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RAMW's 2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Foodies

December 12, 2018

For the foodie on your list this year, be sure to take a look at some of these items that are sure to impress!

Gift Recommendation from ROCKLANDS Barbeque and Grilling Company
ROCKLANDS BBQ Lover Gift Box
Where to Buy: Online or In Store

Hear ye, hear ye, holiday shoppers! This is the present you need for the cook in your life: The ROCKLANDS BBQ Lover Gift Box. They’ve assembled four of their most-popular sauces and rubs into a snug kraft-paper box. Really, all you need to add is the bow! Set includes:

  • Rocklands Original Barbeque Sauce — vegetarian and gluten-free, so you can use it on almost anything for almost any eater.
  • Global Warming Sauce — chipotle-warmed for your hot-sauce love
  • Malt Salt — THE seasoning salt for protein: Use as you would regular salt on raw meats, fish and poultry, then braise, roast or grill . . . and take a bow for your applause.
  • Blackening Rub — we all should eat more fish, right? Just a little dab of this makes salmon sing with heat and spice, whether you are roasting inside or grilling in the chill.

The gift box is $22.99 (how nice is that for an already-boxed gift?!) and is available at every ROCKLANDS store. (PRO TIP: skip the trip and order online to have it shipped to your food lover direct!)

Pairing Recipe: ROCKLANDS Texas Corn Pudding (Yield: 10 Servings)
This pudding has been a hit at ROCKLANDS for over two decades. PRO TIP: Look for creamed corn that’s low on sugar, and to achieve a fluffy, soufflé-like texture, mix the batter just before you’re going to bake it.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 ¼ cups yellow cornmeal
  • 5 eggs, well beaten
  • 1 tablespoon minced, deseeded jalapeño
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup minced yellow onion
  • 10 ounces grated cheddar cheese
  • 7 cups creamed corn

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven (preferably convection) to 300F. In a large bowl, combine 1 ¼ cups yellow cornmeal; 5 well-beaten eggs; 1 tablespoon minced, deseeded jalapeño; ¾ cup vegetable oil; ¾ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper; 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder; 1 cup minced yellow onion; and 10 ounces grated cheddar cheese. Mix well. Add 7 cups creamed corn and mix well again. Pour the mixture in a 9x13” baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes, until the pudding is fluffy and golden brown. Enjoy!

Gift Recommendation from Jill Erber of Cheesetique
The Ultimate Host Gift
For your foodie host, nothing says "thank you" like this perfect cheese & wine spread… available for purchase in one beautiful package! Bucket includes Petit Camembert, Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, dried apricots, wafer crackers, locally-made Kingsbury caramels, a bamboo cheese board, and the cutest-ever cheese knife.
Where to Buy: Online for In-Store Pickup

Serving Suggestion:

  1. Place sparkling Blanc de Blancs on ice for 30 minutes.
  2. While wine is chilling, place Petit Camembert on the counter to come to room temperature.
  3. Cut apricots in half.
  4. Place room temperature cheese on bamboo platter along with crackers, halved apricots, and cheese knife.
  5. Open and pour chilled bubbly.
  6. Eat! Drink! Be Merry!

Gift Recommendation from One Eight Distilling
Complimentary Personalized Engraving with Every Bottle Purchase
Where to Buy: Online for In-Store Pickup beginning 12/15
LAST CHANCE: Place your order by 12/13!
Enjoy complimentary bottle engraving this holiday season with every bottle purchase. Order now through December 13th and pick up as early as December 15th! PICK UP HOURS: Saturday 12/15 | 1pm - 10pm; Sunday 12/16 | 2pm - 6pm; Monday 12/17 | 9am - 5pm; Tuesday 12/18 | 9am - 5pm; Wednesday 12/19 | 9am - 5pm; Thursday 12/20 | 9am - 5pm; Friday 12/21 | 9am – midnight; Saturday 12/22 | 9am - 10pm; Sunday 12/23 | 2pm - 6pm

Paired Recipe: One Eight Distilling’s “Chai Bella” Cocktail of the Month (courtesy of Chris Lavigne from One Eight Distilling)

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients, shake, double strain into a Collins glass with ice & garnish with a mint sprig. Cheers!

Gift Recommendation from Via Umbria
Award-Winning Chef Marc Vetri’s “Mastering Pasta” Cookbook
Award-Winning Chef Marc Vietri wanted to write his first book about pasta. Now, the respected master of Italian cuisine finally shares his vast knowledge of pasta, gnocchi, and risotto in this inspiring, informative primer featuring expert tips and techniques, and more than 100 recipes.
Where to Buy: Via Umbria
Upgrade: Send the budding pasta maker in your life to a Via Umbria upcoming Pasta & Dessert Cooking Class to make them more confident in their techniques when practicing at home!

