bKP Recipe for April:

Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives

Ingredients:
1 chicken 3.5 lb, cut into pieces
2 preserved lemons
1 cup of cup Green Olives
3 Onions, chopped
3 cups Chicken Stock
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon saffron
1 bunch flat parsley
1 teaspoon cilantro, chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt, pepper to taste

Recipe for 6 people

In a hot Emile Henry "Flame" Tagine, fry the pieces of chicken in the olive oil and butter, adding the onions, bunch of parsley, ginger, saffron, salt and pepper. Add three cups of chicken stock and the sliced preserved lemons. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Add a little water during cooking if necessary and stir occasionally. Add the cilantro and lemon juice, and cook for another 15 minutes. At the end of cooking, add the olives, and serve directly at the table.

Preserved Lemons: Lemons preserved in salt are a vital part of Moroccan cooking. They are simple to prepare and can be kept for several months.

Take 2 lbs of washed lemons. Rub them with salt and cover them with 2 lbs salt for 12 hours. Put them in a container with the salt, cover them with water, add 10 tablespoons vinegar to stop them from turning black, and two bay leaves. Add 10 tablespoons peanut oil, a pinch of saffron treads and leave the lemons at room temperature for at least one week.

Funky, fresh, functional... Joseph Joseph Delivers Fresh Designs with Function

Joseph Joseph continually brings us a stylish twist to our kitchen favorites. Every design has a new spin on it that is so creative, it really makes not only cooking fun, but your kitchen look funky, stylish and fresh...with functionality to boot! A colander is the hardest thing in the kitchen to store and the twin brothers certainly heard our complaints when they launched the Folding Colander. Not only does it come in fabulous colors, it is one of the best colanders out there and dishwasher safe! It simply snaps into place and then unfolds to store flat and wash easily. Going along with the Folding idea, this spring they
are launched a Fold Flat Grater, another impossible storage item. A bKP favorite is certainly the Chop 2 Pot, small and large, which makes the task of transporting chopped items from your cutting board to your pot so easy, you'll even enjoy cutting onions
Also, there's a great new gadget for 2009, The Twisk, a single-handed mechanical whisk that makes mixing batter and whisking eggs as simple as pie! So come and see all that Joseph Joseph has to offer this spring it might just leave you wanting more!

How Green is Bambu

Bambu has a large range of products for the kitchen made of renewable materials. Not only are they great for the environment but they are imaginative and celebrate form, texture, and use. Every product made under the Bambu name oozes creativity but with keeping the planet in mind. Just recentley they introduced their Cork Cutting Boards, which is a new favoite of bluecashew. Not only are they light and easy to store, but they also help keep your knives from becoming dull. It is an innovative new look at cutting boards. Also, with spring and summer approaching think about their disposable All Occasion Veneerware bamboo plates. Not only are they reusable, but they look great on any table and with just a quick rinse they are ready to be used time
and time again. The best part is they are biodegradable! Whether its prepping or serving,
Bambu offers us a new, creative way to go green in style!

What Smells so Good?

Fruits and Passion's Cucina line is a delightfully fragrant collection of hand care and sprays for the Cook. Made with pure olive oil for that deep clean feeling and a never-ending hydrating quality. Not only do your hands feel clean and soft, but the Zucchini Flower and Truffle Repairing-Action Hand Cream doesn't leave behind that awful greasy feeling. It leaves your hands feeling like pure heaven. Also, the Fragrant Kitchen Spray is amazing! Making salmon or shellfish can sometimes make your kitchen and house smell very unappealing and who wants that when they are having company over? Nobody. With the Fragrant Kitchen Sprays you don't have to worry about what you are cooking. With just a few spritzes the smell is transformed into a mouthwatering scent that lingers for hours. It is not made to cover-up but to mix with what you are cooking to make a wonderful atmosphere for you and your guests. We suggest the Lime Zest and Cypress Fragrant Kitchen Spray it adds just a touch of citrus for a crisp clean smell. Come on in and smell for yourself, there's a scent for everyone! So next time you plan a dinner party, need a house warming present, or fresh fragrance think of Cucina.

WHITE HOUSE PONDERS PALMER!

