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ah yes, cypress grove cheeses .... so very good.....

i've discovered pea shoots .... man, they are so flavorful, i find myself (when i can get them) putting them in everything.....

ever had french feta? oh, baby....

I found a new store in our backwoods area of New Jersey: Food from the Phillipines They carry a sweet pepper sauce that is very hot and sweet and is fantastic over everything.

Pot barley. I made barley risotto and roasted peppers stuffed with barley...Yum! As for cheeses, I discovered Gouda Goat's cheese in my local market and I am now hooked!

@chisai, where do you buy that cheese?

Pomegranate molasses. It's just pomegranate juice reduced with cane sugar, but it has this great tart zing. I put it on anything and everything, but my fave is over plain greek yogurt. I've also used it in cookies instead of honey to add some extra flavor.

Hitting Pike Place Market always leads to a bevy of new finds and discoveries. My latest kick? The Bavarian Deli. The best of the "wurst." The beerwurst was amazing, very akin to a German cotto salami.

And landjager...sweet landjager. The best dried meat snack I've ever eaten. *Swoon*

@happymuncher- does "Pot Barley" give you the munchies? lol.
@all-ya'll- french feta is yummy I concur.
Have any of you tried Matouk's Calypso hot sauce? It is citrusy-garlicy-scotch bonnet- hot madness.

@bisbee, after I um, sampled the first little bottle I bought, I went back and bought its big brother. Sadly, that's gone, too. And a good bit of it went into a glass with ice and half-and-half that was left over. Oh yeah, that was mighty tasty. This summer, I suspect I'll have to make Frangelico ice cream.

@cybercita - I got it thru FreshDirect. It's kinda pricey $22.99/lb, but OMG, it's totally worth it. I can't believe I just said that.

Finally found that Bacon Salt and it's amazing.

@pooch - I love pea shoots. How are you using them?

I've been eating strawberry creme fraiche that I found recently at Whole Foods, and it's amazing. Good on almost everything. Also, Bison jerky at Trader Joe's is so delicious.

Cumin gouda and prosciutto in a croissant. Holy crap. Go and buy all of the ingredients now and eat it for breakfast with some greek yoghurt and honey on the sides.
It's like the gods put amazingness into amazingness, grabbed a side of awesome and said "that's what breakfast should be" and then giggled while I got a little bit chubbier.

Wallaby brand "Austrialian style" yogurt, maple flavor. Not sure what makes it "Austrailian style", unless that is a synonym for "yummy".

Cinnamon poached seckel pears. Had them in a salad, but think they would be divine sliced into some homemade vanilla bean or bourbon ice cream.

Truffle salt in polenta. Neither one is new on its own, but the combination was recently discovered by DH and now I cannot stop wanting to eat it!

New Glarus Belgian Red beer. Believe it or not, it tastes like a delicious cinnamon spiked cherry pie in a glass. I had a taste from a friend's stash and now am scheming about how to get the in-laws to pick up a couple cases for me when they go to Wisconsin this summer.

Here's my curmudgeonly response: Just as the word "awesome" has now lost all meaning through over- and misuse (is everyone truly in awe of all of the mundane things now described as "awesome"?), the word "amazing" is now used in lieu of everything from "very good" to "just above adequate." Let's be a bit more creative and use some adjectives that tell us more about your real reactions.

Well, the McGangBang was a bit of a discovery. Is it truly "amazing" though? Survey says: YES.

@bisbee /dbcurrie - Frangelico in warmed vanilla soy is good too! Even for anti-lactose-ites! Extra nutty mmmm...

My OH also made some caramel-fudge covered popcorn by accident; it's quite good too!

Ham hawks brased with green beans and canned pears was a golden-meal growing up--I made it with pork meatballs the other day with great results!

Kale. Lacinato kale salad with oranges, beets, feta and toasted walnuts. Sauteed kale with garlic. White bean and kale soup.

Home-made fried rice. I had never made it before and will now be a staple with any Asian dish I prepare. Last night, we had it with Ginger Chicken Pad Thai and Hot and Sour Soup.

I have recently become addicted to the caramel panna cotta at Miette in the SF Ferry Building. And also, their bergamotte, and salted, caramels.

Oh, and speaking of caramels, the rose caramels by Michael Recchiuti are my new favorite aphrodisiac.

Cheers,

~ Paula

this is mortifying -- but -- tangerines. i got them recently in my organic produce delivery box and realized i don't think i've had them since i was little. i always just go for oranges or clementines when i'm buying them. but oh my they were so juicy and flavorful!

1. Greek yogurt (thanks to a new local Greek place here in NNJ that serves it as a dessert, w/honey and walnuts)...for you Fage fans, that's my favorite storebought kind, but I've learned that it's no longer being imported from Greece; it's made in upstate NY!