Gift Recommendation from Le Diplomate

Bûche de Noël from #RAMMYS18 Pastry Chef of the Year finalist Fabrice Bendano

Throughout France, the stunningly decorated Bûche de Noël graces the holiday table every year. As a child, Le Diplomate’s Parisian-born pastry chef, Fabrice Bendano recalls the holiday confection being one of his favorite Christmas time traditions, and he is excited to honor it with the release of his 2018 Bûche de Noël varieties. Though the first versions of the “yule log’ were made with a rolled cake, the Michelin-star pastry chef utilizes a more modern technique, presenting a molded cake with layers of mousse, fruits, and sponge cake to create a stunning variety of texture and flavor. Le Diplomate’s 2018 varieties include:

  • Bûche Champagne Citron Framboise (Champagne-Citron and Raspberry Confit) // Soft lemon-Champagne mousse with a center of fresh raspberry confit is deliciously surrounded by an almond sponge cake, then decorated with a raspberry glaze, meringues, gold leaves, and fresh berries.
  • Buche Foret Noire (Dark Chocolate Mousse and Morello Cherry) // Layers of dark chocolate sponge cake and a marmalade of Morello cherries envelop a center of cloudlike kirsch and sour cherry mousse. A hand-carved chocolate fan, gold leaves and mushroom meringues sit atop a chocolate glaze in Chef Bendano’s French version of the Black Forest cake. 
    Orders accepted by calling Le Diplomate. Just click the 'call' button.

Le Diplomate’s Bûche de Noël serve 4-6 and are $40 each. Orders must be placed 48 hours in advance for pick up between December 17 and 25 by calling the restaurant at 202.332.3333.

Gift Recommendation from City Winery DC
Custom Holiday Label Wine
Where to Buy: Available In-Store Only
Paired Recipe: White Mulled Wine

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 bottles of City Winery Sauvignon Blanc
  • 2 oranges, sliced into rounds
  • 1/2 cup brandy (optional)
  • 1/2 cup honey or sugar
  • 16 whole cloves
  • 4 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 star anise
  • Garnishes: citrus slices, extra cinnamon sticks, extra star anise

DIRECTIONS: Combine all ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a slight simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve hot and garnish. Cheers!

Gift Recommendation from Chef Daniel Boulud’s DBGB Kitchen & Bar
D’Artagnan’s Green Circle Chicken
Where to Buy: Online
Be the best guest when you send this free range, antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken (that’s air chilled, so there is no added moisture to the chicken) ahead of your arrival! D’Artagnan allows the home cook to purchase high-quality ingredients online that one gets at restaurants to prepare them in the comfort of their own home.

Paired Recipe: Chef Daniel Boulud’s Chicken Grand-mère Francine
From Café Boulud Cookbook by Daniel Boulud (Simon & Schuster, Scribner, 1998)
Adapted by StarChefs
(Yield: 4 Servings)
Chicken Grand-mère, a savory fricassée, is a classic in French cuisine in general, but it was a classic in my family too. It was a specialty and a favorite of my Grandmother Francine, the grandmother who cooked at the original Café Boulud outside Lyon, and at no time was it better than at mushroom harvest time. Mushrooms are a typical Chicken Grand-mère ingredient, but there was nothing typical about the dish when my grandmother would add rose des prés, pink field mushrooms, newly dug potatoes and new garlic. Fortunately, this dish always seems to be both satisfying and soothing whether you're making it plain, with cultivated cremini or oyster mushrooms and creamer potatoes, or fancy, dressing it up with exotic mushrooms and any of the small fingerling or banana potatoes that many greenmarkets now offer.

Ingredients:

  • One 3-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 12 cipollini onions, peeled and trimmed
  • 4 shallots, peeled and trimmed
  • 2 heads garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
  • 3 sprigs thyme
  • 4 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
  • 2 small celery roots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
  • 2 ounces slab bacon, cut into short, thin strips
  • 12 small cremini or oyster mushrooms, trimmed and cleaned
  • 2 cups unsalted chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
  • Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Method:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.

Working over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan or skillet – choose one with high sides and a cover. Season the chicken pieces all over with salt and pepper, slip them into the pan, and cook until they are well browned on all sides, about 10 to 15 minutes. Take your time – you want a nice, deep color and you also want to partially cook the chicken at this point. When the chicken is deeply golden, transfer it to a platter and keep it in a warm place while you work on the vegetables.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the cooking fat from the pan. Lower the heat to medium, add the butter, onions, shallots, garlic and thyme, and cook and stir just until the vegetables start to take on a little color, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, celery root and bacon and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just to start rendering the bacon fat. Cover the pan and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and return the chicken to the pan. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and slide the pan into the oven. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Spoon everything onto a warm serving platter or into an attractive casserole.

To serve:
Bring the chicken to the table, with plenty of pieces of crusty baguette to sop up the sauce and spread with the soft, sweet, caramel-like garlic that is easily squeezed out of its skin.

Wine Pairing
A rustic Bandol Rouge

Gift Recommendation from District Winery
Merry & Bright Wine Bundle

Where to Buy: Online or In-Store
BONUS: Free Ground Shipping on orders of $250 or more with code SHIPFREE through 12/16!

Give the gift of wine this holiday season. District Winery’s Merry and Bright two pack offers variety and is sure to please any palate. Their 2016 Unoaked Chardonnay, aged only in stainless steel tanks, is crisp with moderate acidity, light bodied, and easy drinking, and their 2016 Old Vine Zinfandel is rich with notes of blackberry, fig and vanilla, make it a great holiday wine. Cheers!