In January, The Wall Street Journalbroke news that Potter, Frances Palmer, was being looked at as one of the American Artisans to decorate the White House. Frances Palmer has been a bluecashew favorite since we've opened and we are so proud to have both her one-of-a-kind custom centerpieces and the Frances Palmer Pearl Collection cast from handmade molds by century-old white Buffalo Pottery.

Frances Palmer Pottery is perfect for everyday tabletop and conversation starting statements and all the pieces go from your oven to the table and are also freezer and dishwasher safe. Whether it's snazzing your home up with some flowers in the beautiful Frances Palmer Signature, signed Big Belly Vase or having that high noon tea party you always wanted but never the amazingly adorned Pearl Collection tea cups and saucers to have it with, this collection is the one for you. So, cross your fingers for Palmer and while the White House ponders her Pottery you can see it first hand here! - G

Come and get it!!! Jacques Torres for Valentines Day

VALENTINES DAY - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2009 is days away!!!

Jacques Torres is MR. CHOCOLATE! Jacques Torres specializes in fresh, hand-crafted chocolates that are free of preservatives and artificial flavors. Simply delicious, pure with wonderful combinations that satisfy your palete. Each one is perfectly sized for a full bite or as we prefer- place them on your tongue and let the bon bon do its magic, hmmmmmm. Oh yes! Perfect with a nice glass of red wine.

At bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy expect to find a signature boxed assortment of Jacques' Choice 12 Piece Chocolate Boxfor your significant other, husband, wife, mom, dad or admirer. Do stop by and pick up your 12-piece box set for $22.00. Jacques' Choice box contains a hand picked selection of his choosing so you can expect to find a selection from one of following: Love Potion #9 (secret recipe for pure dark chocolate ganache), Love Bug (key lime ganache kissed with White Chocolate), Chai Tea (milk chocolate ganache with Indian spiced tea), Almondine (crushed candied almonds with Jacques signature on top), Alize Hearts of Passion (fresh passion fruit with Alize Liquor) Heavenly Hazelnut (fresh ground hazelnuts in milk chocolate), Got Milk Chocolate (milk chocolate ganache with a kiss of Cognac), Wicked Fun (chocolate ganache spiced up with ancho and chipolte chiles) & Grand Cru (fine red wine complemented by rich dark chocolate to name a few.

Jacque Torres is on of the world's leading experts on chocolate and pastry. He is respected for his innovation and creative talents as well as his sense of adventure and passion for fun! Jacques says, "Chocolate is an absolutely magical food. It can be white, milky, or deep, dark brown. It is sensual to work with and to savor. And, it is good for you!" - Gregory Triana

Kif Candy(Majoun) as told by Paula Wolfert

This past October 08 our home was shot by This Old House Magazine. As a "Thank You" I invited the TOH crew and folks that helped make the shoot happen over for meal at the old farm house on Bone Hollow Road. I asked Amy Rosenfeld, Creative Director, what sorta meal she would like? I suggested Moroccan, she loved the idea.

Gregory and I researched the Tajine meal and the recipes through Paula Wolfert's "Couscous and Other Good Moroccan Foods"(food stylist Roscoe Betsil suggest's that the cookbook is one of the best Moroccan cookbooks). Gregory spyed this little diddy which we prepared as an ending to a truly fun meal. I might suggest placing a sliver of Kif Candy on a peice of Dry Soppressa Sausage...savory and sweet on your palate. yummmmmmm

1 pound of Smen (Cooked and Salted Butter) in a casserole with plenty of water and about 3 cups stalks, seeds, and leaves of kif (Cannabis). After bringing it to a boil let it simmer 2 hours, then carefully strain it into a large, deep roasting pan. Then, throw away the stalks, seeds, and leaves and let the butter cool and rise to the top in the refrigerator overnight. Then place the butter in the casserole with 1 pound chopped dates, cinnamon, 1 tablespoon aniseed, 1/2 cup dark, heavy honey, and 1/2 cup each ground almonds and walnuts (these proportions are from The Hashish Cookbook). Then cook all this together until it gets very thick, bubbly and brown. Add some orange flower water and ras el hanout to taste, pack the majoun in clean jars.

*eat with care! enjoy and play fun music for hours of fun!