Gift boxes come in many different flavors or you can purchase a gift certificate and let your friends and family make their own choices.

Truffles are coming in by the end of the week.

Our spice trade-in is going well. Have you brought The Spice Diva your old spices?

Equipment
Small skillet or saucepan
Spice grinder or mortar and pestle
Tagine or stovetop casserole with lid (you can use aluminum foil in a pinch)
Tongs
Knife
Large cooking spoon

Ingredients
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sweet or hot paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp whole cloves

2 bay leaves 3 TB extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp chopped or grated fresh ginger
1 handful fresh cilantro leaves
1 large pinch saffron
8-10 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless or bone in and skin on for a bit more flavor

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 preserved lemon, rinsed thoroughly, flesh scooped out, skin cut into strips
1/2 c cracked green olives
1 c chicken stock
2 TB extra virgin olive oil

Preparation
In a dry pan, over medium heat, toast the first six ingredients until they start to smoke. Remove from the heat and grind them all in a spice grinder.

In a bowl large enough to accommodate the chicken, add the oil, spice mix, garlic, ginger, cilantro and saffron. Mix to a paste.   Add the chicken,rubbing the marinade over all the pieces. Place into a plastic bag with the bay leaves. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and reserve marinade. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a Tagine or large casserole over medium high heat add 2 TB olive oil. Put in chicken pieces and lightly brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. remove chicken to a plate.

Add onions to the pan and cook until just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add lemon peel strips to the pan. Add reserved marinade including the bay leaves, olives and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Add chicken back in and be sure that it is covered in the liquid.  Cover tightly and cook for 30-35 minutes over medium low heat until chicken is cooked through. Remove bay leaves and discard.

Taste juices and adjust seasoning. Place chicken on a warm platter and spoon juices, lemons,olives and onions over it.

Serve with couscous with dried fruit or roasted squash.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of quatre epices
1 cup roasted, salted almonds
1 1/2 cups walnut halves

Preparation:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a nonstick pan, combine the sugar and the water.

Bring to a boil

When the water and sugar mixture begins to turn slightly golden, add the salt and quatre epices.

Stir in the almonds and the walnuts so that everything is combined.

Lower the heat to medium, adjusting the heat as necessary to keep the caramel from burning, and keep turning the nuts continuously until the water and sugar have reduced to a thick syrup that coats the nuts. At this point, the mixture will be golden brown.

Using a silicone spatula, spoon the nuts onto the prepared lined and lightly greased baking sheet. Spread them in a single layer, and leave to cool complete.  Do NOT touch the hot nuts, as boiling sugar will burn.

When the candied nuts have completely cooled, separate them with your hands and serve immediately or store in an airtight container.

These may be served before dinner with drinks or after dinner with a cheese plate.

Ingredients:
6 chicken parts (thighs do not dry out as quickly as breasts), bone-in and skin-on. Of course, you can take the skin off, if you choose which will change the cooking time.
1 TB Ras el Hanout

Equipment:
1 medium to large baking sheet with a rim
1 sheet of baking parchment because you really don’t want your cookies to taste like chicken and cleanup is way easier.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse and thoroughly dry chicken.
Coat chicken all over with Ras el Hanout and place, skin side up on the parchment covered baking sheet.
Let stand for 30-45 minutes.
Place in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads around 175 degrees. Breasts will require close to an hour of cooking.
Remove from the oven and let the thighs rest for 10 minutes covered.
Serve with roasted butternut squash or couscous, tabbouleh or a green salad.
View More Weekly Recipes

3/4 lb oyster, shitake or other mushrooms chopped
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small torpedo onion or 1/2 half small sweet onion sliced thinly
1 clove fresh garlic, sliced
12 grape tomatoes ( the yellow heirlooms are best) cut into quarters
8 oz fresh goat cheese or ricotta cheese (if using ricotta, do not use egg)
2-3 Tb finely grated Parmesan cheese. Save some for serving as well.
10 leaves fresh sage (1 tsp dried)
1 tsp fresh thyme (1/2 tsp dried)
1 egg slightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg of 50 wonton wrappers
Water

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Sauté onion and garlic with a light sprinkling of salt at moderate heat until soft but not brown. Add mushrooms, stirring only when they are slightly brown on one side. When the mushrooms are soft, pour the mixture into a small bowl. Once the mixture has cooled, add tomatoes, sage and thyme and pulse in a food processor about 8 times until chopped and combined.

Combine goat cheese, egg, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a medium bowl, until smooth. Mix in the mushroom mixture. Adjust seasonings.

Place a piece of parchment onto a flat surface. Line up 25 wonton wrappers on the parchment and place a heaping teaspoon of the mushroom mixture on each. Wet about 1/4 inch of the edge of each wrapper with the water on your finger. Wet another wrapper and place it on top of the wrapper and the mixture. Lightly press the edges of each wrapper until there are no bubbles or wrinkles. if you are feeling insecure about only using the water, press the edges together with a fork, additionally.

Place a sheet of parchment onto each of two large baking sheets. Once you have all the ravioli assembled, use a thin spatula to lift them onto the baking sheets. Leaving them on the original piece during the flash freezing process has a tendency to make them stick to the paper. Carefully place them as flat as possible into the freezer. Do not stack them. Once they are frozen, you may place them into a freezer bag altogether for use at a later date. they are a bit easier to manage in the cooking process if they are at least refrigerated, if not frozen.

When ready to serve, place the ravioli in a large pot of boiling, salted water. When they rise to the top, they are done. This will take a very short time, only 2-3 minutes, so do not leave the kitchen once you have put them in the water.

Serve with a light sauce such as olive oil sautéed with a little fresh garlic and sage, salt and pepper. Shave more fresh Parmesan on top before serving.