2. Zaatar, a Middle Eastern spice blend of sumac, thyme (sometimes marjoram), salt, and sesame seeds, which is spelled different ways depending on whether it's Israeli, Syrian, Morroccan, etc. Zaater, Z'ahatar, whatever they call it, I'm addicted! Mix it into Greek yogurt (see #1), add some olive oil, and serve it with pita chips. YUUUUM! I served it at a SuperBowl party, and people really liked it. *This discovery, btw, was made all of 3 weeks before it was featured on the Top Chef episode where the chefs went to Le Bernadin...turns out the gorgeous Eric Ripert has been using it there for a while. Now I've seen it on menus in at least two local restaurants...weird!

3. Crosnes, which I first saw at the Union Square (NYC) Greenmarket last fall. They're tubers--tiny ones--and in the box at the stand where they were also selling gorgeous tiny potatoes, I have to be honest; they looked like a pile of maggots. But they're delicious, cruncy, starchy little things. Who knew?

Pineapple- I've always hated all tropical fruits and would pick out pineapple out of any dish I was served with it. A few weeks ago it started appearing in all of my dreams, rather bizarrely, so I ended up buying some last week to try. It was so good that I've eaten it for breakfast every day since.

In no particular order, as a result of a recent infatuation with Spanish foods (not that these are all uniquely Spanish): (1) high quality achovies (the ones I tried from the Cantabrian sea were spectacular), (2) Urgelia cheese and (3) caper berries.

ancient harvest corn and quinoa spaghetti. it's whole grain, so i don't feel too guilty when i eat it, and the texture is really fantastic, firm and chewy. i actually like it better than barilla.

Ox tails, so flavorful and delicious!

Firefly or Sweet Carolines Sweet tea vodka, mixed with lemonade, best Arnold Palmer ever!

Cucumber vodka, delicious with sprite or 7-up.

eggplant. Odd, but it was always one of those things I refused to try when I was a kid. God now though it's freakin great.

Blackstrap molasses will grow hair on your chest. Great source of calcium, iron and potassium.

I'm on a mission this year to discover new foods. Durian, century egg and meal worm(!) have all passed my lips. The latest, though, is pork cheek which is amazing:

http://tinyurl.com/cn4btj

Recently a friend made a huge batch of homemade ricotta cavatelli that nearly knocked me on my a$$ they were so good. While cavatelli are not new to me - homemade cavatelli are something I've never experienced. Unbelievable.

Oh nadia! You brought back such great memories. My dad was a milk delivery man and I got to go with him in the summer when I was a pre-teen. it was a tiny town and I loved it!

@mangiatoilgatto - I just had caper berries recently, too, and I'm obsessed! They're so meaty and they have all that good vinegary saltiness of regular capers.

@cybercita - as an fyi, Murray's has the cheese, but it's $30.99/lb, $8 more than FD.

Rachels Yogurt.....Plum,Honey, Lavendar....Black Currant Cherry.....Strawberry Mango Passion fruit..Pink Grapefruit Lychee....etc etc etc possibly the best tasting fruit yogurts ever

Fage Greek yogurt, lemon infused olive oil, homemade hummus, heirloom tomatoes (I had some last summer for the first time and they were the juciest, tastiest things I'd ever eaten!).

The best, the VERY best fish I've ever had was served by my sister in Alaska in a fish taco. She's an amazing cook, but this fish...Black Cod cheeks! Hardly ever or maybe never, found in a store as the fishermen keep them for themselves. I dream about that fish......

@Noxturne: I am so with ya on that Cucumber Vodka, tried it recently and it was good. I also like Pomegrante Vodka with sprite. Then again, I like any kind of vodka with sprite. Always seems to produce pleasing results.

@SueZee: You took the words out of my mouth-well sort of. I do not like fish except shellfish; however, I tried Butterfish and was glad to be sitting because if I wasn't I would have fallen to the floor. Talk about *SWOON* WOW. From what I understand, Butterfish is black cod but it's made Hawaiian style. I tried this at a restaurant called Roy's and I wanted to order 17 dishes. I have been dreaming of having this dish again since the beginning of February. I can't believe I love a fish dish this much. It's insane. I think I am going to have to order the fish online and have it delivered. It's the only way I am going to get it I think.

We joined a CSA last year and were exposed to a couple of new vegetables. Garlic scapes and pea shoots were among my favorites.

Found a fromagerie in Green Bay, Wi which had the most amazing, mild-salty crunch rind and rich, smooth, tangy, buttery interior. It was from Spain. The name escapes me, the the memory will remain forever.

Our new discories and cook dabbling is with grains. We'll be trying kasha tonight. Have to let you know how it goes.

Potato chips. They're slices (aka "chips"), of a tuber called a potato. Sliced moderately thin, deep fried, and generously sprinkled with salt. Truly delicious.

They came with my lunch today. Another exotic concoction called a "grilled cheese sandwich". I haven't figured out what it's made of yet.

I just had almond champagne and I loved it! This will be making a re-occuring appearance in our home!

@mandybre -- what a coincidence that you've also listed their web site in your about me!! sigh, kona.