. Spoon into pastry cups and broil for 5-7 minutes.
3. Top with desired amount of Cranberry Pepper Jelly and serve.

Recipe: Truffle Salted Cornbread

Truffles are in full season and while we love the flavors, truffles themselves can be QUITE expensive!  Instead, we've been enjoying truffle-infused items from our pantry.  This recipe for cornbread makes a great accompaniment to a bowl of soup on a chilly fall day.  

Note: While this recipe calls for an 8X8" baking dish, we used 3 small cast iron skillets.  And instead of greasing with olive oil, we placed a half teaspoon of bacon fat in each skillet and warmed them in the oven preheating  Just adding a bit of southern flair!

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon truffle salt
• 1cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons White Truffle Oil
• 3 tablespoons Dr. Pescia Acacia Honey
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
• 15 pieces Truffle Flakes

Preheat oven to 350° F. Brush an 8x8-inch square pan with the olive oil. In a large bowl, whisk together the durum wheat flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, truffle oil, and honey.  Whisk thoroughly until the honey is dissolved. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Add the melted butter and truffle flakes and stir with a wooden spoon until blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, transfer the pan to the center of the oven, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cornbread comes out clean, 30 minutes. 

Sorghum 101: A Beginner's Guide

Southerner's have long appreciated the virtues of Sorghum, but this sweet syrup is creating quite a bit of buzz in kitchens nationwide!  Our favorite comes from Kentucky's Bourbon Barrel Foods.  Estate grown, hand harvested and processed by a 5th generation sorghum grower,  this sorghum is about as good as it gets.  But what exactly IS sorghum?

Sorghum, a tall broad-leaf plant, resembles corn in the field, but the grain crop is best known for its end product: sweet sorghum syrup. That’s different than plain old sugar cane, which yields molasses, or, for that matter, the trees that yield maple syrup.  FarmFlavor.com > 

Sorghum cane is typically harvested during September and October. Many sorghum syrup producers extract the juice from freshly cut plants right in the field. The bright green juice then goes back to the mill, where it is kept, heated, in a holding tank. To avoid spoilage and produce the best syrup, they cook it the next day, thickening into light amber syrup that is then bottled. Ten gallons of raw sorghum juice yields about 1 gallon of syrup.  FarmFlavor.com > 

To store sorghum, tuck it into a dark kitchen cupboard at room temperature.  Like raw honey, you can microwave in a safe container to combat any unwanted crystallization.  Southern Living >

To use sorghum straight from the container, try a drizzle over ice cream or hot cornbread. Make your own vinaigrette with sorghum syrup or purchase Woodford Reserve Sorghum Vinaigrette for a fall salad that will impress the most discerning tastebuds.